Much is printed about food along with its health benefits and curative properties. Food has been used for its health benefits from the earliest days of mankind. Today’s science has rediscovered these benefits as well as trigger foods for asthma. Your lungs are full of tubes, some large and some miniscule. These tubes carry oxygen into the lungs, where it advances to the heart and into the bloodstream. When these tubes constrict and are filled with mucus, it’s difficult to breathe.

This is called asthma. Asthma is treated with inhalers, but certain foods can also trigger asthma attacks:

1. Milk
Studies have shown that milk and dairy products made from it rarely cause asthma symptoms in either children or adults. However, allergies to dairy products are tied to lactose intolerance. This is a sensitivity to the sugar lactose found in milk. Some food allergies are serious enough to cause breathing problems as well as anaphylactic shock. These persons should stay away from milk and dairy products altogether. Food allergy treatment to avoid anaphylactic shock is a good idea, because it can be fatal.

2. Fish and shellfish
Fish is a delicate subject for those with fish allergies. Some restaurants substitute cheaper fish for more expensive items such as subbing tilapia for red snapper. Some manufacturers produce products made with fish or products produced in equipment formerly holding fish. So the fish allergy person has to be exquisitely careful reading labels in the supermarket. One of the symptoms of a fish or shellfish allergy is asthma. Not difficulty breathing, but asthma. It happens when the immune system sends out an antibody called Immunoglobulin E or iGe. The antibodies meet up with cells releasing chemicals to cause an allergic reaction. The antibodies make breathing worse for asthmatics.

3. Tree nuts and peanuts
There are plenty of studies showing that eating tree nuts and peanuts helps asthma. For those with nut allergies, though, there is no help. Eating tree nuts and peanuts can cause wheezing and shortness of breath on its own, but coupled with asthma, it gets worse.

4. Eggs
While eggs don’t necessarily cause an asthma attack, the symptoms of one are present in those allergic to eggs. The immune system thinks the proteins in eggs are foreign invaders, so it sends out chemicals to fight the supposed invasion. One of the symptoms of this allergy is wheezing and difficulty breathing. To anyone with asthma, this can seem like an asthma attack.

5. Sulfites
One of the trigger foods for asthma isn’t a food but a preservative. Sulfite has been used for centuries to preserve medications, fresh fruits and vegetables, and processed foods to prevent browning and discoloration. The preservative causes wheezing and difficulty breathing that could become very serious. Avoid foods labeled as containing sulfur dioxide, potassium bisulfite, potassium metabisulfite, sodium bisulfite, sodium metabisulfite, and sodium sulfite.