To Prevent Lung Infections, Use the Right Oils

This blog is not about diabetes, but may help many with diabetes and their friends. When I first read this, I had to reread it. The next step was to ask for a full copy of the study. This was furnished.

The Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL has published the study. The study examined 4,526 individuals from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study (CARDIA). The study shows drastically different health effects of vitamin E depending on its form. The form of Vitamin E called gamma-tocopherol in the ubiquitous soybean, corn and canola oils is associated with decreased lung function in humans. The other form of Vitamin E, alpha-tocopherol, which is found in olive and sunflower oils, is associated with better lung function.

Senior author Joan Cook-Mills, an associate professor of medicine in allergy/immunology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine presented her research in May at the Oxidants and Antioxidants in Biology World Congress. It was also published in the journal Respiratory Research.

Cook-Mills reports that at the rate of affected people in the study, there could be 4 and one-half million individuals in the U.S. with reduced lung function because of their high canola, soybean, and corn oil consumption or gamma-tocopherol consumption.

A spirometer is the instrument used to measure the capacity of the lungs and this showed that alpha-tocopherol form of Vitamin E improved lung function.

The rates of asthma in the U.S. has increased in the last 40 years, coinciding with the removal from our diets of lard and butter and replacing these with soybean, canola, and corn oils. Supposedly, according to faulty research, they were thought to be healthier for our hearts. Cook-Mills said that in looking at other countries' asthma rates, those with significantly lower asthma rates have diets high in olive and sunflower oils.

“In the U.S., the average blood plasma level of gamma-tocopherol is four or more times higher than those of European and Scandinavian countries that consume sunflower and olive oil, Cook-Mills noted.”
"People in countries that consume olive and sunflower oil have the lowest rate of asthma and those that consume soybean, corn and canola oil have the highest rate of asthma," Cook-Mills said. "When people consume alpha-tocopherol, which is rich in olive oil and sunflower oil, their lung function is better."