Certain types of cooking oil adversely affect lung function. The culprit is gamma-tocopherol, a form of vitamin E that increases inflammation in the lungs and increases airway hyperresponsiveness, say US scientists at Northwestern University. Which oils are they talking about?
The studies were carried out in mice as well as in humans. They found that high levels of gamma-tocopherol in the human body reduced lung function by 10 to 17 percent. over a dozen years.
Lung function is adversely affected by the consumption of corn, rapeseed and soybean oils. Olive oil and sunflower oils (rich in alpha-tocopherol) have a positive effect on the lungs, reducing the level of inflammation.
The situation is worst in the United States, where many people have recently started using soybean, canola and corn oils in the hope of having health effects on the heart, the authors of the study warn. The average level of gamma-tocopherol in the United States is four times higher than that observed in European countries with high levels of olive and sunflower oil consumption.
– Our study estimated that up to 4,5 million people in the US may live with reduced lung capacity resulting from excessive consumption of gamma-tocopherol – emphasizes Joan Cook-Mills, one of the authors of the study, the results of which were presented at this year’s Oxidants and Antioxidants World Congress in Biology.
Sources: Respiratory Research / Money.pl
Text: Tomasz Kobosz