Background: Many believe consumption of cow’s milk causes or exacerbates respiratory symptoms and increases mucus production, especially in asthmatic children. Although scientific evidence does not support this belief, many choose to eliminate dairy from their children’s diet. This practice may cause nutritional deficiency and increase the risk of atopy and other adverse outcomes.
Aim: To objectively assess the effect of cow’s milk on respiratory symptoms and variables of airway function and inflammation after consumption of cow’s milk compared to soy milk in a double blinded study.
Methods: 25 asthmatic children and 50 healthy control children aged 6-18 were recruited. After 24 hours of avoiding dairy products, 11 asthmatic children and 26 controls drank cow’s chocolate milk and 14 asthmatics and 25 controls drank soy chocolate milk. The following were assessed before and 30, 60 90 and 120 minutes post exposure: respiratory symptoms, fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), spirometry and oxygen saturation (spO2).
Results: Mean baseline FEV1, FEV1/FVC, FEF25-75 (percent predicted) and FeNO (ppb) levels were 92%, 97%, 84% and 44 ppb respectively for asthmatics and 101%, 103%, 100% and 14 ppb respectively for controls (p=0.05 for FEV1 and p2 was observed for each of the post exposure interval measurements compared to baseline pre-exposure for both asthmatics and controls and for both exposure to cow milk or soy milk.
Conclusions: This study shows that acute exposure to cow’s milk is not associated with respiratory symptoms, airway inflammation or responsiveness.
