Two tomatoes a day will help people with Lung problem, ex-smokers

More than two tomatoes a day will slower the rate of natural lung function decline, with ex-smokers seeming to benefit most of all---was found according to a study.

A team of scientists observed similar benefits for people who ate more than three portions of fresh fruit a day, especially apples.

"This study shows that diet might help repair lung damage in people who have stopped smoking," study co-author Vanessa Garcia-Larsen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore said in a statement. "It also suggests that a diet rich in fruits can slow down the lung's natural ageing process even if you have never smoked."

In the study published in the European Respiratory journal, it was said that the rate of lung decline, which happens normally in people from about the age of 30, was slower in those who ate more tomatoes and other fruit.

The effect was observed only with fresh fruit and vegetables, not processed. "The findings support the need for dietary recommendations, especially for people at risk of developing respiratory diseases," Garcia-Larsen said. These included Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), caused mainly by smoking.

"Diet could become one way of combating rising diagnosis of COPD around the world," she added.