Coffee As An Effective Natural Asthma Treatment

Studies, worldwide, have consistently shown coffee to reduce asthma symptoms. From a study conducted by a Harvard researcher to the Second National Health and Nutrition Survey and a number of European studies, the results are the same: nearly 30% of sufferers improved from consuming coffee. Correlations were also found between the amount of coffee consumed and the degree of relief.

Most asthma treatments are vasodilators, steroids or some combination. Almost all asthma treatments are stimulants. Vasodilators and steroids both open airways but in a different manner. The primary effect of asthma steroids or corticosteroids is a reduction of inflammation. Caffeine has shown some minor anti-inflammatory effects. Primarily, caffeine is a vasodilator and has a very similar effect to popular asthma medications in fast-acting inhalers. Not surprisingly, like other vasodilators, it is also a powerful stimulant.

There's a paradox for the asthma sufferer. Struggling to breathe invokes anxiety which can make asthma worse and certainly more unpleasant. Difficulty breathing causes most asthma patients to want to restrict any stimuli. Even mild stimuli like light or noise which a patient may not otherwise notice can put additional demands on the body. If someone can't breathe well, it's natural to want to slow everything down—slow metabolism and oxygen requirements. Yet, both the medications and natural chemicals in our bodies that counteract asthma aren't depressants or sedatives; they're stimulants.

Endorphins and cortisol are both thought to suppress asthma symptoms. We produce endorphins when we exercise. And cortisol is our bodies' natural anti-inflammatory, produced by our adrenal glands as a stress response. However, having an asthma attack doesn't inspire someone to run around the block—and that's not recommended—though it is sometimes effective.

Coffee has a similar effect to the xanthine family of drugs often used in fast-acting asthma inhalers. But it doesn't have the dramatic increase in heart rate and demand for oxygen produced by exercise. And it's fairly fast acting: ten to twenty minutes, sometimes faster.

It's unclear why all asthmatics don't respond well to coffee. The answer may lie in the cause of asthma. Just as asthma treatment is often a two-pronged approach, the cause is often broken into irritants and allergens. Allergens are organic materials which cause a histamine reaction. Irritants are particulates that do not cause a histamine reaction but may cause asthma or other respiratory problems from direct contact. Asthma sufferers usually have some combination of allergies and reaction to irritants. Coffee may be more effective at treating one than the other. Because the caffeine in coffee is similar to xanthine and dimethylxanthine in particular, and dimethylxanthine is more effective at treating allergens than irritants, coffee may be, as well.

There's no wives' tale here. If you or someone you encounter is having an asthma attack and they don't have a fast-acting inhaler, coffee can be an extremely effective treatment. And for the chronic or periodic sufferer, one to three cups of coffee can keep symptoms under control if not completely at bay.


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