FIRE-Diet: Food as an Intervention to Reduce the Effects of Woodsmoke Exposure on Respiratory Health

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA · Nov 26, 2024

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

The FIRE-Diet trial is exploring whether eating more fatty fish, fruits, and vegetables can help protect healthy people's lungs from the harmful effects of wood smoke, a type of air pollution. The researchers believe that a better diet may strengthen lung health. This study is currently not recruiting participants, but when it does, they will be looking for healthy individuals between the ages of 18 and 65 who don’t have any history of respiratory diseases. To participate, you should currently eat less than two servings of fish each week and fewer than five servings of fruits and vegetables each day.

If you join the study, you'll be asked to follow a specific diet that increases your intake of these healthy foods. You'll also need to provide a sample of mucus from your lungs during the screening visit. Some people won't be able to participate, especially if they are pregnant, have certain health conditions, or if they frequently breathe in wood smoke. Overall, this study aims to understand how diet can play a role in lung health, and participants will be contributing to important research that could benefit many people.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Healthy, and specifically with no respiratory disease
• • Not taking any supplements, or willing to abstain from supplement use for 4-weeks prior to study start and the whole duration of the study,
• • Must currently consume, on average, less than 2 servings of fish per week and fewer than 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day based on screening questionnaires.
• • Must have a null GSTM1 genotype determined at screening.
• • Must be able to provide a sufficient sputum sample during the screening visit.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Pregnant or planning to become pregnant during the study period.
• • Health conditions that would pose an unacceptable risk of dietary change, or conditions that are uncontrolled based on principal investigator's judgement.
• • Actively attempting to lose weight.
• • Frequent wood smoke exposure (e.g. at home or employment).
• • Unable to store provided meals and food safely.
• • Food allergies/intolerance or food aversion preventing adherence to the intervention diet, or unwillingness/medically unable to adjust diet in line with the intervention.
• • Relocation during the study period to an area which will prevent food delivery.
• • History of smoking tobacco, marijuana, or and other substance or vaping within the past 6 months, or having smoked the equivalent of 0.5 pack-years ever.
• • Body mass index (BMI) \<18.5, as determined during the in-person screening visit.