Professor Dato’ Dr Balwant Singh Gendeh has asthma. Drawing on his knowledge and experience, he identified foods that worsened his breathing and migraines. In this article, he shares the dietary adjustments that helped manage his symptoms — and could help others too.
WORDS LIM TECK CHOON
 FEATURED EXPERTPROFESSOR DATO’ DR BALWANT SINGH GENDEH Senior Consultant Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) Surgeon Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur |
Professor Dato’ Dr Balwant Singh Gendeh makes no secret of the fact that he has asthma. Below are the ‘foods to avoid’ tips that he himself adheres to, which he claims have been of tremendous benefit in minimizing episodes among people living with asthma, headaches, and migraines.
BEVERAGES TO AVOID
- Ice water. Leave it out to ‘warm up’ for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Malted drinks, including flavoured ones.
DAIRY PRODUCTS TO AVOID
- All types of milk, including fresh milk, carton or bottled milk, and powder milk
- Vanilla ice cream. Other flavours are fine to consume in moderation.
BISCUITS, COOKIES, CAKES & SPREADS TO AVOID
- Chocolate-, cheese-, and peanut-based biscuits and cakes. Plain cream crackers and Marie biscuits are okay to eat, however.
- Peanut butter spread.
- Hazelnut cocoa spread.
OTHER COMMON FOODS TO AVOID
- Nuts such as peanuts, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachio, cashew nuts, etc.
- Satay sauce.
- Egg white if you have eczema.
- Banana if you have migraine and headaches.
- Sambal belacan.
- Nasi lemak sambal or gravy paste.
- Tom yum paste or soup.
- Oyster sauce.
- Seafoods, including prawns, crabs, squids, cockles, oysters, clams, etc.
| This article is part of our series on foods and how they can make a positive or negative impact on our health. |
