Introduction: It is an exercise of the most common risk factors of asthma attacks. Athletes who are involved in heavy training and competition programs, are more prone to upper respiratory tract infection. Some research evidence have shown that consumption of honey as an antioxidant and is also a source of carbohydrates in heavy and exhaustive aerobic exercise helps to improve immune function.
Methodology: 16 elite female swimmers with a mean age 12.44±1.89 years, height 141.63±18.48, weight43.25±16.72 kg, fat percent 7.81±1.64 and BMI 4387.4±526.21 were chosen. These people are likely asthma sufferers who were selected among 35 elite swimmers identified by ISAAC questionnaire and randomly divided in two groups. Experimental subjects consumed konar honey three times a day and the third dose one hour before sleep and received 2.5 ml per serving and also have time to swim training for 8 consecutive days and a control group without the use of honey began to practice swimming. To investigate changes in Cortisol and salivary immunoglobulin A samples were collected from subjects first and last day and ISAAC questionnaire was completed after the end of the period.
Results: Differences before and after the experimental group compared with the control group showed consumption of konar honey three times a day for 8 days significantly reduced salivary Cortisol, immunoglobulin A increased and reduce the symptoms of asthma exercise.
Discussion: This study showed that the use of honey can reduce asthma in elite swimmers.