Dear Editor,

I was very interested to read of your research on the effect of tomatoes, carrots, and leafy vegetables in reducing asthma.

A large-scale experiment to test these theories in practice, would be to obtain the statistics for the population of Italy, where tomatoes (especially) are an integral part of the national diet, and basil (a green leafy vegetable) is nearly always included in tomato dishes.

This could then also be compared with other countries, such as Switzerland & Austria (countries near to or neighbouring Italy), but where tomatoes do not play such a prominent role in the diet.

And in case factors other than diet are influencing the outcome, then several other countries could also be used for comparison eg, Finland, Scotland, Kenya, South Africa, Paraguay, Fiji, and Australia.

What do you think?