A healthy and balanced diet would reduce the risk of stroke by 8%.
- A diet based on plants, whole grains and beans could reduce the risk of ischemic stroke by up to 10%.
- Ischemic stroke is manifested by a blockage of blood flow to the brain.
Whether out of ecological conviction, for the animal cause, or both, the vegetarian diet is gaining more and more followers. Some also choose to give up meat for health reasons. Indeed, research demonstrating the risks of too much meat consumption has multiplied in recent years. A plant-based diet has notably been associated with a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and even diabetes.
According to a study published this week in the journal Neurology, a diet based on plants, whole grains and beans (as well as a reduction in the consumption of refined grains and added sugars) could reduce the risk of ischemic stroke, which is a blockage of blood flow to the brain, by up to 10%.
The study involved 209,508 people who did not have cardiovascular disease or cancer at the start of the study. The researchers followed the participants for more than 25 years. Every two to four years, the latter had to complete a questionnaire aimed at providing information on their food consumption during the previous year.
An 8% reduced risk for ischemic stroke
The researchers divided the participants into five groups based on the quality of their diet, namely a greater amount of plant-based foods, without excluding all animal-based foods. During the study, 6,241 people had a stroke, of which 3,015 had an ischemic stroke and 853 had a hemorrhagic stroke.
People who ate the most plant foods had a 10% lower overall risk of stroke and 8% for ischemic stroke, compared to other participants who ate the least. However, the researchers found no difference in the risk of hemorrhagic stroke.
If the researchers found no direct association between a vegetarian diet and the risk of stroke, they believe, however, that a large amount of plants in one’s diet is valuable in limiting the risks. “Previous research shows that ischemic stroke accounts for around 85% of all strokes – these results are reassuring“, says Megu Baden, researcher at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and lead author of the study.
The latter recalls, however, that all the volunteers who took part in the study were health professionals and mostly white people, which represents a limit insofar as these results do not necessarily apply to all of population.
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