Every year, stroke kills approximately 140,000 Americans with a staggering 795,000 total incidences of stroke according to the Centers of Disease Control. It’s easy to think that we won’t be affected by stroke, but in 2009, 34% of stroke victims were under the age of 65 again reported by CDC.
Stroke can be a life changing event leading to long-term disability.
You may be wondering, how do I keep this from happening to me?
One way, is to make healthy life-style choices through diet. Certain foods are actually proven to reduce the risk of stroke. While this is not a complete compilation of foods, consider the following list:
7 Best Foods to Prevent Stroke
- Salmon-contains omega-3 fats which are known to reduce inflammation in arteries increasing blood flow and decrease risk of blood clots.
- Bananas-eating 9 servings a day of potassium rich foods lowers risk of stroke by 38% compared to those who ate only four servings.
- Almonds-lowers cholesterol. With 9 grams of monounsaturated fat, lowers bad cholesterol and raises good cholesterol. Also contains vitamin E which could keep plaque from building up in the arteries.
- Blueberries-contain antioxidants helping blood vessels widen to increase blood flow and reduce inflammation.
- Oatmeal-lowers “bad” LDL cholesterol. (High cholesterol causes plaque build up in blood vessels around the brain increasing risk for ischemic stroke.
- Low-fat Milk-Contains calcium, magnesium and potassium which can help lower blood pressure. Fatty acids found in milk have positive effects on LDL and HDL cholesterol contributing factors in stroke prevention (Thorning et al, 2016).
- Sweet Potatoes-like bananas, another potassium rich food.
While only a select few are mentioned, the overall benefit of eating fruits and vegetables is know to prevent the incident of stroke (Mo et al, 2019). Also for consideration, nuts are beneficial due to their anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anticarcinogenic properties, but have received mixed results in studies confirming stroke prevention (Shao et al, 2016).
Below is a video highlighting stroke preventing food choices:
Check out the following links for more information on stroke prevention through healthy life-style choices:
http://gallagherhomehealthservices.com/eat-way-healthy-6-recipes-prevent-stroke/
https://www.cdc.gov/stroke/healthy_living.htm
https://www.stroke.org.uk/what-is-stroke/what-can-i-do-to-reduce-my-risk/do-more-exercise
References
Centers of Disease Control. (n.d.). Stroke Facts. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/stroke/facts.htm
Mo, X., Gai, R.T., Sawada, K., Takahashi, Y., Cox, S. E., Nakayama, T., & Mori, R. (2019). Coronary heart disease and stroke disease burden attributed to fruit and vegetable intake in Japan: projected DALYS to 2060. BMC Public Health, 19(1), 1-9. Retrieved from library.neit.edu:2216/ehost/detail/detail?vid=6&sid=a17590bb-c038-4a06-8b8f-d48384b98cd8%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=31174509&db=cmedm
Shao, C., Tang, H., Zhao, W., & He, J. (2016). Nut intake and stroke risk: a dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Scientific Reports, 6, 30394. Retrieved from library.neit.edu:2216/ehost/detail/detail?vid=8&sid=a17590bb-c038-4a06-8b8f-d48384b98cd8%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=27469072&db=cmedm
Thorning, T. K., Raben, A., Tholstrup, T., Soedamah-Muthu, S. S., Givens, I., & Astrup, A. (2016). Milk and dairy products: good or bad for human health? An assessment of the totality of scientific evience. Food and Nutrition Research, 60, 1-11. Retrieved from http://library.neit.edu:2216/ehost/detail/detail?vid=12&sid=a17590bb-c038-4a06-8b8f-d48384b98cd8%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=120831066&db=asn