Risks of specific types of stroke have been linked to the consumption of different foods
A large-scale study has shown that depending on the diet a person may increase or decrease the likelihood of having one type of stroke, but not any type of this pathology.
The study, which covered more than 418 thousand people in different countries, showed that differences in diet can affect the risk of different types of stroke. The article about it is published in the European Heart Journal.
Most previous studies have looked at the link between diet and all types of stroke or the effect of consuming certain foods on the likelihood of ischemic stroke. The new work shows that higher consumption of fruits, vegetables, fiber, milk and dairy products is associated with a reduced risk of ischemic stroke, but does not significantly affect the likelihood of hemorrhagic stroke. In contrast, eating eggs frequently increased the likelihood of hemorrhagic stroke without affecting the risk of ischemic stroke.
Researchers examined data on 418,329 people of both sexes from nine countries (Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK) who participated in the European Prospective Study on Cancer and Nutrition, conducted from 1992 to 2000. Subjects completed questionnaires with questions about diet, lifestyle, medical history, and sociodemographic factors. During the study period, there were 4281 cases of ischemic stroke and 1430 cases of hemorrhagic stroke.
Food groups studied included meat and meat products (red meat, processed meat, and poultry), fish products (white fish and oily fish), dairy products (including milk, yogurt, and cheese), eggs, cereals and cereal products, fruits and vegetables (together and separately), legumes, nuts and seeds, and dietary fiber (total fiber as well as fiber from cereals, fruits, and vegetables separately).
The greatest potential reduction in the likelihood of ischemic stroke is associated with total fiber intake (including fiber from fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, and legumes). Every 10 grams of fiber per day is associated with a 23% lower risk. This is equivalent to about two cases of ischemic stroke per 1,000 people over 10 years. Every 200 grams of fruits and vegetables consumed daily reduces the occurrence of pathology by 13%.
Every 20 grams of eggs consumed daily increases the risk of hemorrhagic stroke by 25%, which is equivalent to 0.66 additional cases per 1000 people in the population for ten years. Note that the average weight of a chicken egg is 60 grams.
This study is very important because stroke is the second most common cause of death worldwide. 85% of strokes are ischemic (occur due to obstruction or cessation of blood access to some part of the brain), the remaining 15% are hemorrhagic (hemorrhages in the brain caused by rupture of pathologically altered vascular walls).
"Our study highlights the importance of separately examining stroke subtypes because dietary associations differ for ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes and is consistent with other data showing that <...> cholesterol levels or obesity also affect stroke types differently," says lead study author Tammy Tong, a nutritional epidemiologist. Scientists note that the correlation found does not yet allow us to say unequivocally that there is a direct causal relationship. However, it will not be superfluous to keep in mind the findings when adjusting the diet in people with the relevant predispositions.