Eat fruits, yoghurt daily to reduce stroke risk

Different types of food are linked to risks of different types of stroke, say researchers, adding that higher intakes of fruit, vegetables and dairy products is linked to a lower risk of ischaemic stroke.

For the study, published in the European Heart Journal, the researchers picked over 4,18,000 people in nine European countries and investigated ischaemic stroke and haemorrhagic stroke separately.

The study found that while higher intakes of fruit, vegetables, fibre, milk, cheese or yoghurt were each linked to a lower risk of ischaemic stroke, there was no significant association with a lower risk of haemorrhagic stroke.

However, greater consumption of eggs was associated with a higher risk of haemorrhagic stroke, but not with ischaemic stroke, the researchers said.

“Our study also highlights the importance of examining stroke subtypes separately, as the dietary associations differ for ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke, and is consistent with other evidence, which shows that other risk factors, such as cholesterol levels or obesity, also influence the two stroke subtypes differently,” said study first author Tammy Tong.

Ischaemic stroke occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery supplying blood to the brain or forms somewhere else in the body and travels to the brain where it blocks blood flow.

Fruit and vegetables alone were associated with a 13 per cent lower risk for every 200g eaten a day, which is equivalent to one less case per 1,000 of the population over 10 years.