Food types may have role in risk of strokes

Health: Study shows dietary factors differ for two categories of illness

A person’s risk of getting a certain type of stroke may depend on the type of food they eat or avoid.

Scientists looked at the association between food and two major types of stroke – ischaemic and haemorrhagic.

Ischaemic occurs due to a blockage in the artery cutting off the blood supply to the brain, while haemorrhagic occurs when there is bleeding in the brain that damages surrounding cells.

They found higher intake of fibre to be linked to a decreased risk of ischaemic stroke, while greater consumption of eggs was associated with a higher chance of haemorrhagic stroke. Dr Tammy Tong, study first author and a nutritional epidemiologist at the Nuffield Department of Population Health, Oxford University, said: “The most important finding is that higher consumption of both dietary fibre and fruit and vegetables was associated with lower risks of ischaemic stroke, which supports current European guidelines.

“The general public should be recommended to increase their fibre and fruit and vegetable consumption, if they are not already meeting these guidelines.

“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.”

The researchers looked at data from more than 418,000 people in nine European countries, in one of the largest studies of its kind.

The participants completed questionnaires providing information about their diet, lifestyle and medical history.

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