Can a healthy diet reduce the risk of ischemic strokes?

This study investigated a possible link between dietary habits and strokes.

The researchers found that stroke patients were less likely to maintain a healthy diet compared to healthy controls.

Healthy diet and physical activity have been shown to be beneficial for overall health, but have not been studied in detail as a risk factor for ischemic strokes. Previous studies have demonstrated that some diets, such as the Mediterranean diet, can reduce the risk of heart and blood vessel (cardiovascular) disease.

This study compared the dietary habits of 300 ischemic stroke patients with those of healthy controls. Both stroke patients and healthy controls were from north Spain, where a Mediterranean diet would be common. Dietary habits were assessed using a standardized questionnaire.

Overall, stroke patients reported a higher daily calorie intake (2444.8 kcal) compared to healthy controls (2208.7 kcal). Stroke patients also reported higher protein intake, higher cholesterol intake and higher breaded-food intake. Intake of probiotic yogurt was noted to be lower among stroke patients compared to controls.

By comparison, healthy controls reported eating more vegetables and whole-foods, and increased motivation to reduce salt and fat intake.

Authors concluded that stroke patients are less likely to maintain a healthy diet. This could indicate that dietary habits are a significant risk factor for ischemic strokes.

This case controled study did not investigate any causality between dietary habits and strokes, and did not account for various other factors such as physical activity or alcohol consumption which may affect stroke risk.