Neurology: A large intake of healthy plant-based diets may be directly related to a 10% reduction in the population risk of stroke

March 15th, 2021 // - Recently, in a research report published in the international journal Neurology , scientists from the Harvard Chen Zengxi School of Public Health and other institutions found through research that eating a healthy plant-based diet ( Including foods such as vegetables, whole grains and legumes), and reducing the intake of unhealthy foods (refined grains or added sugars) may reduce the risk of stroke by 10%.

Image source: American Heart Association

Ischemic stroke is related to the obstruction of blood flow in the brain, and it is also the most common type of stroke.

In this study, the researchers analyzed a total of 209,508 participants who did not suffer from cardiovascular disease or cancer at the beginning of the study.

Researchers said that, for example, participants who ate the highest level of healthy plant-based diets on average consumed 12 servings of healthy plant-based foods, such as green leafy vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, and vegetable oils, while those who consumed the lowest levels Participating combinations of healthy plant-based foods consume an average of 7.

During the course of the study, 6241 participants suffered a stroke, including 3015 patients with ischemic stroke and 853 patients with hemorrhagic stroke.

Researcher Baden said that we believe that the reason for these differences may be due to the difference in the quality of the plant-based diets people eat.

Finally, the researchers said that although the type of stroke that more than one-third of stroke patients suffers from is not yet known, the results of the study consistently show that participants who consume a plant-based diet have a reduced risk of ischemic stroke and all strokes.

Original source:

Megu Y Baden, Zhilei Shan, Fenglei Wang, et al.