Piling up your plate with vegetables and fruits may have benefits beyond cancer prevention and maintaining healthy weight. Scientists at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet now say that it plays a significant role in reducing women’s chances of coming down with a stroke irrespective of their medical history of cardiovascular diseases.
The study and its finding were published in the American Heart Association’s journal called Stroke.
As per the PhD student and first author of the study, Susanne Rautiainen, “Eating antioxidant-rich foods may reduce your risk of stroke by inhibiting oxidative stress and inflammation. This means people should eat more foods such as fruits and vegetables that contribute to total antioxidant capacity.” (1)
Usually the body is able to neutralize the effect of free radicals that cause damage to cells but when there is an excessive amount of free radicals, there occurs an oxidative stress imbalance. It is in such a scenario that antioxidants present in vegetables and fruits in the form of carotenoids, flavonoids, vitamins C and E etc help by scavenging the free radicals.
In addition it has been observed that the antioxidants also help reduce blood clotting, blood pressure and inflammation.
The researchers used a food frequency questionnaire to gather the data on foods they ate. The total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of the participants was determined.
This reflected the capacity of all antioxidants in the diet of a person to reduce the ill effect of free radicals. Based on the TACs obtained of reach woman, they were divided into nine groups -- five groups with a history of cardiovascular diseases and four without.
It was seen that in the groups where women were without a history of cardiovascular disease, the highest scorers of TAC got their antioxidants from fruits and vegetables. These high TAC-scoring women also had significant 17 percent lower risk of total stroke compared to the low scorers of this group. (2)
In the groups where women had a previous history of cardiovascular disease a similar result was repeated. Those with higher TAC scores (such as those who were at the top 75 percent of the pack) had significantly lower -- 46 percent to 57 percent -- rates of hemorrhagic stroke compared to those at the bottom of the pack. (3)
According to Rautiainen, “To the best of our knowledge, no study has assessed the relation between dietary TAC and stroke risk in participants with a previous history of cardiovascular disease. Further studies are needed to assess the link between dietary TAC and stroke risk in men and in people in other countries, but we think our results are applicable.” (4)
SOURCES:
1. Vegetables, Fruits, Grains Reduce Stroke Risk in Women; Science Daily; December, 2011; http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111201163556.htm
2. Vegetables, fruits, grains reduce stroke risk in women; American Heart Association - Newsroom Home; December, 2011; http://newsroom.heart.org/pr/aha/vegetables-fruits-grains-reduce-219833.aspx
3. Total Antioxidant Capacity of Diet and Risk of Stroke- A Population-Based Prospective Cohort of Women; Stroke Journal); December, 2011; http://stroke.ahajournals.org/content/early/2011/11/30/STROKEAHA.111.635557
4. Vegetables, fruits, grains reduce stroke risk in women; Eureka Alert; December, 2011; http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/aha-vfg113011.php
INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE. ALL INFORMATION GIVEN IS TO BE CHECKED WITH YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE IMPLEMENTING OR TAKING THEM AS STANDARD OR VERIFIED.
Mamta Singh is a published author of the books Migraines for the Informed Woman – Tips From A Sufferer: ISBN: 978-81-291-1517-1 (Publisher: Rupa & Co. URL: http://www.amazon.com/Migraines-Informed-Woman-Tips-Sufferer/dp/8129115174/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1298990756&sr=1-2), Mentor Your Mind – Tested Mantras For The Busy Woman: ISBN: 978-81-207-5973-2 (Publisher: Sterling Publishers; URL: http://www.amazon.com/Mentor-Your-Mind-Tested-Mantras/dp/8120759737/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316063179&sr=8-1) and the upcoming The Women’s Complete Fitness Guide (Publisher: Hay House India).
She is also a seasoned business, creative and academic writer. She is a certified fitness instructor, personal trainer & sports nutritionist through IFA, Florida USA.
Mamta is an NCFE-certified Holistic Health Therapist SAC Dip U.K. She is the lead writer and holds Expert Author status in many well-received health, fitness and nutrition sites. She runs her own popular blogs on migraines in women and holistic health.
Mamta holds a double Master's Degree in Commerce and Business. She is a registered practitioner with the UN recognised Art of Living Foundation. Please visit www.mamtasingh.com
Reviewed January 10, 2012
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith