The best edible insurance for reducing the risk of strokes is to eat more fruit, vegetables, and other high-fiber fare, and less of what most folks usually eat.
After tracking nearly 72,000 women for 14 years, researchers found that women who ate the most fruits, vegetables, fish, and whole grains were less likely to have a stroke than those who ate less of this healthy fare.
The less-healthy diet was more typical of the American way of eating — more red and processed meats, refined grains, and sweets.
“This is the first study to examine how overall dietary habits impact stroke,” says lead researcher Teresa Fung, ScD, a nutritionist at Simmons College of Health Studies in Boston and at Harvard School of Public Health. “Its importance is in pointing people to a general direction in their diet.”