Eighty percent preventable, according to the National Stroke Association. That’s 80 percent, people? You’d think we’d have nearly eradicated a disease like this already. Like smallpox and polio. The big difference is that preventing stroke isn’t a simple matter of getting an inoculation. Oh no, we are talking about lifestyle changes, one of the biggest challenges facing the modern day American public today.
What’s a stroke?
A stroke is generally thought of as a “brain attack.” It’s like a heart attack, but it affects the brain. Strokes strike down 500,000 Americans a year, with 150,000 fatalities – 60 percent of those afflicted were women. Depending on the source, strokes are either the third or fourth cause of death in the U.S. It is the leading cause of long-term disability in this country. Cost: about $23 million a year.
And knowing that stroke can strike anyone at any time in his life, anywhere, is unnerving. But there are risk factors one can use to calculate the likelihood of a stroke anytime soon. If you have high blood pressure, are overweight, have a family history of stroke and have poor cholesterol levels, you could be at high risk of a stroke.
The Challenge of Being Healthy
So up for a challenge? Adopt a healthy diet! One that lowers cholesterol, which leads to plaque build-up in arteries. As well as lowering blood pressure, a good diet can also lower plaque’s ability to form clots that form nasty blockages.
One easy thing to remember about a healthy diet is that it is colorful fun. The more colors, the better. Deep-colored greens, yellows, reds and oranges offer a wonderful array of nutrients and antioxidants. It is speculated that antioxidants stop inflammation in the body by neutralizing free radicals -- bad cells that steal from other cells creating an area of cellular instability. That’s a tumor waiting to happen. No one wants that.
So following is a short segment on healthy foods for those who are at risk for strokes. “Free your mind, and your palate will follow” or something like that.
Ready, Set, Go!
Bananas, “Nature’s candy,” are super high in potassium as are baked potatoes with their skin, prunes, raisins, and low-fat yogurt. People who ate large amounts of potassium-rich foods cut their stroke risk by 38 percent. Potassium has the strongest positive effect on maintaining good blood pressure. It works by regulating a normal water balance between cells and body fluids. It is also essential for proper nerve response and muscle contractions. Low potassium and calcium blood levels have been linked to an increase of ischemic strokes in middle-aged women.
Eighty percent of all strokes, an ischemic stroke is caused by a blood-clot blockage in the main arteries that feed the brain blood, oxygen and nutrients. This deficit causes brain cells to malfunction and die. The other type of stroke is caused by a weak spot in the wall of a blood vessel or artery that bursts. Hemorrhagic strokes result in blood seeping into the brain cavity, creating pressure on tissue and blood vessels.
Other foods rich in potassium, magnesium and calcium, like low-fat or fat-free dairy foods, naturally lower blood pressure. There is also the possibility that vitamin D is also partly responsible for this. A 22-year study of more than 3,000 Japanese men in Hawaii who drank two glasses of milk a day had half the strokes compared to non-milk drinkers.
Who doesn’t like snacking on nuts and maybe nachos while watching TV? Nuts like cashews, walnuts and almonds are great sources of magnesium as are barley, cornmeal, beans, whole grain products, rice, oat bran cereal and cooked spinach. In one study, when this diet was eaten with a total diet low in saturated fat, it appeared that the bad cholesterol, LDL, dropped by 28 percent, which was almost as effective as the cholesterol-lowering class of drugs named statins, but without the side effects.
"Although it is premature to recommend magnesium supplementation to reduce risk of stroke, increased consumption of magnesium-rich foods such as green leafy vegetables, beans, and whole-grain cereals appears to be prudent," the study researchers write.
Colorful, Fresh and Fun
Colorful fruits and veggies are fantastic sources of antioxidants. It is known that antioxidants reduce inflammation and prevent plaque build-up in arteries. It also helps blood vessels dilate, which improves blood pressure and blood flow. Fruits and vegetables included in this group include pears, tomatoes, carrots, apples, guavas, pink grapefruit, watermelons, bell peppers and oranges. Oranges are high in flavonoids, another antioxidant, which in one study resulted in a 19 percent drop in strokes.
Other fun foods to eat in moderation but that may help you see a drop in your stroke risk (as long as you don’t gain weight) are low-fat meats, poultry and oily fish like salmon, mackerel, herring, trout and albacore tuna.
The yummiest, fun foods you can consume and help lower your stroke risk are dark chocolate and red wine. Chocolate is a known antioxidant. In a study, those who consumed the darkest chocolate saw a 17 percent decrease in their stroke risk. And another study demonstrated that “moderately” drinking three to nine alcoholic drinks a week seemed to lower stroke risks by 9 percent. Red wine has antioxidants as well, so you get the benefits of that as well as the effects of the alcohol. Told you this is fun. Now go out and forage.