“Western” diets consisting of red and processed meats, refined grains, sweets and desserts may be associated with a greater risk of stroke, according to a study published in this week’s rapid access issue of Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.
A “prudent” diet characterized by higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, fish, legumes and whole grains – like the one the American Heart Association recommends – may protect against stroke, the study found. This is the first study to examine overall dietary habits and stroke risk.
“Several foods and nutrients have been linked to the risk of stroke; therefore, dietary modification may be an important way to reduce the risk of stroke,” said Teresa Fung, Sc.D., the study’s lead author and assistant professor of nutrition at Simmons College School for Health Studies in Boston, and adjunct assistant professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. “Because nutrients and food are consumed in combination, their cumulative effect on disease risk may be best investigated by considering the entire eating pattern.”
Researchers gathered dietary information on 71,768 female nurses, ages 38-63, who had no history of heart disease or diabetes. Starting in 1984 and following them until 1998, researchers identified two dietary patterns: “prudent” and “Western.”
The women reported their health, lifestyle, and diet information to the Harvard School of Public Health every two to four years. Researchers examined whether their diet affected subsequent stroke risk.
During 14 years of follow-up, 791 strokes occurred: 476 ischemic (caused by a blocked artery in the brain), 189 hemorrhagic (caused by a blood vessel rupturing on or near the brain) and 126 unclassified strokes.
Based on what they were eating, each nurse received two scores. The “prudent” score reflected how closely their diet resembled the prudent dietary pattern and the “Western” score reflected how closely their diet resembled the Western pattern. A higher score indicated closer adherence to the dietary pattern. The women were ranked according to the scores, then divided into five groups (quintiles). Because each participant received a Western diet and a prudent diet score, there was one group of quintiles for each type of diet. Those who were at the bottom quintile of each dietary pattern became the reference group, and all the other quintiles were compared against them, Fung said.