Study: Fruits, Vegetables Lower Risk of Stroke

Mom always told you to eat your vegetables.

Now researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) are offering more confirmation that she was right, with the first study showing a correlation between eating fruits and vegetables and a reduced chance of stroke.

In an article released earlier this month, HSPH scientists concluded that eating five servings of fruits and vegetables is associated with a 30 percent lower risk of ischemic stroke. Ischemic stroke--the most common type of stroke--is caused by a blockage of blood vessels in the brain.

"Our study provides further support for previous recommendations that men and women consume at least five servings per day of fruits and vegetables," says the survey's prime author, Kaumudi J. Joshipura. "This will reduce their risk of stroke and improve their overall health."

But not just any fruits or vegetables will cut your chances of having a stroke.

In particular, green, leafy vegetables and citrus fruits and juices were found to have the most beneficial effects, according to Joshipura, assistant professor of oral health policy and epidemiology at HSPH.

The data did detect some reduced risk of stroke when the subject ate only three servings of fruits and vegetables a day. But, for increased consumption rates up to five servings per day, subjects' chances of avoiding a stroke improved.

The study tracked the eating habits of 75,596 women and 38,683 men enrolled in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study and the Brigham and Women's Hospital sponsored Nurses' Health Study.

The Health Professionals Follow-Up Study tracked a class of men from 1986 to 1995. In 1986, the men were from 40 to 75 years old. Over that eight-year period, 204 men had an ischemic stroke.

The Nurses' Health Study followed a group of female nurses from 1980 to 1994. In 1980, the women ranged in age from 34 to 59. A total of 366 women had an ischemic stroke during that 14-year period.

Researchers sought to identify other causes of stroke risk, including smoking, lack of exercise and family history, and focus instead on strokes not obviously attributable to these factors.

Walter C. Willett, a co-author of the HSPH study, says no one nutritional component of produce is responsible for lower health risks.

"There are many chemicals in fruits and vegetables that plausibly reduce the risk of stroke," he says. "We're probably seeing contributions of a number of nutrients in these foods."

Previous health studies have shown that the nutritional parts of fruits and vegetables--like fiber, antioxidants and potassium--have been associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.

And nutritional guidelines emphasizing a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, like the food pyramid, have been around for years.

But never before has a study shown what this one does--a "strong protective relationship between the consumption of fruits and vegetables and stroke..."

Legumes and potatoes did not decrease the study subjects' risk of strokes.

Nearly 600,00 Americans suffer a stroke each year. Thirty percent of those stroke victims are under age 65.

The study was published in the October 6 issue of the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA).