published in Neurology Open Access<\/a>, an official journal of the American Academy of Neurology, found that following a Mediterranean diet may help mitigate stroke risk in women. <\/p>\nThe researchers found that women with the highest adherence to the Mediterranean diet were 18 percent less likely to experience any stroke, including a 16 percent lower risk of ischemic stroke, and a 25 percent lower risk of hemorrhagic stroke.<\/p>\n
Ischemic stroke occurs when blood flow is blocked to part of the brain; it is the most common type of stroke. Hemorrhagic stroke is caused by bleeding in the brain.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur findings support the mounting evidence that a healthy diet is critical to stroke prevention,\u201d said study author Sophia S. Wang, from the United States-based City of Hope cancer research centre.<\/p>\n
She added that, as stroke is a leading cause of death and disability, it is interesting to think that improving our diets could lessen our risk for this devastating disease. <\/p>\n
The study noted that women have a higher lifetime incidence of stroke than men, partially attributable to the sharp increase in stroke risk among postmenopausal women. <\/p>\n
Women also have an increased lifetime prevalence of stroke risk factors, including hypertension and arrhythmia. <\/p>\n
How was the study done?<\/p>\n
The study involved more than 105,600 women with an average age of 53 at the start of the study, who had no history of stroke. <\/p>\n
Participants filled out a questionnaire on their diet and were given a score from zero to nine based on how closely they followed a Mediterranean diet. <\/p>\n
After the first survey, participants were followed for an average of 21 years. During that time, the researchers recorded 4,083 strokes, with 3,358 ischemic strokes and 725 hemorrhagic strokes. <\/p>\n
The study has some limitations, mainly that it is based on self-reported data, which always means some information may not be fully accurate. <\/p>\n
The researchers noted that further studies are needed to confirm these findings and to help us understand the mechanisms behind them, so we can identify new ways to prevent stroke.<\/p>\n
Other benefits of the Mediterranean diet<\/p>\n
The Mediterranean diet is characterised by its largely plant-based emphasis on healthy fats, especially olive oil. It prioritises high intake of vegetables, legumes, fruits, fish, and olive oil, and low intake of dairy, red meat, and saturated fats.<\/p>\n
A recent study<\/a> associated the Mediterranean diet with lower risks of dementia among people with genetic risks. <\/p>\nThe US researchers found that people following this diet were less likely to develop dementia and had slower cognitive decline.<\/p>\n
Other proven benefits include better gum health, sugar control, and less age-related cognitive decline. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Mediterranean diet has long been linked to a wide range of health benefits, from slowing the onset…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[163,1168,85,46,1717,17088],"class_list":{"0":"post-275469","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthy-diet","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-medical-research","13":"tag-mediterranean-diet"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}