According to Reader’s Digest, a large clinical study called the Nurses Health Study showed that eating a typical American diet that is high in fat, simple carbohydrates and low in fruits and vegetables can increase your stroke risk by 58%. The study found that eating more whole grains, fish, and fruits and vegetables could lower your stroke risk by as much as 30%.

Some of the foods that the magazine recommended that we eat to reduce our stroke risk include:

  1. Beans and Other Folate-Rich Foods: Beans are not just heart healthy; they are brain healthy too! That is because they have a lot of the B vitamin folate, or folic acid. According to a large, 20 year old study, eating a diet with a high amount of folate reduces your stroke risk by 20%. Also, researchers have found that after food manufacturers started to supplement flour with folic acid to lower birth defects, there also was a 15% reduction in stroke deaths.
  2. Antioxidants: Fruits and vegetables help against strokes because they are high in antioxidants, which cut inflammation in the body and prevent the build up of plaques in your arteries. They also boost blood flow all over the body by making blood vessels dilate.
  3. Foods High in Potassium: Bananas are high in potassium, and research shows that eating a diet low in potassium will increase your stroke risk by 28%. Also, a study found that people who eat nine servings of potassium daily can lower their stroke risk by 38%.
  4. Low Fat Milk: Milk is a great source of potassium, magnesium and calcium, all of which help to drop your blood pressure, which can reduce stroke risk. A study in Hawaii of Japanese men found that those who drank at least 16 ounces of milk daily had half the stroke risk of men who did not drink milk.
  5. Foods Rich in Magnesium: Foods such as barley and cornmeal are high in magnesium and can cut your stroke risk by 30%.
  6. Fatty Fish: We all know salmon and other types of fatty fish are good for the heart, but it also can protect you from stroke. The omega-3 fats in salmon, tuna and mackerel may be able to improve blood flow in your body by reducing inflammation and making your blood less likely to clot.

Dining Aids for Stroke

freedom

Freedom No Slip Scoop Plate with Suction Pad Base

It is important for people who have had a stroke to eat a well balanced meal so they can stay healthy and strong. This can become more challenging after a stroke, which is why many stroke patients actually suffer from malnutrition. Fortunately, there are many helpful stroke products that make eating much easier. the Freedom No Slip Scoop Plate with Suction Pad Base is ideal if you have limited use of one hand. The dish will not move when the vacuum pad bad is attached. Also, the Dycem No Slip Strips are helpful to build up the handles of eating utensils so that you can grip them more easily when you eat.