Scientists have learned about reducing the risk of stroke while following a Mediterranean diet

Women who follow a Mediterranean diet are less at risk of stroke. However, scientists have not been able to prove that such a diet directly prevents strokes. They argue that the study rather reveals a link between eating habits and long-term health outcomes. This was reported on February 9 by Science Daily magazine.

The researchers observed lower rates of stroke among women who followed the Mediterranean diet most strictly. This applied to both ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes.

The Mediterranean diet includes plenty of vegetables, fruits, legumes, and fish, as well as healthy fats such as olive oil. It limits the consumption of dairy products, meat, and foods rich in saturated fats.

"Our results confirm the growing body of evidence that a healthy diet is crucial for stroke prevention. We were particularly interested to see that this finding applies to hemorrhagic stroke, as only a few large studies have examined this type of stroke," said study author Sofia S. Wang, PhD, from the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte.

The study involved 105,614 women who had no history of stroke at the start of the study. The average age was 53 years. Each participant filled out a detailed questionnaire about their diet at the beginning of the study. The scientists assigned scores from 0 to 9, depending on how much each person's diet corresponded to the Mediterranean diet.

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The points were awarded to participants who consumed more whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, as well as olive oil and fish. About 30% of the total scored from 6 to 9 points, falling into the highest group.

The participants were monitored for 21 years. During this period, 4,083 strokes were recorded — 3,358 ischemic and 725 hemorrhagic. After accounting for other stroke risk factors such as smoking, physical activity, and high blood pressure, the differences remained significant.

It turned out that women with the highest scores on the Mediterranean diet were 18% less at risk of stroke compared to those with low scores. The risk of ischemic stroke was 16% lower, and the risk of hemorrhagic stroke was 25% lower.

"Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability, so it's very encouraging to think that improving our diet can reduce the risk of this devastating disease. Further research is needed to confirm these findings and to understand the underlying mechanisms so that we can identify new ways to prevent stroke," Wang concluded.

On February 9, Victoria Karatayeva, the chief dentist of All Yours Dentistry, an expert on primary care, spoke about the increased risk of heart attack and stroke in gum and dental diseases. According to her, with chronic inflammation with bleeding, pathogenic bacteria easily penetrate the vascular wall, cause it to thicken and spread through the body through the blood stream and damage target organs such as the heart, kidneys, and eyes.

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