High Protein Diet and Strokes
New or recurrent strokes occur in close to 800,000 Americans each and every year. Of those 800,000, approximately 137,000 die. A study posted in the journal Neurology suggests that high protein diet can decrease the risk of having a stroke.
Strokes and Diet – Are They Correlated?
Having a poor diet can put individuals at higher risk of having a stroke. More specifically, foods that are high in fat can lead to the build-up of fatty plaques in the body. Being overweight or obese can lead to disease like:
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Stroke
According to Dr. Xinfeng Liu, a researcher at the Nanjing University School of Medicine in China, higher amounts of dietary protein can reduce the risk of someone having a stroke by lowering their blood pressure.
Were The Results Conclusive?
While the results aren’t 100% conclusive, there is enough evidence to suggest that his hypothesis is somewhat true. The researchers also set out to do an evaluation between the link of stroke risk and protein intake.
They found that there was a 20% reduced stroke risk were, for individuals with a higher amount of dietary protein in their bodies. The analysis included more than seven studies that took place with more than 250,000 participants.
Researchers discovered that the participants with the highest amount of protein intake, particularly from fish, were about 20% less likely to have a stroke compared to the individuals who didn’t consume the protein. These results fell within the range of what they had originally predicted.
Additionally, the team discovered that consuming 20 grams of additional protein each day could reduce one’s risk of having a stroke by about 36% – which is pretty significant. These findings shed some remarkable light on just how important dietary protein really is. Also note that the studies suggests that protein should be gained from fish instead of red meat. Red meat is typically associated with higher risks of stroke.
Strokes are the 4th leading cause of death in the United States each year. If there is anything that we can take away from this study, it is that health dietary proteins should be kept in mind when developing your diet.