Healthy eating linked to lower stroke risk

For individuals at high risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), adherence to healthy dietary patterns confers stroke protection, as reported in a study.

Researchers conducted a secondary analysis of the PREDIMED trial involving 7,447 participants at high CVD risk.

Dietary scores for four healthy dietary patterns—the Mediterranean, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay diets, and the Planetary Health Diet Index—were calculated using data from repeated food frequency questionnaires. Participants were grouped into quintiles of cumulative average adherence of the four dietary scores.

Over a median follow-up of 4.3 years, a total of 135 stroke cases were recorded, including 112 ischaemic and 23 haemorrhagic strokes.

Comparing with those in the lowest quintile of adherence, participants in the highest quintile of adherence to the Mediterranean diet had a 74-percent reduced risk of total stroke (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.26, 95 percent CI, 0.14–0.51).

A similar risk reduction was observed among participants in the highest vs lowest quintile of adherence to the Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay diet (aHR, 0.25, 95 percent CI, 0.13–0.51).

No significant associations were observed for the DASH diet (aHR, 0.76, 95 percent CI, 0.42–1.39) or the Planetary Health Diet Index (aHR, 0.57, 95 percent CI, 0.30–1.08).

Results were consistent for ischaemic stroke.