Eat More Fibre To Keep Stroke Away

For every 7-gram bump in daily fibre consumption, an individual's risk for experiencing an initial stroke appears to plummet 7 percent, the investigators concluded after analytical 20-plus years of research.

Total dietary fibre intake should be 25 to 30 grams a day from food, but on average many people  are getting only half this amount.

Most people would have little trouble increasing overall fibre intake by 7 grams a day, the team concluded. A wide range of everyday foods -- for example, a serving of whole-wheat pasta plus a piece of fruit and a standard serving of tomatoes -- would enable people to reach this goal, the authors said.

The finding builds on prior evidence that has indicated consumption of plant-based dietary fibre -- including fruits, nuts, vegetables and whole grains -- may curb key factors that raise stroke risk, such as high blood pressure and elevated levels of so-called "bad" (LDL) cholesterol.

Strokes occur when a clot blocks a blood vessel to the brain or when a blood vessel bleeds into the brain. Stroke and other brain-based blood vessel diseases are collectively the world's second-leading killer, causing more than 6 million deaths annually and leaving large numbers of people with lasting disability.

Everything that may be done, however small, to improve prevention is important and could have an impact on many thousands of lives. This is particularly true for people already at risk of stroke, such as smokers, obese individuals and those with high blood pressure, the study noted.

Overall, the study team found that the more total dietary fibre consumed, the lower the risk of a first stroke.

However, the researchers were unable to tease out which particular fibre rich foods might offer the most protective benefit, given a lack of food-specific data in the studies reviewed. More research would be needed to come up with an ideal stroke-prevention grocery list.

The analysis also only looked at the potential benefit of fibre obtained directly from foods, rather than from supplements, so one can't say that fibre supplements would provide the same benefit as eating fibre-rich foods.

Increasing your fibre intake doesn't necessarily mean wholesale change to your diet. It might just mean switching from white bread to whole-meal, or from corn flakes to bran flakes.

Such simple measures convey many benefits. We have found that stroke risk is reduced with even small increases in fibre intake, particularly if you are starting from a very low initial intake.

This is all about making healthier food choices and moving towards a plant-based diet, because people just aren't eating enough fruits and vegetables.