Below is a summary. For fuller details, please see the international bestseller, ‘How Not To Die: Discover The Foods Scientifically Proven To Prevent And Reverse Disease’ (救命！逆转和预防致命疾病的科学饮食) by Dr Michael Greger (迈克尔.格雷格医生) with Gene Stone (吉恩.斯通): https://nutritionfacts.org/book Dr Greger is the founder of nutritionfacts.org , through which he summarises important findings from studying of every medical paper.
p.42
1. Strokes are ‘brain attacks’ – like heart attacks, with rupturing plaques in arteries cutting off blood flow to parts of the brain rather than heart.
p.5
1. Eat less processed foods (加工食品), even if vegetarian [or vegan], to avoid chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity and stroke.
2. Eat more whole plant food (全植物食品), such as brown rice (糙米), fruits (水果), vegetables (蔬菜), whole grains (全谷类), nuts (坚果), and seeds (种子).
3. Eat less refined carbohydrates (精制碳水化合物) [such as white rice], packaged snacks and fast food.
p.43
1. A healthy diet reduces stroke risk by reducing cholesterol and blood pressure, while improving blood flow and antioxidant capacity.
2. High fibre (纤维) intake may help ward off stroke. (Fibre is naturally concentrated only in whole plant foods.)
3. Increasing fibre intake to 7 grams daily is associated with 7% reduction of stroke risk. This is equivalent to a bowl of oatmeal with berries (苺果), or serving of baked beans.
p.44
1. Fibre helps control cholesterol and blood sugar levels, which can help reduce artery-clogging plaque in the brain’s blood vessels.
2. Fibre also lowers blood pressure, which reduces risk of brain bleeds.
3. Low fibre intake early on is associated with stiffening of arteries leading to the brain – a key risk for stroke.
4. One more apple (苹果), an extra 40 grams of broccoli (西兰花), or just 2 tablespoons of beans (豆类) a day during childhood could translate to artery health later.
5. Minimise stroke risk by eating 25 grams of insoluble fibre in mainly whole grains, such as brown rice (糙米) and whole wheat (全麦).
p.45
1. 1,640 mg increase per day in potassium (钾) intake is associated with 21% reduction in stroke risk.
2. Potassium-rich foods include greens (青菜), beans (豆粒) and sweet potatoes (番薯/地瓜).
3. Citrus fruits (柑橘类水果) are associated with reduced stroke risk, more than apples.
p.46
1. When it comes to [plant-based] food, the whole is often greater than the sum of its parts.
2. Those with 4 or less hours of sleep, or 10 or more hours are 50% likelier to die from stroke.
3. Those with 6 or less hours of sleep, or 9 or more hours have higher stroke rate.
4. Those with 7 or 8 hours of sleep have have the lowest stroke risk.
p.49
1. Antioxidant-rich (抗氧化剂) foods can prevent stroke.
2. Antioxidant supplements do not seem to help.
3. Plant foods have 64 times more antioxidants than animal foods.
4. Include variety of fruits (水果), vegetables (蔬菜), herbs (香草) and spices (香料) at every meal for antioxidants to ward off stroke.
p.50
1. Herbs (香草) and spices (香料) average with the most antioxidants. (See page 350, 看中文版第357页)
2. Plant-based meals tend to be rich in antioxidants. Adding spices (香料) make them healthier.
3. Antioxidant-rich foods protect against stroke by preventing circulation of oxidised fats in the bloodstream that can damage sensitive walls of small blood vessels in the brain. They also help decrease artery stiffness, prevent blood clots, lower blood pressure and inflammation.
4. High-antioxidant fruits (水果) and vegetables (蔬菜), such as berries (莓果) and greens (青菜) douse systemic inflammation better than low-antioxidant fruits and vegetable, like bananas and lettuce.
p.312
1. Greens (青菜) offer strongest protection against major chronic diseases, with 20% risk reduction for heart attacks and strokes with each serving.
2. If taking the drug Warfarin (华法林) to thin blood, before increasing [much] greens intake, talk to doctor to titrate dosage.
p.344
1. A handful of nuts (坚果) daily reduces stroke risk by half.
From https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/stroke, where there are more informative short videos:
Nearly 130,000 Americans die annually from stroke, one of the most serious brain diseases. Strokes can kill instantly and without warning, and most can be thought of as “brain attacks”—like heart attacks, but the rupturing plaques in our arteries cut off blood flow to parts of the brain rather than to parts of the heart.
About 90 percent of strokes are ischemic, from the Latin ischaemia, meaning “stopping blood.” Blood flow to part of the brain gets cut off, depriving it of oxygen and killing off the part fed by the clogged artery. A small minority of strokes are hemorrhagic, caused by bleeding into the brain when a blood vessel bursts. People who experience a brief stroke may only contend with arm or leg weakness, while those who suffer a major stroke may develop paralysis, lose the ability to speak, or die.
The blood clot may last only a moment—not long enough to notice but still long enough to kill off a tiny portion of our brain. These “silent strokes” can multiply and slowly reduce cognitive function until dementia fully develops. As with heart disease, a plant-based diet can reduce stroke risk by reducing cholesterol and blood pressure while improving blood flow and antioxidant capacity.
High fiber intake may also help ward off stroke. Fiber is naturally concentrated in only one place: whole plant foods. Processed foods have less, and animal-derived foods have no fiber at all. Increasing fiber intake by just seven grams a day may be associated with a 7 percent reduction in stroke risk.
Though stroke is considered an older person’s disease, risk factors may begin accumulating in childhood. Hundreds of kids were followed for 24 years, from junior high school to adulthood, and low fiber intake early on was associated with stiffening of the arteries leading up to the brain—a key risk factor.