“These data provide strong support to eat more fruit juice as a daily consumption to reduce the risk of ischemic stroke,” says study leader Aedin Cassidy, head of nutrition at the Norwich School of Medicine, the University of East Anglia, England.
There is a possibility that flavanone in citrus improve blood vessel function and reduce inflammation, which has been associated with stroke, the researchers said.
Cassidy said, to get the most out of the flavanone, fruits should be presented in the form of juice and no added sugar.
The study was published online on February 23, 2012 in the journal Stroke, whose research is funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Flavanones is a type of flavonoid which has been known for their ability to suppress the incidence of stroke risk is lower. In addition to fruits and vegetables, flavonoids are also found in red wine and dark chocolate.
For this study, the researchers focused on the six subclasses of flavonoids, including flavanone.
In the study, researchers evaluated data from the Nurses’ Health Study of U.S. for 14 years. The study involved almost 70,000 women each reported their food intake every four years and include details on the consumption of fruits and vegetables. At the end of the paper that there are around 1803 cases of stroke occurrence. About half had an ischemic stroke (blockage of blood vessels).
The researchers said the number of intake of flavonoids did not reduce the risk of stroke, but flavanone consumption may reduce the risk of stroke. Women who earn more than flavanone intake have an increased risk of 19 percent risk of ischemic stroke less than those who eat in small quantities.
The researchers found that 95 percent of flavanone intake derived from fruits and juices, especially orange and grapefruit juice. Participants who ate the fruit or orange juice in the majority, the risk of stroke was reduced by 10 percent.
Women who received the lowest intake of flavanone on average consumes about 150 milligrams of flavonoids per day or less. While those earning large amounts of flavanone intake consumed about 470 milligrams a day.
Cassidy said, a piece of citrus fruit contains 45 to 50 milligrams of flavanone.
The results also showed that those who run with a diet high in flavonoids tend to have a healthy lifestyle such as smoking less, exercising more often, eat more fiber, and a little caffeine and alcohol.
The researchers confirmed that the relationship between diets high and low risk of stroke flavanone does not prove causality.
Further research is needed to better understand the relationship between consumption and the risk of stroke flavanon, the researchers said. Although this study only included women, Cassidy suspect that the findings apply to men. ”This study should be done,” said Cassidy.
Hannah Gardener, an epidemiologist at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Neurology, said the study adds information to us to determine the relationship between diet and risk of stroke.
“There are some studies that suggest that higher intakes of fruits and vegetables was associated with a lower risk of stroke,” said the gardener, who was not involved in the study.
“These findings underscore the importance of eating fruits and vegetables as well as providing evidence that citrus may be particularly important in terms of reducing the risk of stroke,” he said.