Carotenoids may help head off strokes

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Carotenoids may help

head off strokes

 

 

Carotenoids

alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and lycopene can help ward off ischemic

stroke, according to researchers in Boston and the Netherlands.

 

“Intake of fruits and vegetables has been related to lower risk of

ischemic stroke,” researchers said, “but nutrients responsible for this

apparent benefit remain ill-defined.” That premise led researchers to

analyze blood carotenoid levels in two groups of men-297 male

physicians who had suffered an ischemic stroke and 297 matched

controls. All of the subjects were participants in the Physicians’

Health Study and had been followed up for 13 years.

 

Researchers found that men consuming dietary intakes of alpha-carotene

in the second through the fifth quintiles were 41% less likely to have

a stroke compared to men with intakes in the lowest quintile.

Similarly, higher intakes of beta-carotene were associated with a 38%

lower risk, and higher intakes of lycopene were related to a 39% lower

risk of stroke.

 

Researchers said, “Our data suggests that higher plasma

levels of carotenoids, as markers of fruit and vegetable intake, are

inversely related to risk of ischemic stroke and provide support for

recommendations to consume fruits and vegetables regularly.”

 

Stroke 35:1584, 2004

 

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