Regular Vegetable & Fruit Consumption
Protective Against Both Major Types of Stroke
An eighteen year prospective cohort study
of over 40,000 Japanese men and women found a lower risk of stroke
associated with regular consumption of green-yellow vegetables and
fruit. The protective effects of fruit and vegetable consumption
extended to both the major types of stroke, namely, cerebral infarction
(a blood clot in the brain), and intra-cerebral hemorrhage (bleeding
into the brain as a result of rupturing of a blood vessel). Subjects
were tracked from 1980 to 1998. Fruit and vegetable intake was assessed
using a food frequency questionnaire, and statistically significant
positive correlations were found, after adjusting for other known risk
factors including body weight, smoking, alcohol consumption, education
levels, medical history of other coronary vascular disease and diabetes.
‘Vegetable and
Fruit Intake and Stroke Mortality in the Hiroshima/Nagasaki Life Span
Study’
Sauvaget C.,
Nagana J., Allen N., Kodama K Stroke (2003) Sept 18 Doi10.1161/01.
STR00000892 .93.29739.97.
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Iodine Status in Vegetarians
A small study (eighty four subjects) found
that sub-optimal iodine status common amongst vegetarians. The study
measured urinary iodine excretion in omnivores, ovo-lacto vegetarians
and vegans.Those consuming plant-based diet were found to have lower
iodine status than those consuming a mixed diet; 80% of vegans were
found to be iodine deficient, 25% of lacto or ovo-lacto vegetarians were
deficient, and less than 10% of those consuming a mixed diet were
assessed as iodine deficient. Iodine deficiency is still very prevalent
in some parts of Asia, resulting in developmental retardation and goitre.
Plant-based foods and sea salt are not good sources of iodine and
vegetarians should ensure their diet includes iodised table salt,
seafood, including sea vegetables such as kelp or take an iodine
supplement.
‘Iodine deficiency in Vegetarians and
Vegans ’ Krajcovicova-Kudlackova M., Buckova K. Sebovka E Annal of
Nutrition and Metabolism (2003) Sept-Oct Vol. 47, No 5, 183-185.
