Fish contains Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids that enhance blood flow and
help prevent formation of the blood clots and blockages that cause most ischemic
strokes.
"Men who consumed fish two times a month or more had almost half the risk of
stroke as compared with men who never ate fish," said study author Dr. Alberto
Ascherio of the Harvard School of Public Health.
"There seemed to be no benefit in eating fish very frequently, so eating fish
just a few times per month was just as good as eating fish almost every day," he
said.
"Our study didn't look at the specific type of fish. We can only conclude
that eating fish in general is likely to be beneficial to prevent stroke,"
Ascherio said.
The study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (news
- web
sites) involved more than 43,000 men who were between 40 and 75 years old at
the start of the 12-year survey in 1986.
A total of 608 participants suffered strokes, 377 of them ischemic strokes,
where blood clots or arterial blockages cut off blood flow to a part of the
body, often the brain, starving it of oxygen.
The study found those who consumed just one to three 5-ounce portions of fish
per month cut their risk of ischemic stroke by 43 percent. Those who ate fish
five or more times per week only enjoyed a slightly enhanced benefit.
Fish in the diet did not have any apparent impact on the risk of hemorrhagic
stroke, in which a blood vessel bursts and bleeds into the brain.
