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Health Issues // Strokes
Striking Out Strokes
The best thing that you can do to protect against strokes, heart disease, and other ailments caused by clogged arteries is to replace the animal products in your diet with healthy plant-based foods. A study of 22,000 men conducted by researchers from Harvard Medical School found that the antioxidants in vegetables may decrease our risk of suffering from a stroke—in fact, men who had the lowest levels of these plant nutrients in their blood also had the highest rates of strokes.17 Researchers have also found that a diet high in vitamin C—which is found in abundance in plant foods but is absent in animal products—can lower the risk of having a stroke and can significantly cut smokers' risk of having a stroke.18 Another study found that men and women who eat yellow and green vegetables daily cut their risk of death by strokes by 26 percent. This study also concluded that daily fruit intake reduces the risk of death by strokes by 35 percent for men and 25 percent for women.19 Teresa Fung, a Harvard nutritionist, advises, "Eat a plant-based diet that contains at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day and goes up to include as many vegetables as you can handle."20
Parents and schools are increasingly realizing that the best way to ensure that kids are healthy later in life is by instilling healthy eating habits in them early on. A 2006 Associated Press article entitled "High School Cafeteria in 'Stroke Belt' Opens Vegetarian Lunch Line," tells the story of an Atlanta high school that opened an all-vegetarian lunch line as a way to improve kids' health and reduce childhood obesity (which can cause strokes and heart disease later in life). The lunch line was a huge hit, with hundreds of students choosing it instead of the nonvegetarian line every day.21
In addition to protecting against strokes, a vegetarian diet can also protect against heart disease and cancer, the top two killers in America. In comparison to meat-eaters, vegetarians are 33 percent less likely to suffer from heart disease, up to 50 percent less likely to suffer from cancer, and are less likely to suffer from various other ailments, including obesity, Alzheimer's, and diabetes.22,23 According to Cornell University's Dr. T. Colin Campbell, director of the largest epidemiological study in history, "The vast majority of all cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and other forms of degenerative illness can be prevented simply by adopting a plant-based diet."24
The explosion of interest in vegetarian foods means that most grocery stores and restaurants now offer healthy and delicious alternatives to animal products, such as Boca Chik'n Patties, Gardenburger Riblets, and Tofutti "ice cream." Visit VegCooking.com for hundreds of recipes as well as meal plans, cooking tips, and lists of our favorite mock-meat products. Then request a free vegetarian starter kit to get started on the path to a healthier, more humane diet.
17 A. Elizabeth Hak et al., "Antioxidants in Fruits and Vegetables May Decrease Stroke Risk," AmericanHeart.org, 3 Jun. 2004.
18 American Academy of Neurology, "Diet High in Vitamin C Decreases Stroke Risk, Especially Among Smokers," news release, 10 Nov. 2003.
19 Jun Nagano, Naomi Allen, and Kazunori Kodama, "Fruits and Vegetables May Protect Against Major Types of Stroke," AmericanHeart.org, 19 Sep. 2003.
20 Kirchheimer.
21 "High School Cafeteria in 'Stroke Belt' Opens Vegetarian Lunch Line," Associated Press, 9 Jan. 2006.
22 Elizabeth Somer, "Eating Meat: A Little Doesn't Hurt," WebMD, 1999.
23 J. Chang-Claude, R. Frentzel-Beyme, and U. Eilber, "Mortality Pattern of German Vegetarians After 11 Years of Follow-Up," Epidemiology 3.5 (1992): 395-401.
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FREE Vegetarian Starter Kit
Vegetarian 101
Preventive Medicine and Nutrition
Organic and Free-Range: Better for Your Health?
Eat Right, Live Longer by Dr. Neal Barnard
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