One easy thing to remember about a healthy diet is that it is colorful fun. The more colors, the better. Deep-colored greens, yellows, reds and oranges offer a wonderful array of nutrients and antioxidants. It is speculated that antioxidants stop inflammation in the body by neutralizing free radicals -- bad cells that steal from other cells creating an area of cellular instability. That’s a tumor waiting to happen. No one wants that.
So following is a short segment on healthy foods for those who are at risk for strokes. “Free your mind, and your palate will follow” or something like that.
Ready, Set, Go!
Bananas, “Nature’s candy,” are super high in potassium as are baked potatoes with their skin, prunes, raisins, and low-fat yogurt. People who ate large amounts of potassium-rich foods cut their stroke risk by 38 percent. Potassium has the strongest positive effect on maintaining good blood pressure. It works by regulating a normal water balance between cells and body fluids. It is also essential for proper nerve response and muscle contractions. Low potassium and calcium blood levels have been linked to an increase of ischemic strokes in middle-aged women.
Eighty percent of all strokes, an ischemic stroke is caused by a blood-clot blockage in the main arteries that feed the brain blood, oxygen and nutrients. This deficit causes brain cells to malfunction and die. The other type of stroke is caused by a weak spot in the wall of a blood vessel or artery that bursts. Hemorrhagic strokes result in blood seeping into the brain cavity, creating pressure on tissue and blood vessels.
Other foods rich in potassium, magnesium and calcium, like low-fat or fat-free dairy foods, naturally lower blood pressure. There is also the possibility that vitamin D is also partly responsible for this. A 22-year study of more than 3,000 Japanese men in Hawaii who drank two glasses of milk a day had half the strokes compared to non-milk drinkers.