For those health conscious guys out there, you might find this new groundbreaking study which showed the promising effects of tomatoes in cutting back the risk for stroke. Aside from being the basic ingredient for pizza or delicious soups, tomatoes are proven to be a very important fruit that is essential to heart health.
Stroke is among the leading cause of death in the United States with more than 140,000 cases resulting to deaths each year. The World Health Organization even reports that there are 15 million people who are affected by stroke every year, with 5 million of these dying and the other 5 permanently disabled.
But you don’t have to go that far and reach fatal consequences because you can always reduce the risks by choosing healthier options, and incorporating tomatoes is one of these.
According to a study that was published in the October 8 issue of the journal Neurology, tomatoes are effective stroke preventers in men. Information was gathered on 1,031 men Finland who were part of the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study.
The study was to record the effects of lycopene, an antioxidant that gives tomatoes and other fruits their red color, when it comes to heart health.
The lycopene levels in the blood of the men involved in the study were assessed at the start of the study. This was followed through for the next 12 years. Based on the amount of lycopene in their blood, the men who are between the ages 46-65 were split into four groups.
Out of those 258 men in the group for low lycopene levels, 25 of them suffered from stroke. Meanwhile, there were 11 out of the 259 men from the high lycopene level group suffered from stroke. Researchers also considered factors such as age, diabetes and smoking. Adding to this the effects of lycopene levels in women was not included in the study.
This shows that those men who have higher lycopene levels have a much lesser risk for stroke after twelve years. But results should be interpreted properly. It means that there is an association between healthy levels of lycopene and a reduction in the risk for stroke, and not a cause and effect relationship.
But why tomatoes in particular, when other fruits and vegetables also contain lycopene?
Tomatoes and other tomato-based products (e.g. tomato sauce, tomato paste) are recommended because it is known to be the richest source of lycopene compared to other fruits and veggies.
The researchers also focused on lycopene because they found that it is the only antioxidant to effectively lower the risk for stroke. They also checked the antioxidant levels of alpha-tocopherol, alpha carotene, and beta-carotene in men however these did not produce a reduction in the risk for stroke.
Also, this does not mean that you should focus on getting tomato alone. A diet that is high in fruits and vegetables can most certainly improve your chances of avoiding cerebrovascular accidents. So make sure that you eat healthy and you can even pair it with a multivitamin supplement to help you fill in nutritional gaps.
Your diet alone will not guarantee you of a much lesser risk for stroke. Men should also adapt a healthy lifestyle. This means regular exercise and abstinence from vices such as smoking and alcohol.
But it certainly is promising that by simply increasing your intake on tomatoes or lycopene can significantly improve your chances from avoiding the debilitating and fatal outcome of a stroke.For those health conscious guys out there, you might find this new groundbreaking study which showed the promising effects of tomatoes in cutting back the risk for stroke. Aside from being the basic ingredient for pizza or delicious soups, tomatoes are proven to be a very important fruit that is essential to heart health.
Stroke is among the leading cause of death in the United States with more than 140,000 cases resulting to deaths each year. The World Health Organization even reports that there are 15 million people who are affected by stroke every year, with 5 million of these dying and the other 5 permanently disabled.
But you don’t have to go that far and reach fatal consequences because you can always reduce the risks by choosing healthier options, and incorporating tomatoes is one of these.
According to a study that was published in the October 8 issue of the journal Neurology, tomatoes are effective stroke preventers in men. Information was gathered on 1,031 men Finland who were part of the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study.
The study was to record the effects of lycopene, an antioxidant that gives tomatoes and other fruits their red color, when it comes to heart health.
The lycopene levels in the blood of the men involved in the study were assessed at the start of the study. This was followed through for the next 12 years. Based on the amount of lycopene in their blood, the men who are between the ages 46-65 were split into four groups.
Out of those 258 men in the group for low lycopene levels, 25 of them suffered from stroke. Meanwhile, there were 11 out of the 259 men from the high lycopene level group suffered from stroke. Researchers also considered factors such as age, diabetes and smoking. Adding to this the effects of lycopene levels in women was not included in the study.
This shows that those men who have higher lycopene levels have a much lesser risk for stroke after twelve years. But results should be interpreted properly. It means that there is an association between healthy levels of lycopene and a reduction in the risk for stroke, and not a cause and effect relationship.
But why tomatoes in particular, when other fruits and vegetables also contain lycopene?
Tomatoes and other tomato-based products (e.g. tomato sauce, tomato paste) are recommended because it is known to be the richest source of lycopene compared to other fruits and veggies.
The researchers also focused on lycopene because they found that it is the only antioxidant to effectively lower the risk for stroke. They also checked the antioxidant levels of alpha-tocopherol, alpha carotene, and beta-carotene in men however these did not produce a reduction in the risk for stroke.
Also, this does not mean that you should focus on getting tomato alone. A diet that is high in fruits and vegetables can most certainly improve your chances of avoiding cerebrovascular accidents. So make sure that you eat healthy and you can even pair it with a multivitamin supplement to help you fill in nutritional gaps.
Your diet alone will not guarantee you of a much lesser risk for stroke. Men should also adapt a healthy lifestyle. This means regular exercise and abstinence from vices such as smoking and alcohol.
But it certainly is promising that by simply increasing your intake on tomatoes or lycopene can significantly improve your chances from avoiding the debilitating and fatal outcome of a stroke.
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