Fat in the diet has long been linked to stroke risk, but new research presented [November 8] suggests that it’s the type of fat, not the amount, that may be the more important factor.
The study found that eating more animal fat was linked to a higher risk of stroke, while getting more fat from vegetable sources was linked to a lower risk.
Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States, and nutritionists have long worked to understand how a person’s diet plays a role.
“If everyone could make small modifications such as reducing red and processed meat intake, the implication for public health will be huge,” said study leader Fenglei Wang, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
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“This study fits with the prior nutritional science that shows that we should be eating primarily a plant-based diet,” said Dr. Michael Miedema, director of cardiovascular prevention at the Minneapolis Heart Institute, who was not involved with the new research. “The average American diet relies on animal-based proteins and the sooner we can shift that to more plant-based, the better off we’ll be.”
