Cardiovascular Diseases: The Anti-Stroke Root Veggie, Scientists Say

Kyle J. Norton

Carrots may have a profound and positive effect in reduced risk of stroke, some scientists suggested.

Stroke is a medical condition caused by reduced blood flow to the brain resulting in cell death due to blocked artery (ischemic stroke) or the leaking or bursting of a blood vessel (hemorrhagic stroke).

There is a general belief that stroke is an accumulation over along period of unhealthy diet with red meat and processed meats in induction of artery-clogging.

Some researchers suggested that increased intake of fruits and vegetables such as carrot accompanied with good fats such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel may have a substantial effect in reduced inflammation in the arteries, improved blood flow and decreased the chance of blood clots.

Sadly, stroke is one of the most common causes of death worldwide.

In US, according to statistic, approximately 800,000 people suffer a stroke in which 600,000 of these are first attacks, and 185,000 are recurrent attacks. Nearly three-quarters of all strokes occur in people over the age of 65.

Carrot, a root vegetable with orange color is a sub spices of Daucus carota, belongings to the family Apiaceae, native to Asian and Europe.

In the review of literature published to understand more of the role of carotenoids as antioxidants in lowering stroke risk based on observational studies, researchers at the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences conducted a search with some important keywords, including (Carotenoids [MeSH] OR Carotenes [tiab] OR Carotene [tiab] OR “lycopene [Supplementary Concept]” [MeSH] OR lycopene [tiab] OR beta-Carotene [tiab]) AND (stroke [MeSH] OR stroke [tiab] OR “Cerebrovascular Accident” [tiab] OR “Cerebrovascular Apoplexy” [tiab] OR “Brain Vascular Accident” [tiab] OR “Cerebrovascular Stroke” [tiab]) AND (“oxidative stress” [MeSH] OR “oxidative stress”[tiab]).

The results of the searching of papers published between 2000 and 2017 suggested that

* High dietary intake of six main carotenoids (i.e., lycopene, <- and®-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, and astaxanthin) was associated with reduced risk of stroke due to their benefits in reduced over expression of reactive oxygen species.

* Beyond the antioxidant activities in prevented free radical in induction of chain reaction, other properties and mechanisms in ameliorated risk of stroke were not identified in studies sanctified the guideline and criteria.

These results suggested that dietary intake of six major carotenoids may be considered as stroke prevention and stroke mortality reduction.

Further in differentiation the benefits of lycopene an bioactive member in carotenoids, researchers found that intake of food containing high amount of lycopene demonstrates a substantially reduced risk of stroke in compared to non takers.

According to the assessment of pooled analysis of seven prospective studies, with 116,127 participants and 1,989 cases, frequent consumption of lycopene decreased stroke risk by 19.3%, after adjusting for confounding factors.

In gender and geographic analysis, researchers also stated that lycopene exerts a strong impact in prevent onset of stroke, particularly in European and male gender.

Dr. the lead scientist said, ” Duration of follow-up had no effect on the final results. There was no evidence of publication bias” and ” Lycopene, especially circulating lycopene, is negatively associated with stroke risk”.

Additionally, in the examine the hypothese whether low serum levels of lycopene are associated with increased risk of acute coronary events and stroke in middle-aged men previously free of CHD and stroke , researchers launched an investigation of 725 men aged 46-64 years examined in 1991-3 in the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study.

By December 1997, out of 725 patients, 41 men were found to have either a fatal or a non-fatal acute coronary event or a stroke.

According to the observation of a Cox’ proportional hazard’s model and after adjusting to examination years, age, systolic blood pressure and three nutritional factors (serum folate, beta-carotene and plasma vitamin C), researchers found that all 41 men are in the lowest quarter of serum lycopene levels.

These results once again suggested that daily intake of lycopene rich foods to increase the circulating lycopene plays an essential role in prevented risk of atherosclerotic vascular events in middle-aged men previously free of CHD and stroke.

Truly, patients with lower levels of serum lycopene were found to had a 3.3-fold risk of acute coronary events or stroke in compared with the others.

Taken together, carrot with high ammount of bioactive carotenoids, especially lycopene may be considered as a function food in reduced the prevalent risk of stroke.

People who are at the higher quarter of stroke risk may want to add a portion of carrot into their daily diet for preventive measure.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrients, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published on line, including world wide health, ezine articles, article base, healthblogs, selfgrowth, best before it’s news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada – Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bio science, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Carotenoids as Potential Antioxidant Agents in Stroke Prevention: A Systematic Review by Bahonar A1, Saadatnia M1, Khorvash F1, Maracy M2, Khosravi A(PubMed)
(2) Dietary and circulating lycopene and stroke risk: a meta-analysis of prospective studies by Li X1, Xu J2.(PubMed)
(3) Low serum lycopene concentration is associated with an excess incidence of acute coronary events and stroke: the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study by Rissanen TH1, Voutilainen S, Nyyssönen K, Lakka TA, Sivenius J, Salonen R, Kaplan GA, Salonen JT.(PubMed)
(4) Healthy eating and stroke(Stroke Foundation)
(5) Stroke Statistics by The Internet Stroke center