Eating Tomatoes May Lower Stroke Risks

Eating tomatoes can dramatically reduce the risk of having stroke according to a new study that provide more support for diets rich in fruits and vegetables. The key factor appears to be the powerful antioxidant lycopene according to the Finnishstudy published inthe Neurology journal. Research based on data from more than 1000, middle-aged men, followed for average of 12 years, indicates that people with yhe highest level of lycopene in their blood have 55 % less risks of suffering from strokes. " This study asdds to the evidence that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is associated with lower risks of stroke", emphacized study author, Johni Karrpi, of the university of Eastern Finland in Kuopio. Among the 258 men having lower level of lycopene in their blood, nearly one in ten had a stroke. But, among the 259 men with highest levels of antioxidant in their blood, the number fell to one in 25. The coorelation between levels of lycopene and stroke risks was even stronger when resesarchers only included strokes due to blood clots, leaving out those caused by hemorrhages. The participants with the highest level of lycopene had a 59 percent lower risks of strokes from blood clot than the men with the lowest level of asntioxident. In total 67 men sduffered stroke during the course of the study. Researchers looked at a number of other antioxidents like alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol which is a form of vitamin E and vitamin A, or retinole but did not find any link with stroke risk.