Apples and pears reduce your risk of stroke

Of all the illnesses to afflict us as we get older – suffering a stroke is one of the most feared.

They can hit you without warning and have a major impact on your quality of life. Who among us over 50 year olds hasn’t wondered what we can do to reduce our stroke risk?

According to recent research – changing your diet in quite a small way can dramatically impact your chances. Specifically – eating just one or two apples or pears a day could halve your stroke risk.

The study was carried out over 10 years in Holland and studied a very large group of over 20,000 participants.

Volunteers were asked to complete a detailed questionnaire about their eating habits – specifically what type of fruit they ate – and researchers monitored what happened over the ten year period.

Of course – self-reporting questionnaires are notoriously unreliable. People make mistakes or in some cases report their food choices to be far healthier than they really are.

Nonetheless – according to the leaders of the study this was the first time that stroke risk has been assessed based on different colors of fruit and vegetables – green, orange-yellow, red-purple and white fleshed.

It was the white fleshed group – which included apples and pears – that appeared to have the greatest impact probably because of the presence of an antioxidant called quercetin.

Linda M Oude leader of the study stated that “To prevent stroke, it may be useful to consume considerable amounts of white fruits and vegetables”

Quercetin is known to have anti inflammatory properties providing protection from hardening of arteries – a key factor in strokes and many other diseases associated with aging.

If you have seen other articles on this site – you may not be surprised.

Quercitin and rutin are important antioxidants in a healthy veins diet helping you avoid or ease vein problems we can all be susceptible to as we get older.

Although it appears the more white fleshed fruit you eat the better as far as reducing your stroke risk is concerned – as little as one apple or pear a day can make a difference. The old saying of apple a day keeping the doctor away seems to have some foundation.

Not to say that you should ignore the benefits of more colorful fruits and veggies. Color in your diet delivers phytochemicals which give you a high level of antioxidant protection from inflammation – the cause of so many diseases of the body and brain.

Improving your diet in simple steps is good for your health and does wonders for your looks.

Inflammation through sugar damage ruins your skin over time and is one of the key causes of wrinkles. Powerful anti inflammatories like quercetin will help keep your skin supple and younger looking as well as reducing your stroke risk.

So – do your health and your looks a favor – put an extra bag of apples into your basket next time you’re in the supermarket!