A new study in Taiwan found that a plant-based diet may help reduce the risk of having a stroke. More than 13,000 volunteers from Buddhist communities in Taiwan engaged in the said study. Participants went through medical examinations and were asked about their healthy lifestyles. With the help of the National Health Insurance Research Database, researchers stayed informed about the volunteers’ health conditions, divided into two groups for an average of 6 and 9 years, respectively. All participants were 50 years old and had no history of stroke. 30% of the volunteers were vegetarians who ate more greens, consumed more alcohol but less on cigarettes while non-vegetarians ate more dairy foods. After the thorough assessment of volunteers’ lifestyle and medical conditions, it was concluded that there was a 74% lower risk of ischemic stroke among the vegetarians in the first group. The vegetarians in the second group recorded a 60% lower risk of ischemic stroke, a 65% lower risk of hemorrhagic stroke, and a 48% lower risk of all kinds of stroke.

Researchers from Taiwan concluded that following a plant-based diet which includes mostly fresh fruits and vegetables, unsalted peanuts, and whole grains and oats may help reduce the risk of having a stroke. Dr. Chin-Lon Lin of Tzu Chi University in Hualien, Taiwan, the author of the study, said that “Overall, our study found that a vegetarian diet was beneficial and reduced the risk of ischemic stroke even after adjusting for known risk factors like blood pressure, blood glucose levels, and fats in the blood.” There were two types of stroke mentioned in the study, the hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke. Approximately 795,000 people suffer from stroke every year in the United States. A stroke may lead to chronic malady. The study was featured in Neurology, the medical newsletter of the American Academy of Neurology.