Increasing Whole Food Fiber Intake to Reduce Stroke

Stroke is the seconding leading cause of death worldwide.^[1] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists stroke as the number 5 killer is the United States.

At least the United States is doing something right, right? Maybe not right? The high rates of stroke is preventable by increasing the consumption of fiber from whole foods.

People get strokes when oxygen and nutrient delivery to the brain is cutoff. This can happen when cholesterol plaque breaks away from artery walls (ischemic stroke) or from arteries bursting or leaking (hemorrhagic stroke).

High cholesterol levels in the bloodstream coupled with free radical oxidation of cholesterol and other compounds leads to the buildup of cholesterol plaque in the arteries.

This buildup hardens arteries and reduces the diameter of the opening of arteries. They lose elasticity and the heart has to work harder to pump blood through the body.

This causes extra stress to be put on the arteries and leads to the development of high blood pressure. The pressure stresses the plaque that has built in the artery walls and the plaque can either break off or the plaque hardened arteries can burst or leak from the pressure.

The high consumption of cholesterol is the root cause but one simple thing can help control cholesterol digestion. That one simple thing is the consumption of fiber in whole foods like leafy greens, fruits, nuts, and whole grains.

Fiber from whole foods reduces cholesterol and blood sugar levels on the body.^[3] The reason why I have been putting the emphasis on “fiber from whole foods” is that fiber works with the nutrients and phytonutrients in plants and doesn’t control cholesterol and blood sugar by itself.

Though a diet high in fiber from whole plant foods is ideal, it doesn’t take much fiber daily to help reduce cholesterol and blood sugar levels in the body. Just an apple a day can be very helpful in reducing stroke, but the fiber from a whole food plant-based diet is ideal.