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Dietary causes of strokes
Introduction
There are many conditions in Western industrialised societies today that were unheard of, or at least very rare, just a century ago. The same conditions are still unheard of in primitive peoples who do not have the 'benefits' of our knowledge. There is a very good reason for this: They eat what Nature intended; we don't. The diseases caused by our incorrect and unnatural diets are those featured on these pages.
Dietary causes of strokes:
Carbohydrate-rich 'healthy' diet; polyunsaturated vegetable oils and margarines, processed convenience foods.The risk of recurrent strokes is increased in people with impaired glucose tolerance according to Dr Sarah Vermeer of Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam and co-workers.[1] Compared with patients who had normal glucose levels (5.8-7.7 mmol/l), stroke risk was nearly doubled in those with impaired glucose tolerance (7.8-11.0 mmol/l) and nearly tripled in patients with diabetes (greater than 11.0 mmol/l).
A high glucose load after a carbohydrate-rich meal also has adverse effects in healthy people according to a study conducted at the University of Goteborg, Sweden. These scientists found that a high carbohydrate meal had significant effects in humans: during the postprandial period there is a marked alteration in the pattern of the circulatory responses to psychosocial stress, characterised by a much reduced increase in the diameter of blood vessels and a rise in systemic vascular resistance and systolic blood pressure.[2]
High blood glucose levels and consequent high blood insulin levels produce two effects that are responsible for inducing strokes.[3 — 5] They are: increased thickening and stickiness of the blood which tends to clot and block the blood vessels, and the increased permeability of the capillary walls leading to the smaller blood vessels and capillaries leaking and rupturing.
Many studies have demonstrated that a breakdown of the endothelium, the inner lining of arteries and veins, occurs early in the insulin-resistant state and can predict future cardiovascular events. Similarly, insulin resistance has been associated with the metabolic syndrome, which also increases the risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes.
In July 2004, Willa A. Hsueh, MD, and colleagues at the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Hypertension, University of California, Los Angeles, reviewed the evidence that improving the function of the endothelium with a variety of drugs could prevent both cardiovascular disease and diabetes.[6] However, as raised glucose levels are an independent risk factor for stroke in people both with and without diabetes,[7] by reducing the levels of insulin in the blood, a low-carb, high-fat/protein diet does the same job naturally, making unnatural drugs redundant.
Considering the strong link between obesity and hypertension, it's easy to understand why there has been such a steep rise in hypertension among Americans in recent years. Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, and the enormously high levels of hypertension among the population appear to follow this trend closely.
Some 25% of the adult US population suffers from high blood pressure and the problem is even more widespread among the elderly, of whom 50% are sufferers. Simply put, the heavier we become, the more prone we are to hypertension. This adds to the weight of evidence against our so-called 'healthy' diet.
References
1. Vermeer SE, Sandee W, Algra A, MD, et al. Impaired Glucose Tolerance Increases Stroke Risk in Nondiabetic Patients With Transient Ischemic Attack or Minor Ischemic Stroke. Stroke 2006; 37: 1413-7.
2. Jern S. Effects of acute carbohydrate administration on central and peripheral hemodynamic responses to mental stress. Hypertension 1991; 18: 790-7.
3. Pyorala M, et al. Hyperinsulinemia and the risk of stroke in healthy middle-aged men: the 22 year follow-up results of the Helsinki Policemen Study. Stroke 1998; 29: 1860-1866.
4. Kamide K, et al, Insulin resistance is related to silent cerebral infarction in patients with essential hypertension. Am J Hypertens 1997; 10: 1245-1249.
5. Biessels GJ. Cerebral complications of diabetes: clinical findings and pathogenic mechanisms. Neth J Med 1999; 54: 35-45
6. Hsueh WA, et al. Insulin resistance and the endothelium. Am J Med 2004; 117: 109-117
7. Selvin E, et al. Glycaemia (haemoglobin A1c) and incident ischaemic stroke: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. Lancet Neurol 2005; 4: 821-6.
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