795,000 strokes occur in the United States each year, leading to 137,000 deaths.

A new study published in the journal Neurology suggests that a high-protein diet can reduce the risk of stroke..

It is well known that malnutrition is one of the main risk factors for stroke..

Foods that contain a lot of fat contribute to the formation of fatty deposits on the walls of arteries - atherosclerosis. In addition, fatty, high-calorie foods predispose to obesity, hypertension and diabetes.

Dr. Xinfeng Liu of the Nanjing University School of Medicine, the author of the latest study, believes that protein foods reduce the risk of stroke by lowering blood pressure.. But scientists note that these data remain incomplete and uncertain..

Protein diet reduces stroke risk by 20%. To study the effect of protein foods on stroke risk, the team organized a meta-analysis of all previously published studies in this area. This analysis included 7 scientific papers in which a total of 254,489 people participated. The average age of participants was 14 years.

Scientists found that at the end of the study period, participants who had the highest protein intake had a 20% lower risk of stroke than those who received a minimum protein diet. They estimate that every additional 20 g of protein per day reduces the risk of stroke by as much as 26%..

These results remained significant after other factors were added to the analysis, including smoking and blood cholesterol..

The authors of the work say that their results will be of great importance for world health: “According to the results of our meta-analysis, an increase in protein intake of 20 g / day is associated with a decrease in the risk of stroke by 26%. Such a reduction in risk can be represented as 1,482,000 deaths that could have been prevented on a global scale ”.

Although researchers cannot pinpoint the causes of this phenomenon, they believe that the protective effect of the protein diet is due to a decrease in blood pressure. Scientists add that in one early study it was demonstrated how a high level of protein in the diet normalizes the lipid profile (total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL). This effect is especially noticeable when compared with a high-carb diet..

In addition, a decrease in the risk of stroke with a protein diet can be explained by a simple “substitution effect” - proteins in the diet replace the use of potentially harmful foods..

Proteins should come from fish, not red meat. Reducing the risk of stroke was especially significant in those participants who consumed more animals, rather than vegetable proteins.. But scientists recommend getting proteins mainly from fish, and not from red meat, which contains a lot of harmful fats and is not considered food that is good for blood vessels.. It is noted that 2 out of 7 studies were conducted in Japan, where fish consumption is very high, and red meat is not so popular..

The authors also mentioned some limitations of their work.. For example, the number of participants who consumed a lot of vegetable protein was small.. Thus, this could lead to an exaggeration of the effectiveness of animal proteins..

Some facts about stroke: 60% of stroke victims are women.

Stroke is the No. 4 cause of death in the United States.

In 2010, the stroke cost the United States $ 73.7 billion.

Protein diet can also be associated with the use of other nutrients that prevent stroke - dietary fiber, magnesium and potassium. But, in their opinion, it is proteins that protect against stroke, because the result remains reliable after the addition of other dietary factors.

In an accompanying article, Dr. Arturo Tamayo of the University of Manitoba in Canada, along with his colleague Dr.

Louis Castilla-Guerra of the Hospital de la Merced Hospital in Spain, wrote: “The results of this study should be considered with caution,. However, this work opens up new avenues for research in the prevention of stroke and other cardiovascular events. ”.

By the way, a protein-rich diet can protect not only from stroke. Recently, a study was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, according to which protein can delay age-related functional impairment in older men..

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