Fish Oil Flounders, But Fiber Might Lower Stroke Risk

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The fiber study, which Besanger said is the first of its kind, included 50 people who'd just had a stroke. The researchers asked them to recall everything they'd eaten within 24 hours of having a stroke and compared that information to their disability level and general health at six months.

They found that those with the highest levels of fiber intake had better outcomes, but study co-author Dr. Karen Furie, director of the stroke service at Massachusetts General, pointed out that "this wasn't a clinical trial. We didn't give people fiber. The association was pretty dramatic, but this was a small sample size, and it's only observational data. These findings need to be replicated in a larger study."

However, Furie also noted that a recommendation to increase the amount of fiber in your diet is "a recommendation that's pretty easy to endorse. There are no downsides to increasing fiber intake."

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"People attracted to these ideas [more fiber and fish oil] could be healthier to begin with," said Dr. Keith Siller, an assistant professor of neurology at New York University Medical Center in New York City. "It's very hard to validate whether taking fiber or fish oil has a direct effect on stroke risk. They're probably more a marker of people that live a healthier lifestyle."

More information

To learn more about stroke and how to prevent one, visit the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

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