The study found that people with the highest amounts of lycopene in their blood were 55 percent less likely to have a stroke than people with the lowest amounts of lycopene in their blood.
Here's another reason to savor tomatoes: a recent study in Neurology finds they may help lower your risk of ischemic stroke—blockage of a brain artery that starves cells of oxygen and causes them to die.
Foods high in potassium, such as sweet and white potatoes, bananas, tomatoes, prunes, melon and soybeans, can help you maintain a healthy blood pressure — the leading risk factor of stroke. Magnesium-rich foods, such as spinach, are also linked to a lower risk of stroke.
Tomatoes (Lycopene) Lycopene is a plant-derived nutrient that provides neuroprotective benefits and can help lower the risk of stroke.
If you get to the hospital within 3 hours of the first symptoms of an ischemic stroke, you may get a type of medicine called a thrombolytic (a “clot-busting” drug) to break up blood clots. Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is a thrombolytic. tPA improves the chances of recovering from a stroke.
These are available in supermarkets. The scientists calculate that drinking about a quarter of a pint of the juice a day provides adequate protection against clots. This is the equivalent of eating around six tomatoes. Simply eating tomatoes and drinking tomato juice can give a similar effect.
To recap, your best choices are hydrating beverages that contain minimal calories, sugar or salt. Reach for water, coffee or tea most often. And keep a water bottle handy – the visual cue reminds you to keep sipping.
Tomatoes release a cancer-fighting antioxidant when cooked.
According to a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, tomatoes release more lycopene (a cancer-fighting antioxidant) when cooked.
Avocados
The soluble fiber found in avocados regulates the body's use of sugars and lowers the blood cholesterol levels of senior stroke survivors. Avocados contain fiber, monounsaturated fat, minerals, and vitamins that keep the heart healthy.
Researchers found that people who ate an egg every day had an 18% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and a 28% lower risk of experiencing a deadly hemorrhagic stroke, compared with people who didn't eat eggs.
This vegetable provides seniors with fiber, calcium, vitamins, and other minerals they need to manage diabetes and recover from a stroke. Broccoli can lower insulin levels and protect cells against free radicals. Your loved one should avoid eating broccoli sold in steam bags that need to be heated up before serving.
Due to the development of different gastric acids in the stomach, eating too many tomatoes can cause heartburn or acid reflux. Therefore, people who commonly experience stomach distress or have GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) symptoms should limit their tomato consumption.
People with severe kidney issues may also be required to limit their intake of tomatoes as they contain a lot of water. High potassium levels in the blood, which is one of the causes of kidney disease, could be dealt with by avoiding tomatoes or tomato sauce or anything made of tomatoes.
Bananas. One of the most common risk factors in the development of a stroke is high blood pressure. The mineral potassium is thought to have a positive effect on hypertension. Potassium-rich foods should be incorporated into your loved one's diet after he or she experiences a stroke.
You should limit sweets, cakes, biscuits and processed and fatty meats. It's important to also switch the saturated fats in your diet for unsaturated fats and to reduce your salt intake by avoiding high-salt foods like processed meats, salty snacks and ready-made soups, as well as not adding salt to foods.
Cheese, in particular, appears to decrease the risk of stroke; Calcium from dairy foods has been associated with a 31% reduction in stroke risk.
Don't take or give medication, food, or drinks.
Taking certain medication, such as aspirin, can make a stroke worse. Also, a stroke can often affect the ability to swallow, so it's best to avoid eating and drinking.
Foods rich in Vitamin E are natural blood thinners. Almonds, tomatoes, mangoes etc. are rich in Vitamin E. Natural Blood thinners are beneficial to your heart health but they need to be consumed with caution.
All the fruits in the berry-family, including strawberries, cranberries, and blueberries are significant blood thinners. Oranges, tangerines, cherries, raisins, prunes, pineapples, and tomatoes work in the same manner.
A substance found in tomatoes relieves impairment of blood vessels, which may explain why people who eat a Mediterranean diet have a notably reduced incidence of cardiovascular disease, according to a study.
The initial recovery following stroke is most likely due to decreased swelling of brain tissue, removal of toxins from the brain, and improvement in the circulation of blood in the brain. Cells damaged, but not beyond repair, will begin to heal and function more normally.
A clot-busting medication called tPA, or tissue plasminogen activator, can be given to someone if they're having a stroke, potentially reversing or stopping symptoms from developing. But it has to be given within 4.5 hours of the start of symptoms, Dr. Humbert says.
Keep your blood pressure controlled through lifestyle changes and/or medications. Don't smoke or stop smoking. Take steps to manage your cholesterol. Limit your alcohol consumption.