Highlights. Milk products, including those that are higher in fat, do not increase the risk of stroke, but instead may reduce the risk; Cheese, in particular, appears to decrease the risk of stroke; Calcium from dairy foods has been associated with a 31% reduction in stroke risk.
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.
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.
Consider red wine as your first choice, which some studies suggest might help prevent heart disease and stroke. Watch your portion sizes. A standard-sized drink is a 5-ounce glass of wine, 12-ounce beer, or 1.5-ounce glass of hard liquor.
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.
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.
1. Fruits and vegetables
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.
Plenty of vegetables of different types and colours, legumes and beans. Fruit. Grain (cereal) foods, mostly wholegrain and high fibre varieties such as breads, cereals, rice, pasta, noodles, polenta, couscous, oats, quinoa and barley. Lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts, seeds, legumes and beans.
High blood pressure is the leading cause of stroke and is the main cause for increased risk of stroke among people with diabetes.
Yogurt: Yogurt is one of the best foods for stroke patients because it is very easy to eat and also a great source of protein and some yogurts contain probiotics which aid in digestive health.
Difficulty with swallowing (or dysphagia) happens after a stroke because the brain doesn't activate muscle reflexes at the back of the throat quickly enough, so that food or liquids pass down the throat into the larynx and/or lungs - in other words they can 'go down the wrong way'.
Studies examining the association between coffee and stroke have had mixed results. While most of the evidence seems to indicate that coffee can actually help reduce the risk of stroke, it can also increase stroke risk in people with certain conditions.
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.
There are several most reported phenolic and flavonoid compounds that can be found in Kelulut honey which may help in alleviating or reversing the cognitive decline in post-stroke patients, namely gallic acid, caffeic acid, catechin, apigenin, chrysin, cinnamic acid, kaempferol, p-coumaric acid and quercetin [78, 95].
This is because the brain requires extra energy to heal the damage incurred, leaving less energy available for typical functions such as staying alert. Furthermore, studies have shown that sleep promotes neuroplasticity after stroke.
Gains can happen quickly or over time.
The most rapid recovery usually occurs during the first three to four months after a stroke, but some survivors continue to recover well into the first and second year after their stroke.
Quality sleep has many benefits, especially for stroke survivors. Getting a good night's sleep supports neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to restructure and create new neural connections in healthy parts of the brain, allowing stroke survivors to re-learn movements and functions.
Left-brain stroke and communication difficulties
When communicating with a stroke survivor who has communication problems (aphasia), it is helpful to: Be patient. Eliminate distractions. Turn off the TV, limit extraneous noise.