A healthy diet can help you reduce the risk of chronic diseases, improve your overall health, and help you reach or maintain a healthy weight. Eating healthy includes making informed decisions about food choices and balancing your calories. The latest guidelines from Dietary Recommendations for Americans 2010 include the following:

• Eat more foods from plants, such as vegetables and beans, whole grains, and nuts.
• Eat more seafood in place of red meat, poultry, and eggs.
• Limit the intake of sodium, solid fats, added sugars, and refined grains.
• Reduce calories you eat and drink and increase calorie you burn through physical activity.

Excess weight puts a strain on the entire circulatory system. It can also make people more likely to have high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes, all of which can increase stroke risk.

Physical activity includes anything that gets your body moving. A recent study showed that people who exercise five or more times per week have a reduced stroke risk. The latest recommendations from the CDC on Physical Activity Guidelines for adults include the following:

• Moderate Activity. 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week (brisk walking, water aerobics, bicycling) and 2 or more days a week of weight training exercises.
• Vigorous Activity. Or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity per week (jogging, running, swimming laps) and 2 or more days a week of weight training exercises.
• Break it up. If you can’t fit a 30-minute activity in one time, break it up into 10-minute segments. Remember that all physical activity counts.
• Make physical activity fun. Walk or bike with a friend, take a dance class, and try different times of the day.

Regular physical activity will improve your overall health and fitness, and reduce your risk for chronic diseases.

Smoking doubles the risk of stroke when compared to a nonsmoker. Smoking increases clot formation, thickens blood, and increases the amount of plaque buildup in the arteries. If you smoke, try as hard as possible to stop. Ask your doctor about quit-smoking aids like nicotine patches, counseling, and programs that are available to you. Quitting smoking can be difficult, so don’t give up if you are not successful the first time you try.

Alcohol use has been linked to stroke in many studies. Drinking too much alcohol can increase blood pressure and the risk of stroke. Aim to drink in moderation – no more than two drinks a day for men and one drink a day for women.

One drink is equal to: 

• 12 ounces of beer 
• 5 ounces of wine (1 glass)
• 1 ¼ to 1 ½ ounces of liquor

  Medical Risk Factors

  High blood pressure, atrial fibrillation (AFib), high cholesterol, diabetes and circulation problems are all medical risk factors, which are controllable, for stroke. Medical risk factors are often caused by a combination of things including family history. Medical risk factors are treatable by medications and special diets. Talk to your healthcare professional about options available and together come up with a plan that best fits you. 

  CLOSE ALL

  HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

  High blood pressure is the number-one cause of stroke. Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. High blood pressure causes the heart to pump harder to move blood through the body. This can weaken blood vessels and damage major organs, such as the brain. People who have high blood pressure have one and a half times the risk of having a stroke compared to those who consistently have optimal blood pressure of 120/80. The most important thing you can do is to control it. This can be accomplished through healthy eating habits, physical activity, or medications.

  ATRIAL FIBRILLATION (AFIB)

  AFib is a type of irregular heartbeat. While it can occur at any age, it is more common in people 65 years and older. AFib is more common in people with high blood pressure, heart disease, or diabetes. AFib raises stroke risk because it allows blood to pool in the heart. When blood pools, it tends to form clots which can then be carried to the brain, causing a stroke.

  Long-term untreated AFib can also weaken the heart, leading to heart failure. The goal for treating AFib is to restore the regular rhythm of the heart, which can be done with medications or through the use of electrical stimulation.

  HIGH CHOLESTEROL

  Cholesterol is the fatty substance in the blood. It can be either produced by the body or be found in food. High cholesterol in the arteries can block normal flow to the brain and cause a stroke. With high cholesterol your risk for heart disease and atherosclerosis also increase. Total cholesterol levels under 200 are recommended and if yours is higher, it can be controlled through healthy eating habits, physical activity, or medications.

  DIABETES

  In people with diabetes, the body either doesn’t produce enough insulin (Type I Diabetes) or the cells ignore the insulin (Type II Diabetes). Without insulin, the body can't process sugar, which is the basic fuel for the cells in the body. People with diabetes are up to four times more likely to have a stroke than people who don’t, mainly because people with diabetes often have other stroke risk factors, such as high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, and high cholesterol. Weight loss, exercise, changes in eating habits, oral medications, and insulin shots are all ways to control diabetes.

  CIRCULATION PROBLEMS

  Circulation is the movement of the blood through the heart and blood vessels. One of the major circulation problems is atherosclerosis, progressive fatty deposits in the arteries that cause hardening and buildup of cholesterol plaque. Atherosclerosis can clog up arteries blocking the flow of blood to the brain, making a person more at risk for a stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA), or other heart disease. Circulation problems can be treated with medications or surgery.

  CAROTID ARTERY DISEASE

  Carotid artery disease (also called carotid artery stenosis) is the narrowing of the carotid arteries. These are the two main blood vessels in the neck that supply blood to the brain. There are often no symptoms. This condition occurs due to age, unhealthy lifestyle, and not managing risk factors such as high cholesterol.

  A test can be conducted to diagnose carotid artery disease – talk to your healthcare provider if you experience any stroke symptoms. There are a number of treatment options available to control this condition. 

  Uncontrollable Risk Factors

  Some risk factors for stroke are simply not controllable. But knowing what they are is still important in determining your overall risk for stroke.

  AGE

  A stroke can happen to anyone, at any time and any age. Stroke risk however, increases with age. After the age of 55, stroke risk doubles for every decade a person is alive.

   

  GENDER

  Women experience more strokes each year than men, mainly because women live longer than men and stroke occurs more often at older ages. By having strokes at an older age, women suffer greater disability after stroke. Women are less aware that they are at a higher risk for stroke and only somewhat knowledgeable about the risk factors themselves. Stroke kills twice as many women as breast cancer does every year.

  Stroke incidence is higher in men at younger ages.

  RACE AND ETHNICITY

  African Americans have twice the risk of stroke, partially because they are more susceptible to high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islanders also have higher risk of stroke than Caucasians.

   

  FAMILY HISTORY

  Your stroke risk increases if a family member (parent, grandparent, or sibling) has had a stroke or a heart attack at an early age.

   

   

  PREVIOUS STROKE

  After experiencing a stroke, survivors and their families usually concentrate their efforts on rehabilitation and recovery. However, preventing a "recurrent" stroke from happening is also critical. In the U.S. stroke kills more than 130,000 people each year, making it the 5th leading cause of death. About 40 percent of deaths occur in males and 60 percent in females. About one-fourth of the nearly 800,000 strokes that occur each year are recurrent events.

  FIBROMUSCULAR DYSPLASIA (FMD)

  FMD is a medical disorder where some of the arteries that carry blood throughout the body do not develop as they should. Fibrous tissue grows in the wall of the arteries, causing them to narrow. As a result, blood flow through the arteries decreases.

   

  PATENT FORAMEN OVALE (PFO)

  Strokes and TIAs can occur without any obvious risk factors because they are caused by a "hole" in the heart called a patent foramen ovale (PFO). About 1 in 5 Americans has a PFO. Because PFOs often have no symptoms, many are not aware they have this medical condition, putting them at an increased risk for stroke and TIA. Many PFO-related strokes are called cryptogenic, meaning they have no apparent cause.

  TRANSIENT ISCHEMIC ATTACK (TIA)

  Stroke prevention is also important to those who have experienced TIAs. TIAs are brief episodes of stroke-like symptoms that can last from a few minutes to 24 hours, but usually cause no permanent damage or disability. TIAs are serious warning signs of a possible future stroke and must be taken seriously. The risk of stroke within 90 days of a TIA may be as high as 17 percent, with the greatest risk being the first week after the episode.

  http://www.stroke.org/understand-stroke/preventing-stroke