<p>A compound in citrus fruits may reduce women’s stroke risk, a study has said.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The study examines how consuming flavonoid subclasses affects the risk of stroke, Xinhua reported. <br /><br />Flavonoids are a class of compounds present in fruits, vegetables, dark chocolate and red wine.<br /><br />“Studies have shown higher fruit, vegetable and specifically vitamin C intake is associated with reduced stroke risk,” said Aedin Cassidy, lead author and professor of nutrition at the University of East Anglia in Britain. <br /><br />“Flavonoids are thought to provide some of that protection through several mechanisms, including improved blood vessel function and an anti- inflammatory effect.”<br /><br />The study was published Thursday in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.<br /><br />Cassidy and colleagues used 14 years of follow-up data from the Nurse’s Health Study, which included 69,622 women who reported their food intake, including details on fruit and vegetable consumption every four years. <br /><br />Researchers examined the relationship of the six main subclasses of flavonoids commonly consumed in the US diet — flavanones, anthocyanins, flavan-3- ols, flavonoid polymers, flavonols and flavones — with risk of ischemic, hemorrhagic and total stroke.<br /><br />As expected, the researchers didn’t find a beneficial association between total flavonoid consumption and stroke risk, as the biological activity of the sub-classes differ. <br /><br />However, they found that women who ate high amounts of flavanones in citrus had a 19 percent lower risk of blood clot-related (ischemic) stroke than women who consumed the least amounts.<br /><br />More studies are needed to confirm the association between flavanone consumption and stroke risk, and to gain a better understanding about why the association occurs, the authors said. <br /><br /></p>
<p>A compound in citrus fruits may reduce women’s stroke risk, a study has said.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The study examines how consuming flavonoid subclasses affects the risk of stroke, Xinhua reported. <br /><br />Flavonoids are a class of compounds present in fruits, vegetables, dark chocolate and red wine.<br /><br />“Studies have shown higher fruit, vegetable and specifically vitamin C intake is associated with reduced stroke risk,” said Aedin Cassidy, lead author and professor of nutrition at the University of East Anglia in Britain. <br /><br />“Flavonoids are thought to provide some of that protection through several mechanisms, including improved blood vessel function and an anti- inflammatory effect.”<br /><br />The study was published Thursday in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.<br /><br />Cassidy and colleagues used 14 years of follow-up data from the Nurse’s Health Study, which included 69,622 women who reported their food intake, including details on fruit and vegetable consumption every four years. <br /><br />Researchers examined the relationship of the six main subclasses of flavonoids commonly consumed in the US diet — flavanones, anthocyanins, flavan-3- ols, flavonoid polymers, flavonols and flavones — with risk of ischemic, hemorrhagic and total stroke.<br /><br />As expected, the researchers didn’t find a beneficial association between total flavonoid consumption and stroke risk, as the biological activity of the sub-classes differ. <br /><br />However, they found that women who ate high amounts of flavanones in citrus had a 19 percent lower risk of blood clot-related (ischemic) stroke than women who consumed the least amounts.<br /><br />More studies are needed to confirm the association between flavanone consumption and stroke risk, and to gain a better understanding about why the association occurs, the authors said. <br /><br /></p>
