Wednesday, February 10, 2010

RESEARCH NEWS: Flavonols may lower stroke risk in men and women

According to a study from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, flavonols, the antioxidants found in plant foods and tea, as well as in many natural supplements, may help in decreasing stroke incidence in men and women. Next time you're merchandising products that contain flavonols, tout their benefits by including similar research evidence - or better yet, put the information in your daily or monthly newsletter.

__________________

Article Abstract:

Dietary Flavonol Intake May Lower Stroke Risk in Men and Women1,2
Peter C. H. Hollman3,4,*, Anouk Geelen3 and Daan Kromhout3

3 Wageningen University, Division of Human Nutrition, 6700 EV Wageningen, The Netherlands 4 RIKILT-Institute of Food Safety, 6700 AE, Wageningen, The Netherlands

Flavonols are strong antioxidants in plant foods and tea is a major dietary source. There is evidence from prospective cohort studies that tea and flavonols are inversely related to stroke incidence. We conducted a metaanalysis of prospective cohort studies to assess quantitatively the strength of the association between flavonol intake and stroke incidence. Prospective cohort studies with data from individuals free of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) or stroke at baseline were included in the metaanalysis. Persons were followed for between 6 and 28 y. Data from 6 cohorts involving 111,067 persons with at least 2155 nonfatal and fatal cases were pooled. A random effects model was used. In all studies included, adjustments were made for major CVD risk factors except for 2 that did not adjust for alcohol and energy intake. A high intake of flavonols compared with a low intake was inversely associated with nonfatal and fatal stroke with a pooled relative risk of 0.80 (95% CI: 0.65, 0.98). Visual inspection of Begg's funnel plot and Egger's test (P = 0.01) indicated potential publication bias. We conclude that flavonols may reduce stroke risk.

Source: J. Nutr. (January 20, 2010). doi:10.3945/jn.109.116632 - Journal of Nutrition

No comments:

Post a Comment