Your Gut and Oral Health Could Influence Your Stroke Risk, New Study Says—Here's What to Know
Hippocrates is often credited with saying that 'all disease begins in the gut.' If he did say it, he was way ahead of his time. We now know that our gut microbiomes do, in fact, play a large role in our health—from more acute illnesses like cold and flu to chronic illnesses, like heart and autoimmune diseases. But did you know that the gut isn't the only place in your body with a microbiome?
Your skin has its own microbiome. So does your mouth. This makes sense since your digestive system begins in your mouth—digestive enzymes are released into your mouth when you eat to start breaking down your food. Even the act of chewing your food is part of the digestive process.
Your mouth's microbiome is similar to your gut's, and the two microbiomes influence each other. (That's called a bi-directional relationship.) When one is imbalanced, there's a good chance the other is, too.
Researchers have also found a connection between your gut microbiome and inflammation—the chronic kind that can be a culprit in chronic diseases, like heart disease, diabetes and cancer. This means that there is also a connection between your microbiome and these conditions, as well. But there's another condition that doesn't seem to garner quite as much attention: stroke.
Previous research suggests that people who have had strokes also have imbalanced microbiomes. This has led researchers to look at factors beyond the brain—which is where strokes occur—that may contribute to both the stroke event itself and how well people recover from it.
Keep reading to find out what researchers found when they analyzed the connection between the gut and mouth microbiomes and stroke. These preliminary findings are being presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2025, so be on the lookout for further research that's likely to come.
Related: Consuming Too Many Carbonated Drinks May Increase Stroke Risk by 22%, According to New Study
Your microbiome is loaded with trillions of both beneficial and potentially harmful bacteria. This collection of bacteria and other microorganisms in the gut is referred to as the gut microbiota and in the mouth, the oral microbiota. Since you could most likely never completely rid the body of all the potentially harmful organisms, the goal is to maintain an optimal amount of good bacteria, out-numbering the bad bacteria.
In a previous study by these same researchers, they found a link between a bacteria that causes tooth decay, called Streptococcus mutans, and a higher risk of bleeding in the brain, a cause of stroke.
For this latest study, researchers looked at another harmful bacteria called Streptococcus anginosus. This strain of bacteria has been implicated in conditions like oral abscesses and even abscesses in the brain's frontal lobes. Researchers have also pointed to Streptococcus anginosus as a cause of tooth decay, as it can break down tooth enamel.
Related: What Happens to Your Body When You Take Calcium Every Day
There were 250 total Japanese participants in this study with an average age of 70. About 40% of them were female. The 250 participants were split into two groups—the test group and the control group. Researchers compared the microbiomes' of the mouth and gut in 200 participants who had had a stroke within the past seven days (test group) with the microbiomes of 50 individuals without a history of stroke (control group). While they didn't have a history of stroke, the control group could have other medical issues, including high blood pressure, diabetes or high cholesterol—all risk factors for stroke.
Microbiomes were analyzed using stool and saliva samples from both the stroke patients and control group participants between July 2020 and July 2021. Participants were then followed for two years so researchers could observe how many of the stroke patients died or had another cardiovascular event (like a heart attack or another stroke).
Researchers found that Streptococcus anginosus was significantly more abundant in the saliva and gut of people with a history of stroke than in the control group. Specifically:
Streptococcus anginosus in the gut was independently associated with 20% higher odds of stroke after controlling for vascular risk factors.
Anaerostipes hadrus—a gut bacteria associated with beneficial effects—was associated with a drop in stroke risk by 18% and Bacteroides plebeius—a helpful gut bacteria common in the Japanese population—was associated with a drop in risk by 14%.
Over the two-year follow-up period, stroke survivors with Streptococcus anginosus in the gut had a significantly higher risk of death and major cardiovascular events during the two-year follow-up period.
Compared to control participants, increased risk of death and poor outcomes were not noted in stroke survivors with Anaerostipes hadrus and Bacteroides plebeius. In other words, those beneficial bacteria seemed to be protective.
Related: Your Gut Health Affects Almost Every System in Your Body—Are You Doing Enough to Care for It?
In a press release about this presentation, the study's lead author, Shuichi Tonomura, M.D., notes that ideally, in the future we'll have a quick test to detect harmful bacteria in the mouth and gut (perhaps a mouth swab?) and that it could be used to calculate stroke risk. He feels that targeting the harmful bacteria might be able to prevent strokes.
Until this test is created and made available to the public, each of us needs to do our best to maintain healthy microbiomes—oral and gut. Maintaining healthy oral hygiene habits can help. Brush at least twice a day and floss at least once daily. Drink plenty of water to help keep your mouth clean and avoid beverages with added sugar. Try to get to the dentist for regular cleanings and checkups every six months.
Beyond oral health, other health habits are also all connected to inflammation and chronic disease. So whether you're trying to prevent stroke, heart disease, diabetes, cancer or any other chronic illness, your health habits will play a role. This includes your eating habits, how much you move your body, how much quality sleep you're getting, how well you're controlling your stress levels and how much quality time you're spending with loved ones.
It's also important to get and maintain healthy gut and oral microbiomes. This involves eating plenty of fermented foods, including yogurt, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, miso and tempeh. These foods add probiotics, which are beneficial bacteria, to your mouth and gut.
Because probiotics are living organisms, they need to eat to thrive and reproduce. This is where prebiotics come in. Prebiotics are fibers that probiotics love noshing on. They're found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes.
The good news is that you can pretty quickly improve your gut health. This dietitian-approved weeklong Gut-Healthy Anti-Inflammatory Meal Plan will show you how—and you can get started today.
Related: 5 Things to Do When You Wake Up for a Healthy Gut, According to Gastroenterologists
This preliminary study suggests that people with certain harmful bacteria in their mouths and guts had a higher risk of stroke and a higher risk of dying from stroke or suffering another cardiovascular event within two years of the original event. The study authors note that because this study was done exclusively with Japanese participants, it is not yet known if the results would extend to other ethnicities and countries. This is because different areas of the world have different strains of bacteria.
Until more research is performed, it's still important to maintain healthy gut and mouth microbiomes, which may help reduce your risk of many diseases. Do this by eating plenty of fermented foods and prebiotic foods. Engaging in healthy habits will also help support your microbiome and reduce inflammation and your risk of disease. This includes eating a variety of foods, moving your body often, getting plenty of quality sleep, spending time with loved ones and reducing your stress levels.
Related: I Tried Eating the Doctor-Recommended 30 Plant-Based Foods a Week—Here's How It Went
Read the original article on EATINGWELL
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
National Geographic
29-07-2025
- National Geographic
What lymphatic drainage massage actually does for your body
'Lymphfluencers' claim this type of massage can filter out toxins, help you lose weight, and boost your immune system. Here's what science says. Lymphatic drainage massages have become a popular treatment for those looking to slim their face, but experts say the real benefits of lymphatic treatments are often misunderstood. Photograph By Michelle Aleksa/Shutterstock From dry brushes to targeted massages, lymphatic drainage is prolific across social media. A single influencer's video can accumulate over a million views with promises that massage techniques will eliminate waste or boost weight loss. But lymphatic medicine is nothing new: Hippocrates observed and described lymph nodes in the fourth century B.C. The first known use of the term 'lymphatics' was in the 1600s in Denmark and Sweden, and medical scholars began to map out the lymphatic system soon after. One of the first modern lymphatic drainage treatments was created in the 1930s by Danish doctor Emil Vodder and his wife Estrid. They observed that massaging certain spots on the surface of the body could make the lymph nodes more responsive and work more efficiently to reduce swelling. The method was introduced in North America in the 1970s, explains Manhattan based lymphatic therapist Lizabeth Gottsegen. But despite its popularity among massage therapists, lymphatic medicine was understudied as other fields of medicine advanced, according to Stanley Rockson, lymphatic and medical researcher at Stanford University and co-founder of the Lymphatic and Education Research Network. His 2004 study found that on average, North American medical students studying medicine at this time received about 30 minutes of education on lymphatics throughout the four-year curriculum. But that indifference has since changed dramatically, both in and out of medical settings, and massage is frequently used to help ease symptoms associated with cancer treatments and genetic disorders. 'In the last decade, the science around lymphatics has really exploded,' says Rockson. He credits that to better imaging technology, advances in surgical techniques, and new discoveries about lymphatics at the molecular level. Internet attention has also exploded in the last several years: Google searches of 'lymphatic drainage' in the U.S. jumped between 2020 and 2025, dramatically spiking after 2023. The Instagram hashtag #lymphaticdrainage currently has over one million posts and spun off a category of influencers Gottsegen calls 'lymphfluencers.' Like many wellness videos on social media, they promise aesthetic changes to sculpt, slim, and smooth nearly every part of the body, but experts say lymphatic drainage will do little to substantially change a healthy body. This 1813 illustration shows a man's lymphatic system. While the lymphatic system is not a new discovery, modern imaging technology has led to an explosion in scientists' understanding of this bodily function. Print By Kirkwood & Sons, via Wellcome Collection What is the lymphatic system anyway? The lymphatic system is an interconnected network of blood vessels and organs that maintains the body's balance of lymph, a fluid mix of white blood cells, water, proteins, and cellular waste. The tiny vessels that make up the lymphatic system send all this lymph to pass through lymph nodes: kidney bean-shaped organs clustered throughout the body. There, they filter waste and deploy immune cells to attack infections or cancerous cells. Radiation treatment or surgery can damage lymph nodes, causing lymph accumulation in the body's tissues and resulting in swollen limbs. About one in 100,000 people are genetically predisposed to this lymph accumulation, a condition known as lymphedema. Lymphatic drainage treatments like massage boost the lymphatic system's ability to move lymph from tissues back into circulation throughout the body, according to Rockson. If the lymphatic system loses some of the nodes powering this movement—for example if a breast cancer patient has had part of their armpit lymph node removed—the system might be unable to pump out extra fluids from that nearby arm, resulting in arm swelling. Gottsegen often works with cancer patients, providing massage treatment that helps move stagnant lymph toward working lymph nodes. Lymphatic drainage massage is different from common spa treatments like deep tissue massage, because the lymphatic system lies right below the skin, says Gottsegen, so the therapist gently stretches the skin directionally and rhythmically to stimulate lymph fluid movement. (Interested in wellness? Learn more about the real science behind popular trends.) Gottsegen describes stimulating areas of the body as opening extra roads to redirect traffic, moving the lymph fluid to other nodes to be processed. Lymph goes mainstream The social media posts now popularizing lymphatic drainage target a larger audience than those with lymph node disorders, often while espousing the benefits of a particular product. Gua sha, which uses a smooth stone to scrape the skin and promote circulation, originated as a centuries-old Chinese skincare tradition and has now been taken up by trendy skincare brands. Gua sha stone face rollers, like jade rollers, are a type of lymphatic drainage for the face, massaging the face and neck to reduce swelling and promote immune defense. Dry brushes for skin are also sold as a way of stimulating lymphatic circulation in the legs. But are any of these necessary? Those suffering from lymphedema swelling are the only ones who really need lymphatic drainage, says Erich Brenner, anatomist at the Medical University of Innsbruck in Austria. For those without this condition, your lymph nodes should be functioning just fine, says Brenner. Having lymphatic drainage if you don't suffer from lymphedema isn't harmful, adds Rockson, but it won't necessarily have the long-term detoxifying effects that some influencers promise. 'All you're doing with lymphatic drainage is stimulating that system to be more active,' says Rockson. 'If the system is already working at the appropriate capacity… then lymphatic massage isn't really going to visibly do anything.' And whatever effect the massage has will be temporary: whether you're healthy or sick, any response to lymphatic massage is going to last four to six hours at most, says Rockson. (How this one minute exercise could transform your health.) As far as influencers' claims that lymphatic drainage can help you lose weight, Rockson says it has nothing to do with weight loss. Cellulite is fluid retention within fat, so lymphatic drainage can temporarily smooth out cellulite, but it won't affect body weight as measured on a scale. The claims that lymphatic massage can get rid of toxins are unfounded as well, adds Rockson. 'There's a notion that somehow because the lymphatic system is a drainage system, that it is responsible for getting rid of toxins,' he explains. 'That's not really true. It really is a fluid movement system.' When operating properly this fluid movement system flushes out cellular waste, which contains normal byproducts of the body's constant regeneration, rather than harmful toxins. If you plan to get a lymphatic drainage massage, Brenner recommends ensuring the massage provider is qualified and adequately trained. Gottsegen also mentions none of the tools sold for lymph drainage, like gua sha rollers and dry brushes, are necessary for moving lymph through the body. 'I'd be wary of any devices, and I'd be much more inclined to learn about the lymphatic system yourself,' Gottsegen says. 'You don't need anything; you just need your own hands.' For those who want to ensure their lymphatic system is healthy, Rockson says to adopt the same lifestyle doctors recommend for living wealthy: eating a healthy diet with lots of whole foods and staying active.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Yahoo
Can Your Diet Actually Treat Chronic Disease? It Depends on a Few Key Factors.
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." NEARLY 2,500 YEARS ago, Hippocrates proclaimed that 'food is medicine.' Or something like that. Not only is it debatable that Hippocrates uttered the phrase at all, the idea of food being a cure-all for disease is now a thing again. In fact, there's a whole 'food is medicine" movement currently taking shape in the U.S. and around the world, one that's fueled both by concentrated university-backed research entities and the social-political MAHA phenomenon. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has used the phrase as a rallying cry to make changes to SNAP, alter school lunch programs, and eliminate artificial ingredients from packaged foods—all efforts to target chronic disease. At the same time, doctors and researchers believe that food is medicine can prevent—and even treat—diseases by way of expanding access to more healthful foods. That might mean supplying people with medically tailored meals or groceries, paid for or subsidized by their insurance. Or that could be doctors giving their patients prescriptions for fresh fruits and vegetables. Or implementing education programs around the importance of a healthful diet. All these ideas considered, food as medicine shouldn't compete with actual medicine, says Leslie Bonci, RD, a registered dietitian in Pittsburgh, PA. They should complement each other: 'The two don't live in silos,' she says. 'We can be proactive with food, but medication is essential.' In other words, eating a healthy diet is certainly good for you—but it can only take you so far. Here's what the research says about what food can (and can't) help with. WHILE EMERGING RESEARCH shows the promise of Food Is Medicine programs on heart health, there aren't yet solid standards for dose, duration, or frequency, a 2025 review by the American Heart Association found. That said, prior science has shown that what you eat plays a big role when it comes to preventing heart disease. Some research shows that people who eat certain diets—regardless of whether it's a low-carb or a low-fat one—tend to have better heart health than those who eat unhealthier diets. Even if you already have heart disease, eating plenty of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and fish, can help prevent a heart attack or stroke. The Mediterranean Diet and DASH diets—which prioritize healthy foods rather than limiting macros—are associated with lower risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease by up to 30 percent. Fruits and vegetables, especially, play a large part in helping people lower their blood pressure and LDL cholesterol levels, which can help prevent deaths from heart disease, says Bonci. That's not to say you'll never need medication for high blood pressure or cholesterol, but you can do a lot to protect your heart by eating a healthy diet. THE RESEARCH ON Food Is Medicine and type 2 diabetes is, so far, mixed. One study found that people with type 2 diabetes who did a Food Is Medicine program for a year, didn't see a blood sugar benefit. Yet other studies have reported that medically tailored meals helped those with diabetes lower their A1C, eat more produce, and report feelings of better health six months after receiving the meals. With diet in general, it's certainly true that eating an unhealthy diet can increase your risk of type 2 diabetes by roughly 30 percent, according to some research. The American Diabetes Association states that type 2 diabetes is a progressive condition even if you're exercising regularly and watching what you eat. That also tracks with what the research has found. Namely, that sometimes it's possible to delay a diabetes diagnosis—but sometimes not. For example, according to a 2024 study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, people with a high genetic risk of type 2 diabetes who exercised regularly and ate a healthier diet (more fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, and fiber) were 70 percent less likely to develop the condition three years later. But those with a lower genetic risk didn't see the same benefits. And once someone has type 2 diabetes, food is likely only part of the solution. Eating a healthy diet might help someone keep their A1C levels down, but in other cases, it may not. One 2023 study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that people with type 2 diabetes who participated in a food-as-medicine program, which provided healthy groceries for 10 meals per week for one year, didn't see an improvement in their blood sugar levels. It's still in your best interest to eat healthy whether you have type 2 diabetes—or don't want to develop it. After all, preventing type 2 diabetes for just four years can help you live longer overall, according to a 2024 study. And if you have type 2 diabetes now and stick to a healthy diet, research shows that you'll live longer, too. WE DON'T KNOW yet—but several Food Is Medicine studies are in the works. There's precedence though: Research shows that eating more of certain food groups (read: not any one food in particular) can help prevent some cancers from developing. Eating more fruits and vegetables has been shown to protect against colorectal, breast, and lung cancers, possibly because they contain nutrients like vitamins C and E that prevent cancer from forming in certain cells, according to a review in the journal Nutrients. Likewise, eating more fish may help ward off colorectal cancer, possibly because omega-3s can help lower inflammation in the body. In people who already have cancer, though, food may not make much of a difference. One review from July 2024 concluded that there's no strong evidence to show that any particular diet—such as keto, or diets that claim to starve the cancer cells of sugar—can slow down the progression of cancer or reduce the risk of recurrence. Although there is some evidence that a healthy diet can help some cancer survivors live a little longer. THERE'S SCIENTIFIC that Food Is Medicine programs may help reduce obesity, but more research is needed. That's partially because obesity is so complex. If there's one thing we've learned in the past decade or so, it's that obesity is way more than calories in, calories out. Newer research shows that obesity is driven not only by diet, but by genetics, lower physical activity levels, sleep patterns, stress, race, our environment, plus tons of other factors. Once you gain weight, it can be pretty difficult to shed it for good. Obviously, it's not impossible—and these guys are proof—but one particularly famous study conducted in The Biggest Loser contestants found that most of them gained back much of the weight they lost on the show. That's because when a person loses weight, their metabolism slows. In fact, the researchers found that after six years, The Biggest Loser contestants had resting metabolic rates of about 500 calories lower than someone at the same weight— meaning, they'd have to eat 500 fewer calories a day than the next guy in order to maintain their waistline. Due to the introduction of GLP-1s like Wegovy—which helps lower appetite levels by quieting the food noise—people may be more likely to see obesity as a treatable (and complex) disease. But that's not to say medication alone is the answer. New research published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition pointed out that people who use GLP-1s can run the risk of nutrient deficiencies as well as muscle and bone density loss, which means that your food choices are still as important as ever. RESEARCHERS SEE for Food Is Medicine programs to support better mental health, and some preliminary studies have found a connection between some programs and self-reported feelings of less anxiety and depression, but (you guessed it) we need more research. What we already know is that science has consistently found that eating more inflammatory foods—candy, soda, margarine, red meat, you know the drill—is linked to higher symptoms of depression. What's more, not eating unhealthy food can help boost your mood: Research published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine found that people who lowered their intake of junk food and replaced it with healthier stuff saw a reduction in depressive symptoms, even if they didn't have a formal diagnosis. (The study didn't show a benefit to anxiety symptoms, though.) Plus, among people who do have depression, those who eat more whole grains and vegetables tend to have less severe symptoms than people who don't eat healthy, according to a 2023 study. So can you beat depression by shelving your snacking habit? Probably not, but you'll likely feel a little better. ADMITTEDLY, THE RESEARCH into what's being called the Planetary Health Diet is relatively new, but one study published in 2024 found that healthier diets resulted in 29 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions, 21 percent less fertilizer, and 13 percent fewer irrigation water. So while it's probably a little too early to tell whether cutting trans fats and added sugar from our diet will save the planet, it can certainly help us live longer—and healthier—in the meantime. And isn't that a good enough reason? You Might Also Like The Best Hair Growth Shampoos for Men to Buy Now 25 Vegetables That Are Surprising Sources of Protein
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Yahoo
7 Things Stroke Doctors Say You Should Never, Ever Do
In the United States, strokes are a top cause of death and a major cause of disability, according to the American Stroke Association. This is a scary reality, especially since many of the stroke risk factors are pretty silent (like high cholesterol and high blood pressure) ― until they're not. But just because some of the risk factors aren't always obvious doesn't mean strokes can't be controlled. In fact, it's estimated that 80% of strokes are preventable through lifestyle changes like exercise, diet and more, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No one knows that more than the experts who treat the issue. Stroke doctors say they think a lot about the key ways to lower their risk (and their patients' risk) of stroke. 'I like to think of it more proactively — what I could do to prevent stroke,' said Dr. Anthony Kim, a vascular neurologist and medical director of the University of California at San Francisco Stroke Center. Below, stroke doctors share the habits they personally avoid ― and why you should avoid them, too. According to Dr. Arthur Wang, director of endovascular neurosurgery at Tulane University School of Medicine, one of the modifiable risk factors for stroke is having a sedentary lifestyle. While there isn't one across-the-board definition of a sedentary lifestyle, overall, it means spending too much time sitting or lying down and not enough time exercising or moving around. 'It's been shown that regular physical activity helps keep your blood vessels clog-free. It stops the buildup of plaque in the arteries,' Wang said. 'And so we generally recommend that people get probably 30 minutes of moderate exercise maybe five times a week.' This could mean going for walks, runs, biking, gardening or joining a group workout class — there is no wrong way to get moving. 'It turns out that a lot of the same things that we would recommend for a healthy lifestyle also reduce the risk of both heart disease and stroke,' Kim said. 'But if there's one factor that is the most impactful it would be blood pressure, blood pressure, blood pressure.' Elevated blood pressure, particularly over time, can lead to problems, he said: High blood pressure is the biggest modifiable stroke risk factor. 'If you took a magic wand and waved it and suddenly eliminated high blood pressure from the U.S. population, there would be 60% fewer strokes,' Kim said. 'It's by far the leading risk factor for stroke and we call it the silent killer because oftentimes, patients don't feel it; you have to have it checked and monitored and treated.' If you took a magic wand and waved it and suddenly eliminated high blood pressure from the U.S. population, there would be 60% fewer Anthony Kim, University of California, San Francisco, Stroke Center 'These risk factors oftentimes don't have any real symptoms,' Wang said, which is a worrisome thing to think about. 'A patient would never know that their blood pressure's high, they wouldn't know whether they have high cholesterol unless all of this is routinely tested or screened on a regular basis.' This means it's crucial that you visit your primary care doctor for the routine check-ups that they deem necessary. They'll screen you for issues like high cholesterol and high blood pressure while checking other risk factors like your blood sugar and weight, too, he added. 'I think just being hyper-vigilant about those things, especially when these risk factors for stroke are very cryptic, meaning that they don't manifest in any real symptoms, so it's really important for patients to understand that so they take the actionable steps to see their doctor to get these routine screening tests,' Wang said. Your doctor can also review any risk factors outside your control, like gender (strokes are more common in women, Wang said), race (they're more common in Black people, he noted) and personal history. 'In terms of previous medical history, those who have had prior strokes in the past, or if one of their parents had a stroke in the past, are at a much higher risk of having a future stroke,' Wang said. According to both Kim and Wang, one of the habits that is high on a to-avoid list is smoking. 'That definitely increases the risk of stroke, and heart disease, for that matter,' Kim said. 'And one of the ways that it does that is by causing the blood vessels to become narrowed over time, and that can ultimately lead to blockages in blood flow to part of the brain, which is essentially what a stroke is,' he explained. You're probably aware that alcohol is not good for you. It's linked to certain kinds of cancer, liver disease, and yes, stroke, too. Specifically, Kim said there is an 'association between ... excessive alcohol use and heart disease and stroke risk.' Alcohol recommendations vary by person, but, the CDC considers more than four drinks in one sitting for women or five drinks in one sitting for men to be excessive drinking. More than eight drinks per week for women and 15 drinks per week for men is also considered excessive drinking. Generally, it's accepted that women should not have more than one alcoholic drink a day and men should not have more than two, Kim said. These are also the recommendations put forth by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. A proper diet is important for managing stroke risk, too. This means moderating foods that are full of saturated fats, sugar and salt, Wang said. (Additionally, Kim pointed out that there is a relationship between salt intake and high blood pressure, which, as we now know, is another stroke risk factor.) When it comes to what you should eat, Kim points to the work of author and journalist Michael Pollan. This advice is 'eat food, mostly plants, not too much,' Wang said. This means having a diet that's rich in fruits and veggies with some meat added in. Since strokes are so common in this country (and this world), it's important that you're aware of the signs and get treated as soon as possible. Available stroke treatments work better the sooner they're done, Kim said. 'Because many strokes aren't painful, and the symptoms of stroke vary so much, it's important to recognize symptoms of stroke,' he said. And, there's a useful acronym to help people remember the signs — and that acronym is FAST, Kim said. FAST stands for 'facial drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulty and time to call 9-1-1,' according to the American Stroke Association website. 'These are not the list of all potential stroke symptoms, but any one of those [factors] raises the suspicion that it could be a stroke, especially if it happens suddenly,' Kim noted. And, once again, it's important to remember that getting treatment as fast as possible is vital, he said. This Is One Of The Biggest Warning Signs You May Experience A Stroke Walking This Many Steps Per Day May Cut Your Risk Of Early Death The New Heart Health Guidelines You Need To Know About
