f08 Healthy Eating and Stroke v2.1 December 2021
f08 Healthy Eating and Stroke v2.1 December 2021
f08 Healthy Eating and Stroke v2.1 December 2021
and stroke
Stroke Helpline: 0303 3033 100
or email: helpline@stroke.org.uk
If you have had a stroke or transient Five healthy eating tips to help reduce
ischaemic attack (TIA or mini-stroke), your risk of stroke
you should be given some advice about
healthy eating. People with swallowing 1. Fruit and vegetables should make up a
problems should have advice from a third of your daily diet. Eat at least five
speech and language therapist and portions a day.
dietitian on healthy and safe ways to
eat and drink. If you have trouble eating 2. Starchy foods should make up another
enough to keep your weight up, ask your third of your daily diet. Go for more
GP or dietitian for help. If you need to wholegrains in foods like brown rice,
reduce your weight, you can get advice wholegrain bread and breakfast cereals.
from your GP, and there are some great
resources online such as NHS OneYou and 3. Aim to eat some protein every day.
NHS Choices. Healthy sources of protein can be found in
fish, pulses, nuts and seeds, lean meat and
meat alternatives like tofu and textured
vegetable protein.
Fibre Wholegrains
Fibre is vital for lowering cholesterol, keeping Wholegrains are linked to a lower risk of
blood sugar levels stable, and managing stroke. They can also help us avoid type 2
your weight. Adults should aim to eat 30g of diabetes, heart disease and weight gain.
fibre every day.
To make white flour or white rice, the brown
Fibre is found in plant-based foods, not meat outer skin of the grain is removed. This
or dairy. The amount of fibre in food can skin is where most of the fibre, vitamins
often be found on the label. You may hear the and minerals are stored. So that’s why
terms insoluble and soluble fibre being used. wholegrain foods tend to contain more
vitamins and minerals than refined products
• Soluble fibre delays the time it takes for like white bread and white pasta.
you to digest food, making you feel fuller Wholegrains are a good source of B-vitamins
for longer. It can regulate blood sugar and folic acid, as well as both types of fibre.
levels and help reduce cholesterol. It does
this by binding to excess cholesterol and Tips for eating more wholegrains
fatty substances in the gut, stopping them
from going into your bloodstream. One • Start off by adding wholegrains into some
kind of soluble fibre is beta-glucan, which of your main meals. Try brown rice instead
is found in grains like oats, barley and rye. of white, brown pasta and wholewheat
Fruit, vegetables, beans, pulses and peas couscous.
are other good sources of soluble fibre. • Look for wholegrain breakfast cereals.
• Insoluble fibre shortens the time it takes • Choose wholegrain bread, and try bread
for food to move through the bowel, and made with rye and other grains.
can also improve the balance of good • Oats can help lower cholesterol. Oat bran,
bacteria in the gut. This can improve the rye and barley all help too. Try eating a
health of your gut. To boost your intake, couple of oatcakes as a snack, or adding
eat the skin on fruit and vegetables. Go for barley into a stew.
wholegrain varieties of starchy foods like
pasta and bread, and cook potatoes with If you are unable to eat gluten or wheat,
the skin on. alternative grains include buckwheat, corn,
rice, quinoa and millet.
Protein Fat
You need roughly two portions of protein We all need some fat in our diet because it
every day. As a guide, one portion of protein is a valuable source of energy and it helps
is the amount that will roughly cover the the body absorb certain nutrients. It can also
palm of your hand. For most people, this is provide substances called essential fatty
about 70g of meat, 140g fish, or two medium acids that the body can’t make itself.
eggs.
Types of fat and what they do
Protein is found in food like meat, fish, eggs, • Unsaturated fats are mainly found in fish
pulses and beans, dairy products, nuts, and and in plant-based foods, like nuts and
meat alternatives like soya products. seeds or the oils that come from them.
You may see words like ‘polyunsaturated’
Aim to keep your intake of saturated fat low and ‘mono-unsaturated’ on food labels.
by choosing lean cuts of meat and taking the Unsaturated fats tend to be oils, not solid
skin off poultry. fats. Eating small amounts of unsaturated
fats can help you reduce cholesterol, and
Aim for one or two servings of fish per week avoid blocked arteries and blood clots
including one of oily fish like mackerel, which can cause strokes.
salmon or trout.
• Omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids are
Beans and pulses are a good alternative types of polyunsaturated fat, known as
to meat and fish. They also contain soluble essential fatty acids. They tend to be found
fibre that can help lower your cholesterol. in oils from fish or plants. They play an
Beans and pulses also contain vitamins and important role in the body, helping to keep
minerals, and three heaped tablespoons artery walls healthy, and regulating blood
can count as a maximum of one of your clotting. They play a part in lowering
five a day. blood pressure and having a steady heart
rate. They can help reduce the risk of a
Nuts are a source of protein as well as stroke and heart attack by improving
healthy fats. They are high in calories, so you levels of ‘good’ cholesterol and reducing
only need a small handful. ‘bad’ cholesterol. A good source is oily
fish, but they are also found in nuts and
seeds such as walnuts and flax seeds, and
soya products.
Triglycerides
Triglycerides are another type of fat found
in your blood. Triglycerides are made in your
liver but you can also find them in food like
meat and dairy. Like cholesterol, it can cause
deposits in the arteries.
Sugar Salt
Some foods and drinks contain a lot of Why eat less salt?
added sugar, but you may not always realise Eating a lot of salt can increase your blood
which ones. You can put on weight if you pressure. Salt contains sodium which helps to
have more sugar than your body needs. keep your body fluids at the right level. If you
Excess calories are stored as fat. This have too much salt, the amount of liquid your
increases your risk of stroke, heart disease body stores increases and this raises your
and type 2 diabetes. blood pressure.
Foods which often contain added sugar Salt and high blood pressure
include: High blood pressure (hypertension) is the
single biggest risk factor for stroke. It causes
• Fizzy drinks and squash. the walls of your arteries to harden and
• Ready-made pasta sauces. narrow, which increases the risk of blood
• Popular cereals like muesli, cornflakes and clots forming. A clot can travel to the brain
granola. and cause a stroke (ischaemic stroke).
• Tomato ketchup and baked beans.
• Some foods sold as ‘low fat’ contain extra High blood pressure also puts a strain on the
sugar. walls of the arteries inside the brain, which
increases your risk of a blood vessel bursting
You should aim to eat no more than 30g and bleeding into the brain (a haemorrhagic
of sugar a day (the equivalent of seven stroke). By reducing the amount of salt you
teaspoons of sugar). This may sound a lot, eat, you can lower your blood pressure
but one can of fizzy drink may contain more and your risk of stroke. See our guide F06,
than eight teaspoons. High blood pressure and stroke, for more
information.
Check the label
Food labels will tell you how much sugar How much salt do I need?
is in food. It may be listed as sugar or You should eat no more than 6g of salt a day,
‘carbohydrates from sugar’. Other names or about a teaspoon.
for sugar include glucose, fructose, dextrose,
agave syrup, honey and corn syrup. If one There is a large amount of hidden salt found
of these are near the top of the ingredients in processed and ready-made foods. 75% of
list, it means the food contains a lot of sugar. the salt we eat is already in everyday foods
Many labels use a traffic light system to show such as bread, breakfast cereal and ready
if foods are high in sugar, fat and salt. meals. Many other everyday foods have a
Red means high, amber is medium and green high salt content, like tinned and packet
is low. soup, crisps, bacon and sausages.
A quick and easy way to keep track of the Tips to help you cut down on salt
amount of salt you are eating is by reading
the salt or sodium content on the nutritional • Remember the maximum daily intake
labels on foods. recommended for adults is just one
teaspoon of salt.
To find out how much salt is in food, look for • Take salt off the dinner table.
a nutrition table on the packaging. This gives • Don’t add salt when cooking – instead
the amount of energy, salt, sugar and other flavour meals with garlic, chilli, herbs,
things in a product. Salt could be listed as spices, lemon or lime juice.
salt, or may be listed as sodium. Sodium is • Make your own sauces, pickles or chutney
always a smaller number than salt. to control how much salt goes in.
• Choose tinned fish in spring water instead
• A high amount of salt is more than 1.5g of brine.
per 100g, or 0.6g sodium. • Beware of added salt in foods like:
• A low amount of salt is 0.3g per 100g, or • Bread, which can have as much salt in
0.1g sodium. one slice as a packet of crisps and can
provide up to 20% of your daily salt
Tip: If you can only see a figure for intake.
sodium, multiply it by 2.5 to get the • Breakfast cereals like cornflakes, which
amount of salt. can be high in salt.
• Crisps, salted nuts and other salty
When comparing two similar products, try to snacks.
go for the one with the lowest salt content – • Cheese, butter and margarine.
small changes can make a big difference. • Processed meat like bacon and
One easy way to eat less salt is to stop sausages.
adding it to your food during cooking and at • Ready-made meals and soups.
the dinner table. If you regularly add salt to • Baked beans and ready-made pasta
food when cooking, try adding less or using sauces.
herbs, spices, garlic or lemon juice to add • Tomato ketchup and other sauces.
flavour instead. • Pickled foods.
Weightwise
Website: bdaweightwise.com
Provides hints and tips to help you manage
your weight.
Accessible formats
Visit our website if you need this
information in audio, large print or braille.
Every five minutes, stroke destroys lives. We need your support to help
rebuild them. Donate or find out more at stroke.org.uk.
The Stroke Association is registered as a charity in England and Wales (No 211015) and in Scotland (SC037789).
JN 2223-188.1
Also registered in the Isle of Man (No. 945) and Jersey (No. 221), and operating as a charity in Northern Ireland.