HEALTH WATCH: 5 Foods That Can Cause Stroke

The dreadful ailment called stroke might strike its victim without a warning.

However, five foods that can cause stroke have been unveiled. The findings also revealed what should be done to escape this deadly ailment.

According to Melanie Haiken, a blogger on caring.com, the foods include crackers, chips, store-bought pastries and baked goods.

Foods identified in this group include muffins, doughnuts and many other baked products with high amount of fat. Also, identified as worst offenders in the group are fried fast foods like onion ring, French fries and fried chicken.

The second category is smoked and processed meats like sausage, hot dogs, bacon and smoked turkey.

The third is diet soda. Though diet soda drink has low sugar content and recommended for those who might want to lose weight, it could cause stroke to those who are addicted to the drink. People who drink a soda a day up their stroke risk by 48 per cent.

The writer quoted a popular journal Stroke which published a study that polled 42 percent of women who consumed large portion of red meat each day as recording high incidence of stroke. The magazine spoke with experts who concluded that red meat is not healthy for people who like to prevent heart disease and stroke.

Another group of the dangerous food is canned soup and prepared food such as canned spaghetti, frozen dinners. In this groups, experts say canned soup is the worst offender. Reason is that a canned soup contains 1100 mg of sodium per can whereas experts recommend that a person should consume less than 1,500 mg of sodium daily.

For years scientist have warned that fats are dangerous for they block arteries and build up bad cholesterol in the blood while lowering good cholesterol.

Smoked and processed meat do contribute to stroke because the way they are processed and packed leave them with sodium. The preservatives used to keep them from going bad are not good for the body either. The materials damage blood vessels. Studies have linked processed foods with coronary artery disease.

Salt or sodium found in excess in the foods affects stroke risk. People who consumed more than 4,000 mg of sodium daily had more than double the risk of stroke.

According to Haiken, the solution is to limit consumption of fats to not more than one or two grams a day and if possible no fat at all. Avoid fast foods with high concentration of fats. You can also bake your own cookies, cakes and other snacks.

If you are in love with smoked turkey or meat, try to vary your diet with varieties every day of the week. You can also cook turkey or chicken by yourself.

Instead of consuming a lot of soda daily, you can substitute water and drink a lot of water daily. Nutritionists have cautioned anyone concerned about stroke to cut out diet soda.

In your diet, it is advisable you leave out red meat completely. Instead, you can opt for white meat and fish. Other sources of healthy protein are beans, nuts and none fat dairy.

It is also health-wise to consume less sodium or none at all to reduce the risk of stroke.