Dietary Fat From Plants May Cut Stroke Risk, Harvard Study Shows

People who get their dietary fat from olive oil rather than steak may help reduce their risk of suffering a stroke, a preliminary study suggests, Amy Norton reported for HealthDay News.

Photo Insert: The dietary fat from olive oil instead of steak supposedly reduces the risk of stroke.

The study, of more than 100,000 health professionals, found that those who favored vegetable oils and other plant foods as their source of fat generally had a lower risk of stroke over the years.

Overall, the 20% of people with the highest intake of vegetable fats had a 12% lower risk of suffering a stroke over 27 years, compared to people with the lowest intake of those fats.

On the other end of the spectrum were people who got much of their dietary fat from meat. The 20% with the highest intake of those fats were 16% more likely to suffer a stroke, compared to the 20% with the lowest intake, United Press International (UPI) also reported.

Many studies have looked at the relationship between dietary fat and stroke risk. This one focused on the food sources of that fat, said lead researcher Fenglei Wang, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. And the findings, he said, favor replacing beef fat with vegetable oils like olive, soybean, or corn.

Wang will present the results Saturday at an online meeting of the American Heart Association (AHA.) Studies released at meetings are generally considered preliminary until they are published in a peer-reviewed journal.

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