Eat oatmeal instead of white bread, eggs for lower stroke risk, study says

A diet containing oatmeal is preferable to a diet that includes white bread or eggs, as the former is associated with a lower rate of stroke, a study has found.

The study included 55,095 participants from the Danish cohort study, among whom 2,260 had a first-ever stroke during a median follow-up of 13.4 years. All participants completed a validated 192-item food-frequency questionnaire at baseline to assess breakfast foods.

Researchers divided intake of breakfast alternatives into portions sizes as follows: 1 serving of oatmeal =50 g, 1 serving of boiled egg =60 g, 1 serving of white bread =30 g and 1 serving of yogurt =200 g. They asked participants to record intake of the said breakfast foods even if this took place at other times of the day. In this way, intake per day might include intake from other meals.

A model replacing white bread or eggs with oatmeal conferred a protective benefit for the risk of total stroke (hazard ratio [HR], 0.96, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.95–0.98 and HR, 0.96, 95 percent CI, 0.93–0.98, respectively), total ischaemic stroke (HR, 0.96, 95 percent CI, 0.94–0.98 and HR, 0.96, 95 percent CI, 0.94–0.99, respectively) and ischaemic stroke due to small-artery occlusion (HR, 0.95, 95 percent CI, 0.93–0.98 and HR, 0.95, 95 percent CI, 0.91–0.99, respectively).

Additionally, a model replacing eggs with oatmeal was associated with a lower rate of total haemorrhagic stroke (HR, 0.94, 95 percent CI, 0.89–0.99).

A model replacing yogurt with oatmeal conferred no stroke risk reduction benefit.

The effect estimates, although modest, persisted despite controlling for known risk factors for stroke, the researchers said, adding that results did not differ between men and women.