It’s your brain. That vital structure sitting atop your neck and protected by your skull. Damage to our brains, whether through a slow process like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, or through a rapid event like a stroke, scares almost everyone. Frustratingly, we continue to live in a society that makes us think this is a random event and we have little to do with preventing these events.
This could not be further from the truth, whether we are talking about a disease such as Alzheimer’s or an event like a stroke. This particular study against illustrates just how massively powerful healthy lifestyle choices are at protecting against stroke.
Participants were graded based on 5 factors– smoking, body mass index, physical activity, and vegetable and alcohol consumption. Those with adherence of all 5 factors had a whopping 67% lower risk of having a stroke. The association was graded, meaning that the more factors you had, the better the protection—so that even one had a beneficial effect.
It’s your brain. Without it you are merely an elected government representative. Is it worth adopting these factors to protect it?