Eating tomatoes can dramatically reduce the risk of having a stroke ,according to a new study.The key factor appears to be the powerful antioxident lycopene, according to the Finnish study published in the Neurology journal.
The research -based on data from more than 1000 middle aged man, followed for an average of 12 years-indicates that people with the highest level of lycopene in their blood have a 55% lower chance of suffering the stroke.
The correlation between lycopene levels and stroke risk was even strong when the researchers only included strokes due to blood clots, leaving out those caused by heamorrhages.
The participants with the highest levels of lycopene had a 59% lower risk of stroke from a blood clot then the men with lowest level of the antioxidant.
Researchers looked at the number of other antioxidents -alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol , which is a form of vitamin E, and vitamin A, or retinol — but did not find any link with stroke risk
