Eating foods that contain vitamin C such as oranges, papaya and broccoli may reduce your risk of the most common type of hemorrhagic stroke, according to a new study.
Hemorrhagic stroke is less common than ischemic stroke, but is more often deadly, researchers said.
They studied 65 people who had experienced an intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke, or a blood vessel rupture inside the brain.
They were compared to 65 healthy people. Participants were tested for the levels of vitamin C in their blood.
Forty-one per cent of cases had normal levels of vitamin C, 45 per cent showed depleted levels of vitamin C and 14 per cent were considered deficient of the vitamin.
On average, the people who had a stroke had depleted levels of vitamin C, while those who had not had a stroke had normal levels of the vitamin.
"Our results show that vitamin C deficiency should be considered a risk factor for this severe type of stroke, as were high blood pressure, drinking alcohol and being overweight in our study," said study author Stephane Vannier, with Pontchaillou University Hospital in Rennes, France.
"More research is needed to explore specifically how vitamin C may help to reduce stroke risk. For example, the vitamin may regulate blood pressure," Vannier said.
Vannier added that vitamin C appears to have other benefits like creating collagen, a protein found in bones, skin and tissues.
The study will be presented at a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Philadelphia in April.
