A study reveals that it is the type of fat we eat and not the amount that influences the risk of suffering a fatal stroke

By Kaitlin Sullivan -

Fat in food has long been linked to stroke risk, but new research released Monday suggests that it's the type of fat, not the amount, that can trigger a stroke.

Research revealed that consuming more animal fat is associated with higher risk, while consuming more plant-based fat has the opposite consequence.

Beef steaks and other veal products are featured in a McLea, Virginia, grocery store in January 2010.J.

Scott Applewhite / AP

Stroke is the

,

and nutritionists have long tried to raise awareness about how a balanced diet affects well-being.

"If everyone could

, such as reducing their intake of red and processed meat, the public health effects would be enormous," said study leader Fenglei Wang, a researcher at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. .

The average American diet is based on animal protein, and the sooner we can switch to a more plant-based one, the better off we will be. "

Michael Miedema doctor

The results were presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association and have not yet been published in a journal.

The study's conclusions come from data collected over 27 years by more than 117,000 health professionals and collected in two of the largest and oldest nutritional studies in the United States: the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.

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In these studies, participants regularly filled out questionnaires about their diets and provided researchers with their medical records.

One of the limitations of the study is that the participants are predominantly white healthcare professionals.

A stroke occurs when blood flow stops reaching a part of the brain.

It can be caused by a blood clot, called an ischemic stroke, or by a ruptured blood vessel, called a hemorrhagic stroke.

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Ischemic strokes account for

, compared to 10% of hemorrhagic

. 

The study found that a higher consumption of vegetable fats is linked to a lower risk of ischemic stroke, since those who eat more vegetable and polyunsaturated fats (such as olive oil) are

likely to suffer it compared to they eat less of these vegetable fats.

Eating less animal fats also appears to lower the risk of any type of stroke.

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Those who eat the highest amounts of animal fat - including fats from red and processed meat, but excluding fat from dairy - are 16% more likely to have a stroke than those who eat the least animal fat.

.

"This study is consistent with previous nutritional science showing that

," said Michael Miedema, director of cardiovascular prevention at the Minneapolis Heart Institute, who was not involved in the new research.

"The average American diet is based on protein of animal origin and the sooner we can change it to a more plant-based one, the better off we will be," he said.

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"

if it's not what they want to do, but swapping a red meat meal a week and substituting it for an unprocessed vegetarian option will be good for cardiovascular health," Tracy Severson said, dietitian at the Knight Cardiovascular Institute at Oregon Health and Science University. 

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The study authors recommended

, such as lard or tallow, to non-tropical vegetable oils, such as olive, corn or soybean oil.

Diet is not the only risk factor that can cause a stroke;

are too.

"Lifestyle is always the basis for preventing cardiovascular disease," added Miedema.