Takeaway
- Modeling suggests that older adults who swap in oatmeal for white bread or eggs (but not for yogurt) for a single breakfast each week can achieve small but significant reductions in stroke risk.
Why this matters
- A small change in diet could translate to large benefits at the population level.
Key results
- During a 13.4-year follow-up, 4.1% of participants experienced the first stroke.
- Replacing 1 serving per week of white bread with oatmeal conferred lower adjusted risks (HRs; 95% CIs) for:
- Total stroke: 0.96 (0.95-0.98),
- Total ischemic stroke: 0.96 (0.94-0.98); and
- Ischemic stroke because of small-artery occlusion: 0.95 (0.93-0.98).
- Replacing 1 serving per week of eggs with oatmeal conferred lower adjusted risks (HRs, 95% CIs) for:
- Total stroke: 0.96 (0.93-0.98);
- Total ischemic stroke: 0.96 (0.94-0.99);
- Ischemic stroke because of small-artery occlusion: 0.95 (0.91-0.99); and
- Total hemorrhagic stroke: 0.94 (0.89-0.99).
- Replacing yogurt with oatmeal did not significantly alter stroke risk.
Study design
- Danish prospective cohort study of 55,095 stroke-free adults ages 50-64 years.
- Baseline breakfast foods were assessed with a validated food-frequency questionnaire.
- Main outcome: first stroke.
- Funding: None disclosed.
Limitations
- Self-reporting of diet.
- Foods assessed once.
- Residual, unmeasured confounding.
- Unknown generalizability.
References
References