Stymie Blood Clots with a Cuppa This

Go ahead, have that cup of coffee. Turns out a morning cup of joe could cut your risk of stroke.

In a 10-year Swedish study, healthy women who drank 1 or more cups of coffee a day enjoyed about a 25 percent drop in stroke risk compared with the women who drank less than a cup a day. Fill 'er up?

A Brain-Shielding Brew
The recent java news is no reason to start a coffee habit if you don't already have one. And some people -- like those with high blood pressure or sensitivity to the stuff -- definitely need to be wary of caffeine. But for the rest of us, coffee may very well be worthy of inclusion on our lists of health foods. Researchers think that the inflammation-cooling antioxidants in the brew may help protect the lining of blood-vessel walls from damage -- the kind that leads to plaque buildup and dangerous-for-the-brain clots. (Related: Here's a vitamin that may protect against not just stroke but diabetes, too.)

A Little Goes a Long Way
So does that mean more coffee offers even better protection? Nope. At least not according to this study. The women who drank 2, 3, or more cups a day experienced no greater protection from stroke than the women who drank just 1 cup daily. So there's no good reason to turn into a full-blown java junkie. (Find out why the YOU Docs think coffee isn't such a bad habit after all.)

Whether you're a man or a woman, you'll want to take to heart these other stroke-reducing habits:

• Eat the right kind of fat. Especially the omega-3 fatty acids found in this food.
• Choose to move. Here's how a walking habit can beat back stroke risk.
• Lick that salt habit. This is why a lower-sodium diet may protect your brain.
• Kick them butts. And we've got the quit-smoking plan that can help you do it.

How would you know if you were having a stroke? Learn the signs and symptoms -- and how to save your brain.

RealAge Benefit

Enjoying coffee if you like it -- and it likes you -- can make your RealAge 0.3 years younger. Take the NEW RealAge Test!

References

Actively patrolling your health can make your RealAge as much as 12 years younger. Take the RealAge Test  Copyright 2010 RealAge