Stroke and TIA's

The number of fast-food restaurants near you could point to your stroke risk? A study on residents of Nueces County, Texas, found that people who lived in neighborhoods with the most fast-food restaurants had a 13 percent higher risk of having a stroke than those in neighborhoods with the fewest such restaurants.

Pairing certain foods can maximize the benefits:

What to pair: Green tea and vitamin C 

Goal: Prevent cancer, heart attack, stroke

Examples: Hot green tea with toast and 1/2 fresh grapefruit; iced green tea with diced fruit

Green Tea + Lemon

In a study of more than 40,500 Japanese men and women, those who drank five or more cups of green tea every day had the lowest risk of dying of heart disease and stroke. Researchers attribute the protective effect to catechins, powerful antioxidants. Trouble is, less than 20% of these relatively unstable compounds survive digestion. To get more out of every cup, squeeze in some lemon juice. The vitamin C in lemons helps your body absorb 13 times more catechins than it can obtain from plain tea alone, according to a Purdue University study.

Sip to your heart's content: With the catechin boost from vitamin C, you can help your heart by drinking just one or two cups daily. If lemons make you pucker, squeeze in some orange, lime, or grapefruit juice; they increase antioxidant absorption, too, though to a lesser extent. Just skip the milk--it actually interferes with absorption--and stick to freshly brewed tea, hot or iced. The catechins in ready-to-drink bottles are ineffective.