# Bad diets and strokes

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-diets-and-strokes/826288>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 17, 2018, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-diets-and-strokes/826288 "2018-12-17T21:02:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-diets-and-strokes/826288/1 "2018-12-17T21:02:47Z")

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My friend, age 50, had a stroke recently. Hes in rehab getting stronger. I am curious how much his diet played into this. He had a sausage egg muffin for breakfast, a kfc chicken little for lunch, and usually one for dinner, with the occasional pizza thrown in. That’s it. Also, about 70 ounces of coffee daily.  
Yes he was a smoker, and obviously that contributed, but is that diet really that horrible?  
I think so, especially having read Morgan Spurlocks book.

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**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-diets-and-strokes/826288/2 "2018-12-17T21:16:54Z")

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Yeah, that’s a pretty terrible diet.  
Loads of saturated fat, and sodium, and no vegetables.

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**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2018, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-diets-and-strokes/826288/3 "2018-12-18T01:53:24Z")

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Strokes aren’t that common among people aged 50. Does he have any other risk factors, or a genetic predisposition?

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**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2018, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-diets-and-strokes/826288/4 "2018-12-18T01:56:23Z")

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Both parents are fine, and they smoke. He smoked a pack a day, had a former drug habit, which involved smoking. He was on blood pressure meds even.

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**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2018, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-diets-and-strokes/826288/5 "2018-12-18T01:56:28Z")

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Too many unknowns to speculate. Was it a hemorrhagic stroke or a thrombotic one? Was an aneurysm present? If thrombotic, where’d the thrombosis come from? What was his cholesterol? Was there cerebrovascular disease? Might not have had a thing to do with his diet. Might have had a bit to do with it.

Smoking is a much greater risk factor for stroke than diet.