The role of
flavonoids in CVD, especially in
strokes, is unclear. Our aim was to study the role of
flavonoids in CVD. We studied the association between the intakes of five subclasses (
flavonols,
flavones,
flavanones, flavan-3-ols and
anthocyanidins), a total of twenty-six
flavonoids, on the risk of
ischaemic stroke and CVD mortality. The study population consisted of 1950 eastern Finnish men aged 42-60 years free of prior CHD or
stroke as part of the prospective population-based Kuopio Ischaemic
Heart Disease Risk Factor Study. During an average follow-up time of 15.2 years, 102
ischaemic strokes and 153 CVD deaths occurred. In the Cox proportional hazards model adjusted for age and examination years, BMI,systolic blood pressure,
hypertension medication, serum HDL- and
LDL-cholesterol, serum TAG, maximal
oxygen uptake, smoking, family history of CVD, diabetes, alcohol intake, energy-adjusted intake of
folate,
vitamin E, total fat and saturated fat intake (percentage of energy), men in the highest quartile of
flavonol and
flavan-3-ol intakes had a relative risk of 0.55 (95% CI 0.31, 0.99) and 0.59 (95% CI 0.30, 1.14) for
ischaemic stroke, respectively, as compared with the lowest quartile. After multivariate adjustment, the relative risk for CVD death in the highest quartile of
flavanone and
flavone intakes were 0.54 (95% CI 0.32, 0.92) and 0.65 (95% CI 0.40, 1.05), respectively. The present results suggest that high intakes of
flavonoids may be associated with decreased risk of
ischaemic stroke and possibly with reduced CVD mortality.