Can tomatoes prevent a stroke?

On the NHS website I found a great article about whether tomatoes can actually prevent a stroke.
Below is a link to the article I read.

NHS article

The research was conducted on over 1000 men aged between 42 and 61. The research is an example of a longitudinal study as it was carried out over 12 years. This allowed researchers to ensure what they were testing the men appropriately over a long period of time. The researchers tested the participants fasting levels of carotenoids in their blood. Cartenoids are present in tomatoes. This allowed them to record the amount of LDL's, HDL's, cholesterol, blood pressure and BMI. The fact that they were able to measure a number of variables made the study more reliable.

In order to make the investigation as accurate as possible, the investigators controlled as many variables as possible. Including Alcohol consumption, physical activity, diabetes and smoking.

The study was aimed to determine an association between blood concentrations of carotenoids and the risk of a stroke. It was then found at the end of the study, that out of 1000 men, only 67 strokes occurred  As a result of this very small sample size, it rapidly decreases the reliability of the investigation.

In conclusion, after analysing the data, it was concluded that levels of cartenoids can't be associated with a stroke risk. So unfortunately, we can't determine that tomatoes can prevent cardiac problems.