It's getting very difficult not to get the point -- our diets should include more fruits and vegetables. The latest Harvard study finds five to six servings a day can reduce your risk of stroke by more than 30 percent.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, looks at healthy men and women, ages 40 to 75, over a 14-year period. It finds women who ate an average of 5.8 servings of fruits and veggies and men who had 5.1 servings a day lowered their risk of ischemic stroke -- the most common type, caused by a blood clot in the brain -- by 31 percent when compared to those who ate fewer than three servings.
Researchers say each additional serving was associated with a 6 percent lower risk of stroke; however they did not find additional reductions beyond six servings. They say the lowest risks of ischemic stroke are linked to cruciferous vegetables -- those in the cabbage family such as bok choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, collards and cauliflower -- green leafy vegetables, citrus fruits and citrus juice.
The Harvard study says the results support other studies and make it clear our diets need to shift away from high fat and toward more fruits and vegetables. They note many of the study participants, prior to the study, had healthier lifestyles, eating more than the average of five servings per day.
