Reduce Your Stroke Risk

University of London researchers investigated 8 studies previously done in America, Europe, and Japan with more than 250,000 individuals. The results of the study was published in the Lancet journal.

• 3 to 5 servings of fruits & vegetables reduce stroke risk by 11%
• 5 servings or more of fruits & vegetables reduce stroke risk by 25%

They concluded that the benefits could be due to the potassium, since potassium can lower blood pressure. You increase potassium intake about 50% by increasing fruit & vegetable consumption from 3 to 5 servings per day.

Ways to increase fruit & vegetable servings:

• Add fresh berries and bananas or apple slices to your cereal.
• Use fresh fruits as desserts.
• Use fresh fruits as snacks, instead of chips, cookies, etc.

Gary suggests 12 servings of fruits & vegetables a day, as a minimum. According to Gary, this would save 125,000 lives a year, instead of the 40,000 lives that would be saved by following the study's recommendation of 5 or more servings per day. He also suggests that 2 of the 12 servings be 1 cup of blueberries, since 1 serving of fresh fruit or vegetables is half a cup and he considers blueberries to be the best. To help you get this many servings, he explained the shortcuts below:

• 8 ounces of undiluted fruit or vegetable juice = 2 to 3 servings
  
• 1 tablespoon of fruit or vegetable powder = 12 servings

Jarrow Formulas, Berry High, 8.5 oz (240 g)
Jarrow Formulas, Green Defense, Powder, 8.9 oz (255 g)