The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) is very interesting because it involves the study of a huge number of individuals over a long period of time – an average of 12.7 years.
The most recent publication by EPIC was entitled:
The study investigated the associations between major foods and dietary fibre with various types of stroke.
Dietary intake was assessed using country-specific questionnaires, mostly food frequency questionnaires, which asked about dietary intake during the year before enrolment. Based on responses to the questionnaires, the researchers estimated intakes of major food groups and subgroups including meat and meat products (red meat, processed meat, and poultry), fish and fish products (white fish and fatty fish), dairy products (including milk, yogurt, cheese), eggs, cereals and cereal products, fruit and vegetables (combined and separately), legumes, nuts and seeds, and dietary fibre (total fibre and cereal, fruit, and vegetable fibre).
Researchers found that those individuals eating 200g or higher of fruit and vegetables per day had a decreased stroke risk by 13 per cent. Interestingly, those individuals consuming 30g of cheese per day which were found to have decreased their risk by 12 per cent.