The diet that appears to reduce your risk of a blood clot-triggered stroke.

Are you familiar with the Mediterranean diet?

It's the diet that encourages you to eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, fish, poultry and olive oil.

And encourages you to limit your intake of red meat, sweets and saturated fats such as those found in meat, butter and full-fat dairy products.

A study lead by Dr. Ayesha Sherzai, a neurologist at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City analyzed data from more than 104,000 teachers in California.  Their average age was 52 years.  The study was especially rigorous, since the authors accounted for "other factors” that would reduce stroke risks, such as exercise, total caloric intake, body mass index, smoking and menopausal/hormonal status.

The study found that following a Mediterranean diet was associated with a reduced risk of stroke caused by a blood clot.  However they also found that the plan had no effect either way regarding a bleeding (hemorrhagic) stroke.

The researcher also noted that prior research has shown a Mediterranean diet also lowers the risk of heart disease, mental decline and death.