Remember Popeye? And his massive deltoid muscle that literally popped up every time he ate a can of spinach? Turns out he was on to something good.

We already know from many studies that a high dietary intake of fruits and vegetables causes you to be at lower risk for heart disease, strokes, and cancer. Now comes a study attempting to show that eating fruits and vegetables also put you at lower risk for Type II diabetes.* This paper was based on an analysis of six prospective studies looking at this question, lasting well over 15 years, and involving more than 220,000 people aged 30- 74.

The results? Interestingly, eating high levels of fruits only, vegetables only, or fruits and vegetables did not show a decrease in the risk of getting Type II diabetes. But in the four studies that looked specifically at leafy green vegetables (spinach, kale, and lettuce), those people who ate at least 1.4 servings of these per day had a 14% less chance of getting Type II diabetes than did those who ate only 0.2 servings or less of leafy green vegetables. This finding was statistically significant.

Despite a couple of problems with the design of the analyzed studies, this large analysis does show that basing your diet on plants in general, and leafy green vegetables specifically, is a definite way to promote good health and prevent certain diseases. Leafy green vegetables have this effect probably due to the high levels of antioxidants contained in them.

BOTTOM LINE: Have a fresh green spinach, kale, or lettuce salad every chance you get. Maybe with a bit of “Olive Oyl”?!  (sorry, couldn’t resist)

* Carter P et al. Fruit and vegetable intake and incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus: Systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ 2010 Aug 19; 341:c4229. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c4229)