[Photo/Xinhua]

Green tea and coffee may help lower the risk of stroke, especially when both are taken as a regular part of the diet, according to a research published on Thursday in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

"This is the first large-scale study to examine the combined effects of both green tea and coffee on stroke risks," said Yoshihiro Kokubo, lead author of the study at Japan's National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center. "You may make a small but positive lifestyle change to help lower the risk of stroke by adding daily green tea to your diet."

Researchers asked 83,269 Japanese adults about their green tea and coffee drinking habits, following them for an average span of 13 years. They found that the more green tea or coffee people drink, the lower their stroke risks.

People who drank at least one cup of coffee daily had about a 20-percent lower risk of stroke compared to those who rarely drank it. People who drank two to three cups of green tea daily had a 14- percent lower risk of stroke and those who had at least four cups had a 20-percent lower risk, compared to those who rarely drank it.

And people who drank at least one cup of coffee or two cups of green tea daily had a 32-percent lower risk of intracerebral hemorrhage, compared to those who rarely drank either beverage.