Eating spinach and blueberries can help limit brain damage from strokes and other neurological disorders, US scientists claimed.

Their studies add weight to the growing pile of evidence supporting the antioxidant power of fruit and vegetables.

In the new research, scientists at the University of South Florida College of Medicine, James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, found that rats fed on diets preventatively enriched with blueberries, spinach or an algae known as spirulina experienced less brain cell loss and improved recovery of movement following a stroke.

A spokesman said the size of the stroke suffered by the treated rats was 50 to 75 per cent less than the untreated animals.

The scientist claim the antioxidants and anti-inflammatory substances in the fruit and veg somehow reduce the nerve cell injury and death, triggered by a stroke.

The work builds on previous US research which revealed diets rich with blueberries, spinach and spirulina reversed normal age-related declines in memory and learning in older rats.

The full findings will be published in the journal, Experimental Neurology.