This may be the perfect news to be released during American Heart Month.

A new study has found women who adhere to a traditional Mediterranean diet can lower their risk of stroke and coronary heart disease.

The research, published this week in Circulation, found women on the diet had a 29 percent reduction in heart disease risk and a 13 percent decrease in stroke when compared to women who were not on the diet.

"Women whose diets look like the Mediterranean diet are not only less likely to die from heart disease and stroke, but also less likely to have those diseases," said professor Teresa Fung, lead researcher in the first large-scale study to focus on women and heart disease.

Fung and her research team used data from a total of 74,886 women who ranged in age from 38 to 63 who participated in a separate study by the National Institute of Health. Fung’s study examined women from 1984 and on.

The Mediterranean diet consists of monounsaturated fats, vegetables, whole grains, fish, moderate alcohol and limited red meat, refined grains and sweets.