However, beer, spirits, salt and preserved food increase the risk of the disease, researchers said.
Scientists at Zhejiang University in China found that people who ate large amounts of white vegetables were a third less likely to develop the cancer than those who largely avoided them.
Fruits and green-yellow vegetables such as cabbage, kale and celery also seemed to have a protective effect.
Vitamin C is thought to be the key nutrient, which acts as an antioxidant to cut down cellular stress in the stomach as well as fighting a bacterium responsible for causing gastric cancer.
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They found that for every 100g of fruit a person ate each day - roughly equivalent to half an apple - there was 5 per cent reduced risk of stomach cancer.
Having 50mg of vitamin C daily, approximately two potatoes' worth, brought the risk down by 8 per cent.
Every five grammes or teaspoon of salt consumed each day drove the risk up by 12 per cent. Alcohol in general had a negative effect, although wine did not seem to have any effect on stomach cancer, the researchers said.