Recent research which followed many thousands of people across seven years has found that people who eat more fruit and vegetables have a better state of mind.
Eating just one extra portion of fruit and vegetables per day is enough to measurably improve mental well-being and has the same positive effect as going for a walk on 8 extra days a month.
Only around one-in-ten people eat the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables. The recommended amount is ‘five-a-day’ guidelines or around 2 cups per day of fruit and 2 to 3 cups per day of vegetables.
There appears to be accumulating evidence for the psychological benefits of fruits and vegetables. Encouraging better dietary habits may not just be beneficial to physical health in the long run but may also improve mental well-being in the shorter term.
We should attempt to increase our consumption of fruit and vegetable to adhere to national standards. There are significant mental well-being benefits, in addition to physical health benefits, one may be able to achieve by simply increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, with the positive effects for mental well-being accruing relatively rapidly.
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