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 Based on national surveys in Australia, the study team linked
increases in fruit and vegetable servings per day to rising
happiness over two years.
With the addition of eight portions of fruit and veg daily, the
change in wellbeing was about equivalent to going from unemployment
to a job, researchers report in American Journal of Public Health.
“I found the apparent power of fruits and vegetables extremely
surprising,” said co-author Andrew Oswald, who studies economics and
behavioral sciences at the University of Warwick in Coventry, UK.
Since working on the study, he’s added about three extra portions of
produce a day to his own diet.
“I'm up to about 7 portions now,” he told Reuters Health by email.
He and his colleagues speculate that people might be motivated to
eat more plants if they believe there’s a short-term reward, in
addition to the long-term benefits.
To explore the relationship between eating fruits and vegetables and
overall wellbeing, the researchers analyzed data on more than 12,000
adult survey participants from Australian households.
Participants had kept food diaries between 2007 and 2013 and
answered survey questions about their lives and their mental and
emotional health.
Within a two year period, the study team found, participants who
changed from eating almost no fruits and vegetables a day to eight
portions a day reported feeling happier and more satisfied than
those who didn’t add more portions.
Those who increased their fruit and vegetable portions from zero per
day to eight scored an increase on a complex point scale in
“life-satisfaction” that was the emotional equivalent to finding a
new job. While those who didn’t increase their fruit and vegetable
portions experienced a drop in happiness score over the same period
that was about equivalent to losing a job.
“Of course, very few people would ever go from eating zero fruits
and vegetables to 8 portions a day,” Oswald said.
However, adding even two portions a day would give you a quarter of
the happiness effect, so that would still be a large gain in
happiness, he added.
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Happiness benefits were detected for each extra daily portion of
fruits and vegetables up to eight portions a day.
The researchers adjusted for changes in employment status and other
life circumstances that could also affect happiness, as well as
dietary intake. Still, the study cannot prove that boosting produce
in the diet improved wellbeing.
Mary Jo Kreitzer, who was not involved with the study, urged caution
in interpreting the findings.
“It’s not only fruits and vegetables that can give you short-term
health benefits,” said Kreitzer, director of the University of
Minnesota's Center for Spirituality and Healing in Minneapolis.
“Changing your salt or sugar intake in your diet can have short and
long-term benefits, not only in emotional health, but in physical
too,” she said.
For Kreitzer, providing research evidence on this topic is great,
but it’s not enough.
“To get people to change what they eat, we need to provide them with
more access to healthy foods and information on how to cook and
prepare healthy foods,” she said.
Still, the study is a reminder that it’s important to pay attention
to what you eat.
“Be more present when you’re eating so you can taste and enjoy your
food, particularly fruits and vegetables, which can be very
tasteful,” she said.
“To me, if people are more mindful when they eat, that actually
could produce more happiness and satisfaction.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/29DSuo4 American Journal of Public Health,
August 2016.
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reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
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