High Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Promotes Calm, Positive and Happy Behavior

Research published in the British Journal of Health Psychology show that high fruit and vegetable consumption promotes a happier and positive mood behavior among young people.

Fruits and vegetables are the dietary source for phytochemicals. Phytochemicals are chemical compounds that are produced by plants.

There is wide belief that phytochemicals like anti-oxidants and carotenoids have a beneficial effect on the body. Laboratory studies suggest that these nutrients may reduce the risk of cancer. Most claims covering phytochemicals are just observational studies. Without any evidence based study, the US FDA restricts the promotion of health claims of the product.

Despite this, anti-oxidants like resveratrol (an anti-oxidant with anti-aging claims) are fast becoming popular over the counter nutritional supplement.

A recent study also published in the British Journal of Health Psychology showed a lower risk of depression in people with high carotenoid levels.

Fruits and Vegetable and Psychological Behavior

Eating more fruit and vegetables may make young people calmer, happier and more energetic in their daily life, new research from New Zealand's University of Otago suggests.

Department of Psychology researchers Dr Tamlin Conner and Bonnie White, and Dr Caroline Horwath from Otago's Department of Human Nutrition, investigated the relationship between day-to-day emotions and food consumption.

The study is published in the British Journal of Health Psychology today.

A total of 281 young adults (with a mean age of 20 years) completed an internet-based daily food diary for 21 consecutive days. Prior to this, participants completed a questionnaire giving details of their age, gender, ethnicity, weight and height. Those with a history of an eating disorder were excluded.

On each of the 21 days participants logged into their diary each evening and rated how they felt using nine positive and nine negative adjectives. They were also asked five questions about what they had eaten that day. Specifically, participants were asked to report the number of servings eaten of fruit (excluding fruit juice and dried fruit), vegetables (excluding juices), and several categories of unhealthy foods like biscuits/cookies, potato crisps, and cakes/muffins.

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The results showed a strong day-to-day relationship between more positive mood and higher fruit and vegetable consumption, but not other foods.

"On days when people ate more fruits and vegetables, they reported feeling calmer, happier and more energetic than they normally did," says Dr Conner.

To understand which comes first – feeling positive or eating healthier foods – Dr Conner and her team ran additional analyses and found that eating fruits and vegetables predicted improvements in positive mood the next day, suggesting that healthy foods may improve mood. These findings held regardless of the BMI of individuals.

"After further analysis we demonstrated that young people would need to consume approximately seven to eight total servings of fruits and vegetables per day to notice a meaningful positive change. One serving of fruit or vegetables is approximately the size that could fit in your palm, or half a cup. My co-author Bonnie White suggests that this can be done by making half your plate at each meal vegetables and snacking on whole fruit like apples," says Dr Conner.

She adds that while this research shows a promising connection between healthy foods and healthy moods, further research is necessary and the authors recommend the development of randomised control trials evaluating the influence of high fruit and vegetable intake on mood and wellbeing.

Quantum Day

24 January 2013

High Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Promotes Calm, Positive and Happy Behavior