A recent study surveyed 428 adults and looked at the relationship between their consumption of fruit, vegetables, and sweet and savoury food snacks and their psychological health. The more often people ate fruit, the lower they scored for depression and the higher for mental well-being.
According to new research from the College of Health and
Life Sciences, Aston University, people who frequently eat fruit are more
likely to report greater positive mental wellbeing and are less likely to
report symptoms of depression than those who do not,
The researchers’ findings suggest that how often we eat
fruit is more important to our psychological health than the total amount we
consume during a typical week. The team also found that people who eat savoury
snacks, which are low in nutrients, are more likely to report greater levels of
anxiety.
After taking demographic and lifestyle factors such as age,
general health and exercise into account, the research found that both
nutrient-rich fruit and nutrient-poor savoury snacks appeared to be linked to
psychological health. They also found that there was no direct association
between eating vegetables and psychological health.
Based on the survey, the more often people ate fruit, the
lower they scored for depression and the higher for mental wellbeing,
independent of the overall quantity of fruit intake.
People who frequently snacked on nutrient-poor savoury foods
were more likely to experience ‘everyday mental lapses’ (known as subjective
cognitive failures) and report lower mental wellbeing. A greater number of
lapses was associated with higher reported symptoms of anxiety, stress and
depression, and lower mental wellbeing scores.
By contrast, there was no link between these everyday memory
lapses and fruit and vegetable intake or sweet snacks, suggesting a unique
relationship between these nutrient-poor savoury snacks, everyday mental
lapses, and psychological health.
Examples of these frustrating little everyday mental lapses
included forgetting where items had been placed, forgetting the purpose of
going into certain rooms, and being unable to retrieve names of acquaintances
whose name was on the ‘tip of the tongue’.
Other studies have found an association between fruit and
vegetables and mental health, but few have looked at fruit and vegetables
separately – and even fewer evaluate both frequency and quantity of intake.
Both fruit and vegetables are rich in antioxidants, fibre
and essential micronutrients which promote optimal brain function, but these
nutrients can be lost during cooking. As we are more likely to eat fruit raw,
this could potentially explain its stronger influence on our psychological
health.
“It is possible that changing what we snack on could be a
really simple and easy way to improve our mental wellbeing. Overall, it’s
definitely worth trying to get into the habit of reaching for the fruit bowl.
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