Dr. Tamlin Conner, Department of Psychology at the University of Otago in New Zealand, and his colleagues found that young people who received more fruits and vegetables every day for 14 days ate more foods and experienced increased motivation and vitality.
Researchers report their findings recently in the journal PLoS One.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, adults should strive to consume about two cups of fruit and two or three cups of vegetables a day.
A cup of fruit is the equivalent of half a grapefruit or orange and a large cup of vegetables in proportion to large pepper or large fried sweet potatoes.
As part of a healthy diet, fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain cancers.
In recent years, studies have shown that eating fruits and vegetables can also improve mental health. For their research, Dr. Conner and recorded the team for further study of this association.
Increased motivation, vitality with increased consumption of fruits and vegetables
The researchers enrolled 171 students from 18 to 25 years in their study, and were divided into three groups within two weeks.
One group continued with their usual diet, the group personally received two additional servings of fruits and vegetables (such as carrots, kiwi, apples and oranges) every day, while the other group received prepaid coupons and received SMS reminders to consume more fruits And fruit.
At the beginning and end of the study, participants underwent psychological evaluations that assessed mood, vitality, motivation, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and other determinants of mental health and well-being.
The researchers found that participants who consumed personally received fruits and vegetables a very large proportion of these foods for 2 weeks, 3.7 servings per day, and it was this group that experienced an improvement in psychological well-being. In particular, these participants demonstrated an improvement in vitality, motivation and prosperity.
The other two groups did not improve their psychological well-being within 2 weeks.
In addition, no improvement was seen from the symptoms of depression and anxiety in both groups. "Most of the studies linking depression to eating habits are in the longitudinal direction, so that any differences in the wrong room can be set for a certain period of time significantly longer than a short period of two weeks," the authors note.
However, researchers say that their results show that increased consumption of fruits and vegetables through their own hands can lead to rapid benefits for psychological well-being.
Friday, 17 March 2017
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