New research from the New Zealand University of Otago found that the daily consumption of fruits and vegetables can positively impact young people and make them calm, happy and energetic, according to Medical Xpress.
The study suggests that consuming lots of fruits and vegetables a day leads to happier moods and more energy. Researchers at Department of Psychology Dr. Tamlin Conner and Bonnie White, and Dr. Caroline Horwath from Otago's Department of Human Nutrition, looked at the link between daily feelings and eating habits, reports Medical Xpress.
The research was conducted on a small scale with 281 adults with a mean age of 20 years and was analyzed with their eating habits and their feelings on a daily basis for 21 consecutive days. Participants were asked for their age, gender, weight, height and ethnicity initially. The participants logged in to their Internet-based food diary everyday and reported how they felt with nine positive and nine negative adjectives and what they consumed that day including fruits and vegetables, says the report.
At the end of the trial, results showed a significant link between fruits and vegetables and positive mood. The results only showed a remarkable positive response with fruits as dried fruits or fruit juice was excluded from being reported by the participants. Similarly vegetable juices were excluded. "On days when people ate more fruits and vegetables, they reported feeling calmer, happier and more energetic than they normally did," said Dr. Conner, in the report.
To further analyze if fruits and vegetables had a positive impact on a person's mood, Dr. Connor and her team did an additional research which resulted in the confirmation of the previous results. The new results showed a positive mood the following day when the fruits and vegetables were consumed.
"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," Dr. Conner said. "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."
BMI was not considered in this study. Dr. Connor said that the research will be conducted on a larger scale to confirm the following results.
The study is currently published in the British journal of Health Psychology.
