Skip to main content

Eat Well, Be Happy

Does the idea of improving your health 5-10 years from now seem too far away to motivate you to eat well? What if eating well could have more immediate results? A recent study suggests that just may be the case.


Eat Well, Be Happy?
Eating more fruits and vegetables is widely seen as a way to improve physical health, but now, there may be another reason hit the salad bar. Eating more fruits and vegetables might make us happier and more satisfied with life. A recent study found that people who increasingly ate more fruits and vegetables were happier and had improved overall well-being. The changes were quick – less than 2 years. The size of the result was pretty impressive too. According to the researchers, the increase in well-being is the equivalent to the decrease someone would see if they lost their job.

How does it work?
Most research on fruits and vegetables has looked at preventing chronic diseases like diabetes or cancer, or improving weight. The idea that fruits and vegetables can make us happier is a new, but exciting idea. It is possible that the vitamins and other nutrients in fruits and vegetables deserve the credit. It could also be the fiber. Whatever the cause, it seems that this could be one more reason to eat more fruits and vegetables.

Next Steps
Aim for a fruit or a vegetable at each meal or snack. It can be as small as a handful of raisins or as big as a salad for lunch. The researchers didn’t find that any particular fruit or vegetable worked better than another, so pick some that you enjoy and challenge yourself to try new ones. It all counts and can help increase your health overall and possibly your happiness now.

REFERENCES:
1. Redzo Mujcic and Andrew J.Oswald. Evolution of Well-Being and Happiness After Increases in Consumption of Fruit and Vegetables. American Journal of Public Health: August 2016, Vol. 106, No. 8, pp. 1504-1510.
October 2016

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Eat Right Live Well - December 2014

Fish For Your Heart?

Cutting back on red meat is a common recommendation for both health and sustainability. What’s less clear is what we should replace the meat with. A recent study looked at this and the results may surprise you. If not red meat, what? Red meat appears on many lists of foods to eat less of due mostly to its saturated fat and cholesterol content, and the fact that we tend to eat too much of it. A recent study looked at what we should consider substituting for red meat when we follow the advice to cut back. Of all of the substitutions the study looked at, one stood out as the best choice – fish high in omega-3s. The fatty fish showed more benefits for heart health than poultry, unprocessed meat and even lean fish. Is fish safe to eat? Fish, especially the kind that gives us omega-3s, has long been considered a healthy choice. Warnings related to contamination by mercury and other toxins has left many people wondering if fish is safe to eat. For most people, the benefits of eating fish far ...

National Nutrition Month 2017: Plant Power

If you follow food trends, you’ve surely noticed that plant-based foods, recipes and restaurants have been getting a larger share of the spotlight lately. Does this mean that more of us are becoming vegetarians? Should we be? Why more plants? Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, peas, nuts and seeds are key features of some of the healthiest diets in the world. Plant based foods are a common theme in the Mediterranean Diet, the DASH Diet and most dietary guidelines. The balance of health promoting nutrients with moderate calories and less of the stuff we should be limiting make plant based foods an easy fit for most people. Looking beyond personal health, to the health of our planet, plant based foods tend to more sustainable and less taxing on the environment. What is a flexitarian? Or a pescatarian? With the expansion of plant foods on our plates has come an expansion of how we refer to the way we eat. Vegetarian still refers to people who don’t eat meat, fish or poultry, but the...