Feeling blue? Improving your diet might be the key to boosting your mood.
New research from the University of Warwick found that eating more fruit and vegetables - we’re talking up to eight portions a day - can substantially increase a person’s happiness levels.
The study is one of the first major scientific attempts to explore psychological wellbeing beyond the traditional finding that fruit and vegetables can reduce risk of cancer and heart attacks.
The study followed more than 12,000 randomly selected people, who kept food diaries and had their psychological wellbeing measured over time.
The authors found large positive psychological benefits within two years of an improved diet and suggested that people can increase their life satisfaction simply by eating more fruit and veg.
The study also revealed that - surprise, surprise - eating a diet rich in fruit and vegetables promotes longterm health benefits.
Andrew Oswald, Professor of Economics and Behavioural Science at the University of Warwick, said: “Eating fruit and vegetables apparently boosts our happiness far more quickly than it improves human health.
“People’s motivation to eat healthy food is weakened by the fact that physical-health benefits, such as protecting against cancer, accrue decades later.
“However, wellbeing improvements from increased consumption of fruit and vegetables are closer to immediate.”