Fruit And Vegetables Lower Risk Of Clinical Depression

Increasing the amount of fruit and vegetables people eat lowers their risk of clinical depression, new research has found.

The study discovered that eating, for example, four extra portions of fruit and vegetables a day can boost people’s mental health to such an extent that it can offset half the negative psychological impact of divorce and a quarter of the psychological damage of unemployment.

Other studies have used people ’s subjective responses to surveys to discover a link between eating fruit and vegetables with improved wellbeing. But this is one of only a few studies that has found objective evidence of the association between fruit and vegetables and psychological health.

Redzo Mujcic, of Warwick Business School, author of the paper alongside Andrew Oswald, of the University of Warwick, said: “This is an interesting finding and makes the case for an empirical link between fruit and vegetables and improved mental wellbeing more powerful.