Modern day society is plagued with unhealthy dieting and stress that’s caused by numerous factors such as work, a new child, paying bills, and the list just continuous down a spiraling tunnel with no hope or trace of light at the end. These two bad habits are what lead to a decrease in energy levels, depression, and various medical issues such as heart disease and diabetes.
However, everybody already knows about what heart disease and diabetes can do to the human body, but what about the psychological effects that comes with unhealthy eating? Let’s look past the body fat for a change and see what mental benefits there are to eating healthier foods.
Being stressed out with mild depression might appear to be short term, but in actuality they get worse when left untreated. Suicide is sadly becoming a leading cause of death due to the stress that living in today’s world brings, and then the other deadly cause as a result of constant stress barraging the body is the possibility of receiving cancer. But what if eating healthier foods brought your body the possibility of peace and serenity?
In January of 2013, University of Otago Psychology researcher Dr. Tamlin Conner believes that eating fruits and vegetables may possibly make you feel psychologically better. She performed a study along with fellow researchers Dr Caroline Horwath and Bonnie White, both of whom work in Otago’s Department of Human Nutrition.
The study being given was based off of what the participants consumed whether it was unhealthy foods or fruits and vegetables. The only exclusion was drinking fruit and vegetable juice, or the consumption of dry fruits. Going off of just natural fruits and veggies being in the participant’s diet, the study showed that:
"On days when people ate more fruits and vegetables, they reported feeling calmer, happier and more energetic than they normally did [1]," says Dr Conner.
They make suggestions that the only way for a younger person to see results is through the consumption of seven to eight servings a day, which is equal to approximately 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 [1]," says Dr Conner.
Though this is all still an ongoing study without solid proof at the moment, what harm could a person be in from eating healthier? Fruits and vegetables contain valuable vitamins and minerals that our body craves for. So just start eating better foods and see if your mood begins to change for the better!
Sources:
[1] http://www.otago.ac.nz/news/news/otago041054.html
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