Close X
Saturday, November 30, 2024
ADVT 
Health

Fruits and vegetables linked to mental well-being

Darpan News Desk IANS, 24 Sep, 2014 11:08 AM
    The more portions of fruits and vegetables you take in a day, the better are your chances of improving mental well-being along with your physical health, says a study.
     
    "The data suggest that higher an individual's fruit and vegetable intake the lower the chance of their having low mental well-being," said lead author of the study Saverio Stranges from the University of Warwick in Britain.
     
    The research involved 14,000 participants in Britain aged 16 or over, 56 percent of them females and 44 percent males, as part of the Health Survey for England.
     
    They found that 33.5 percent of respondents with high mental well-being ate five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day, compared with only 6.8 percent who ate less than one portion.
     
    While 31.4 percent of those with high mental well-being ate three-four portions and 28.4 percent ate one-two.
     
    "These novel findings suggest that fruit and vegetable intake may play a potential role as a driver, not just of physical, but also of mental well-being in the general population," Stranges added.
     
    Low mental well-being is strongly linked to mental illness and mental health problems, but high mental well-being is more than the absence of symptoms or illness; it is a state in which people feel good and function well.
     
    Optimism, happiness, self-esteem, resilience and good relationships are all part of this state.
     
    Mental well-being is important not just to protect people from mental illness but because it protects people against common and serious physical diseases.
     
    Mental well-being was assessed using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS).
     
    The study appeared in the journal BMJ Open.

    MORE Health ARTICLES

    Airline pilots, crew face increased risk of skin cancer

    Airline pilots, crew face increased risk of skin cancer
    Pilots and air crew face twice the risk of the deadly skin cancer Melanoma compared with the general population, says a study....

    Airline pilots, crew face increased risk of skin cancer

    E-cigarettes may open addiction to marijuana, cocaine

    E-cigarettes may open addiction to marijuana, cocaine
    Assumed by many as a safe alternative to cigarette smoking, electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes as they are popularly called may, in fact, promote use...

    E-cigarettes may open addiction to marijuana, cocaine

    Protein linked to heart attack identified

    Protein linked to heart attack identified
    A protein that increases levels of LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, also referred to as "bad" cholesterol, in the bloodstream is associated with heart attacks, says a study....

    Protein linked to heart attack identified

    Mentally ill women face increased risk of sexual assault

    Mentally ill women face increased risk of sexual assault
    Despite public concern about violence being perpetrated by patients with mental illness, researchers have found that women with severe mental...

    Mentally ill women face increased risk of sexual assault

    Sex hormones linked to sudden cardiac arrest

    Sex hormones linked to sudden cardiac arrest
    In what could lead to prevention of sudden cardiac arrest, a study led by an Indian-origin cardiologist has found that levels of sex hormones in the blood are linked to the heart rhythm disorder....

    Sex hormones linked to sudden cardiac arrest

    Why obesity runs in families

    Why obesity runs in families
    That parental obesity affects the likelihood of children to over-eat and develop obesity is known, but researchers have now identified the genetic...

    Why obesity runs in families