Studies Are Fruits and Vegetables Happy?

Australian scientists have investigated whether eating fruits and vegetables has an impact on their mood. They come to the conclusion that the consumption of fruits and vegetables can actually make you happier. At least that applies to people who have eaten so far little or no vegetables and fruits.

Fruits and vegetables taste good and are healthy. Researchers have now discovered that fruits and vegetables can even enhance our well-being and inner contentment. (Image: PhotoSG / fotolia.com)

The Australian scientists evaluated the data of about 12,000 Australians to investigate the relationship between mental well-being and certain foods. For this they analyzed the diet diaries of the subjects from the period from 2007 to 2009. The participants were u.a. asked how often they ate fruits and vegetables a week and in what quantities. In addition, participants were asked to rate their satisfaction with their lives on a 1-10 scale. The "satisfaction average" here was 7.91.

It was found that a rise from the lowest level of fruit and vegetable consumption to the highest level caused an increase in satisfaction of 0.24 "life-satisfaction-points". According to the authors of the study, this corresponds approximately to the positive effect of finding another job after a period of unemployment. More about the study can be found here.