While we’re all trying to stay positive at home, diet and healthy eating can play a huge part in mental wellbeing. New research suggests that getting your 5-a-day has beneficial effects on mental health.
While we’re all trying to stay positive at home, diet and healthy eating can play a huge part in mental wellbeing. New research suggests that getting your 5-a-day has beneficial effects on mental health.
We know that berries are mini powerhouses, providing an array of vitamins, minerals, flavonoids, tannins and phenolic and bioactive compounds[1]. Now recent research published in the Nutrients[2] journal has shown total intake of fruit and vegetables and some particular subgroups – including berries – can also have positive effects on mental wellbeing, including higher levels of optimism and reduced levels of psychological distress and depressive symptoms.
The research reviewed evidence from 61 studies looking at links between fruit and vegetable intake and mental health.
Dr Emma Derbyshire, Public Health Nutritionist and adviser to British Berry Growers commented: “These findings are really interesting and very applicable to modern life. We already know that berries are great for other aspects of our health, including cardiovascular wellbeing, cognition and bone health and this adds to the evidence even further.
“These important findings shows that we must not overlook berries when we think about striving for 5-a-day – a small daily handful of blueberries, raspberries, strawberries or blackberries are naturally sweet, tasty and now may help to give mental wellbeing a boost too!”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
About British Berry Growers
British Berry Growers is an organisation that represents 95 percent of berries supplied to UK supermarkets. It funds Love Fresh Berries – a year-round campaign that celebrates the seasonality of soft fruits.
[1] Baby B et al. (2017) Antioxidant and anticancer properties of berries. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 58(15):2491-2507.
[2] Głąbska D et al. (2020) Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Mental Health in Adults: A Systematic Review. Nutrients 12(1). pii: E115.