Want to improve your mental well-being? Eat some berries or broccoli!
by Wendy Jeffries, Executive Director, TasteWise Kids
New research shows that eating more fruits and vegetables are good for your mental well-being as well as your physical health. Researchers in the UK have found a positive association between the quantity of fruit and vegetables consumed and people’s self-reported mental well-being.
In fact, the findings indicated that eating just one extra portion of fruits and vegetables a day could have an equivalent effect on mental well-being as around 8 extra days of walking a month (for at least 10 minutes at a time). Here are a few easy ways to put this into practice in your busy life:
– pack an apple as an afternoon snack
– top your breakfast yogurt, oatmeal, or cold cereal with fresh berries or cut up banana
– throw frozen or fresh spinach into your smoothie
– add another helping of vegetables at dinner
– cut up some orange or red pepper to snack on while cooking dinner
As one of the researchers, Dr. Howley, said: “There appears to be accumulating evidence for the psychological benefits of fruits and vegetables.” Read the article for yourself.
Since we care about the overall wellness of our students and families, we also plan to incorporate this new research into our spring programming.