Fruits and Veggies Make Us Happy

It may take a while, like 24 months, but eating more fruits and vegetables has been shown to increase life satisfaction as much as moving from unemployment to employment. And you don’t even have to go to work. Researchers at the University of Warwick examined the food diaries of 12,385 randomly sampled Australian adults over 2007, 2009, and 2013 in the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. The authors adjusted the effects on incident changes in happiness and life satisfaction for people’s changing incomes and personal circumstances. A University of Warwick news release reports that the findings suggest that happiness increased incrementally for each extra daily portion of fruit and vegetables up to eight portions per day. The researchers also found that alterations in fruit and vegetable intake were predictive of later alterations in happiness and satisfaction with life.