The feeling of happiness.
It’s what life is all about. We all seek it. Most of us enjoy it fleetingly. Precious few find and sustain lifelong happiness.
Happiness derived from alcohol, sugar and lust is a temporary state that can disappear in mere seconds. Prolonged happiness is what really matters.
To the surprise of many, it is the foods we eat that shape our gut-brain connection and ensuing happiness or lack thereof.
This is your inside look at mindful nourishment.
Fruits and Veggies for Happiness
You have everything to gain and little to lose when incorporating fruits and vegetables into your diet.
Though eating an apple isn’t as fulfilling as enjoying a piece of cake, there is an opportunity cost to eating artificial sugar and simple carbohydrates.
For one, eating unhealthy food makes you feel sluggish as soon as a couple minutes after the last bite. The temporary ecstasy from those sugar-filled bites dissipates in a flash.
In contrast, enjoying an apple, celery sticks, baby carrots or melon doesn’t provide nearly the same level of temporary joy. Temporary is the operative word as life isn’t about the short-term. It’s about posterity.
Consider the recent meta-analysis of food studies that shows the intake of fruits and vegetables has a positive impact on mental health. The key takeaway from the analysis is that NJ food psychologists recommend enjoying a minimum of five fruit and veggie portions every single day to boost mental health.
The analysis of the studies highlighted especially prominent results that indicated the elevated intake of vegetables and fruits including narrow subgroups such as leafy green veggies, citrus fruits and berries leads to more optimism. Optimism is an integral component of mental health and happiness.
The increased intake of fruits and vegetables with a focus on the specific subgroups referenced above also improved test subjects’ self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is synonymous with confidence, meaning one’s belief in his or herself to accomplish things.
Continue reading through the meta-analysis of the food studies and you’ll find fruits and vegetable consumption helps shield the mind against depressive symptoms, psychological distress, cancer fatalism and more.
The Satisfaction We all Crave
If you derive satisfaction from alcohol, candy, cannabis or salted simple carbs, rest assured you are not alone in your crowd. We’re all looking for satiation through tasty food.
What matters is whether that satiation, satisfaction and fulfillment is prolonged. For many, it looks like fruits and veggies are the missing piece of the happiness puzzle.
Consider the findings of a recent Australian study that analyzed 12,300 randomly chosen adults between the ages of 15 and 93. The study participants completed questionnaires and face-to-face interviews.
The study questions focused on fruit and vegetable intake. Participant responses were multiplied then divided by the number seven to quantify one’s average daily intake of fruits and veggies. It’s a bit alarming that 85% of those analyzed downed less than three daily fruit servings. Moreover, 60% of participants ate less than three daily vegetable servings.
Merely 1.83% of those studied downed five or more servings of either fruits or vegetables. Those who enjoyed eight or more fruit and veggie servings reported comparably high life satisfaction on par with that of individuals who transitioned from unemployed to employed.
The study’s authors also reported the participants’ significant increase in mental health gains spanned a whopping two years. In other words, upping one’s intake of fruits and vegetables leads to short-term happiness and heightened satisfaction across the years ahead.
The results of the analysis were not an aberration or exception to the norm. In the spirit of objectivity and scientific fairness, the longitudinal eating psychology study conducted in Australia described above was repeated in the United Kingdom.
The second study yielded the same results, reinforcing the merit of eating fruits and veggies for happiness.
The “Why” of Fruit and Vegetable Happiness
Fruits and veggies aren’t nearly as tasty as candy and salty snacks. However, these comparably healthy alternatives significantly boost mental health, paving a path toward prolonged happiness.
Fruits and veggies are chock-full of the following:
- Fiber
- Vitamins
- Antioxidants
- Nutrients
Each of these components combats disease, illness and infection. Protection against such threats dramatically improves wellbeing, both mentally and physically.
The catch?
You won’t feel nearly the same level of joy when eating fruits and veggies as occurs when eating candy, potato chips and other unhealthy delights.
The tradeoff is worth it, especially when you factor in the long-term happiness healthy eaters enjoy after replacing sugary and salty treats with fruits and veggies.
Fruits and Vegetables are Especially Important for Women
At this point, food scientists are not completely certain as to whether fruit and vegetable intake significantly alters happiness levels at the same rate in both men and women. Additional studies are underway. Additional nutritional psychology analyses will occur in the years ahead.
Here’s what our NJ nutritional psychologist knows now: an in-depth analysis of more than 40,000 women spanning an entire decade reveals those who consumed food rich in flavonoids reported higher levels of sustained optimism and happiness.
The women who were most happy enjoyed the following foods with regularity:
- Citrus fruits
- Apples
- Berries
- Other flavonoid-packed fruits and veggies
Such healthy eating is self-reinforcing as elevated well-being caused by fruit and veggie intake makes it that much easier to maintain healthy eating habits.
Flavonoids cause the elevated happiness. This diverse bioactive polyphenolic compounds class is commonly found in citrus fruits, berries, cocoa, onions and tea.
Flavonoids are critically important for mental health as they trigger neuroprotection across pathways highlighted by neuroinflammatory response modulation, synapse plasticity, improved neurogenesis and neurotransmitter synthesis regulation.
Flavonoids also interplay with the body’s critically important gut microbiome, spurring the generation of bioactive microbe metabolites. Such metabolites appear to alter the way in which the brain sends signals along pathways, ultimately improving mental health.
Of the women studied for happiness and optimism, those with elevated flavonoid scores were more likely to have healthy lifestyles. These flavonoid-lovers also reported higher levels of physical activity. Elevated flavonoid intake had a modest association with a higher likelihood of sustained optimism and happiness when juxtaposed with the group with the lowest flavonoid intake.
Quantifying the Impact of Fruits and Veggies on Mental Health
Let’s cut to the chase, focusing on what matters most: how many fruits and veggies does one really have to eat to experience more optimism and lasting happiness?
Most people tend to think of things in percentages. A study of fruit and veggie consumption shows there is a 3% reduced depression risk for every 100 grams of fruit consumed.
In other words, eating half an apple reduces your depression risk by 3%. On the surface, this percentage might not seem meaningful yet it is just one example of how fruits and veggies protect and boost mental health. Moreover, the percentage becomes even more meaningful when one considers how debilitating depression can be.
NJ food psychologists are also quick to highlight the general public’s hesitance to eat whole fruits and fiber. If you are like most Americans, you are a part of the 90+% of Westerners who do not consume sufficient levels of dietary fiber and whole fruits.
You read that right. Less than 10% of those living in the West eat adequate amounts of fruit and fiber yet few aside from food psychologists are aware of it.
Prioritize These “Happy Foods”
What fruits and vegetables are most important for improving and sustaining happiness?
Analysis shows those with a high intake of the following foods report an increase in prolonged happiness:
- Grapefruit
- Oranges
- Apples
- Strawberries
The reported sustained happiness among those who consumed such fresh and healthy fruits was 3% to 8% greater than that of control groups.
If your goal is to become more optimistic, zero in on apples, blueberries and strawberries as these fruits demonstrated a comparably larger effect in terms of sustained optimism. Those who consumed such fruits were 10% to 16% more happy than those in control groups.
Food psychiatrists in New Jersey highlight that some flavonoids have a greater impact on happiness than others. As an example, red wine and tea contain flavonoids yet they did not have a significant association with sustained optimism or happiness.
It is also fascinating that the link between optimism and flavonoid intake was greater in women with a comparably high body mass index (BMI).
Get Creative to Boost Your Fruit and Veggie Intake
There’s nothing exciting about biting into celery sticks, apples and carrots after you’ve entered adulthood. Though apples are crisp and refreshing, their natural sugar pales in comparison to that of scrumptious treats containing artificial sugar.
It’s time to get creative. Flex your imaginative muscle, brainstorm new ways to eat fruits and veggies, then commit to those new eating habits. Our New Jersey nutritional psychiatrist is here to help.
As an example, apples taste better when cut into small pieces and added to steel-cut oatmeal. Sprinkle in some cinnamon for added flavor. Apple slices also taste exponentially better when topped with peanut butter.
If you’ve grown tired of eating carrots and celery, opt for baby carrots and small pieces of celery dipped into a low-fat or no-fat dip.
Incorporate grapefruit, lemons and oranges in your salads or smoothies for a much more fulfilling gastronomic experience.
Instead of resorting to downing blueberries and strawberries by the handful, make them more interesting by adding them to your morning yogurt, cereal or oatmeal.
Ask for Help from an NJ Food Psychologist
You can’t do it all on your own. Your food and health journey will be that much easier with the guidance of an experienced food psychologist in New Jersey.
Reach out to our nutritional psychologist in Basking Ridge today at 908-844-8547 to schedule your initial consultation.
