Abstract
This study tested the psychological benefits of a 14-day preregistered clinical intervention to increase fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption in 171 low-FV-consuming young adults (67% female, aged 18–25). Participants were randomly assigned into a diet-as-usual control condition, an ecological momentary intervention (EMI) condition involving text message reminders to increase their FV consumption plus a voucher to purchase FV, or a fruit and vegetable intervention (FVI) condition in which participants were given two additional daily servings of fresh FV to consume on top of their normal diet. Self-report outcome measures were depressive symptoms and anxiety measured pre- and post-intervention, and daily negative and positive mood, vitality, flourishing, and flourishing behaviors (curiosity, creativity, motivation) assessed nightly using a smartphone survey. Vitamin C and carotenoids were measured from blood samples pre- and post-intervention, and psychological expectancies about the benefits of FV were measured post-intervention to test as mediators of psychological change. Only participants in the FVI condition showed improvements to their psychological well-being with increases in vitality, flourishing, and motivation across the 14-days relative to the other groups. No changes were found for depressive symptoms, anxiety, or mood. Intervention benefits were not mediated by vitamin C, carotenoids, or psychological expectancies. We conclude that providing young adults with high-quality FV, rather than reminding them to eat more FV (with a voucher to purchase FV), resulted in significant short-term improvements to their psychological well-being. These results provide initial proof-of-concept that giving young adults fresh fruit and vegetables to eat can have psychological benefits even over a brief period of time.Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12615000183583
Highlights
The physical health benefits of fruit and vegetables are well established
Studies examining the psychological benefits of fruit and vegetable (FV) have been predominantly observational and epidemiological to date, with a relative lack of intervention research that would support a causal link
We focused on the three items related to FV consumption: Do you feel that eating fruits and vegetables is virtuous? Do you feel better about yourself when you eat more fruits and vegetables? Did you feel that eating fruits and vegetables improved your mood during these two weeks? Each question was answered on a 5-point Likert scale from 0 (Very slightly/not at all) to 4 (Extremely)
Summary
The physical health benefits of fruit and vegetables are well established. People who eat more fruit and vegetables (FV) have better cardiovascular health [1], reduced risk of some cancers [2], and greater longevity than people who eat fewer FV [3]. Higher consumption of FV is correlated with several psychological outcomes including a lower incidence of depression and anxiety [4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9], greater happiness [10, 11], higher life satisfaction [10, 12, 13, 14], and greater social-emotional well-being or “flourishing” [15] This growing body of research is intriguing because it suggests that the foods people eat have a much broader impact beyond the notable physical health benefits. Studies examining the psychological benefits of FV have been predominantly observational and epidemiological to date, with a relative lack of intervention research that would support a causal link
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