Are you feeling down? Leave comfort food alone – which often rhymes with junk food, “junk food” – full of sugars and fats, which fill up, but widen and are not good for blood sugar and cholesterol. Rather, prepare yourself a dip or eat a plate of grilled vegetables or, again, a cup of fruit salad.
More confidence and energy
That’s right. It’s not just a need related to physical fitness, but a real contribution you could make to yours mental health even just with an extra portion per day based on vegetables. It is what has emerged from recent discoveries such as those made by one British study from 2023. The research in question, in fact, associated a increased consumption of fruit feelings of relaxation, confidence and energy. And another UK study found that increasing your daily fruit and vegetable intake by just one serving provides the same estimated increase in mental well-being of eight days of 10-minute walks.
Against depression
In support of the thesis that fruits and vegetables contribute to mental health of people there is also a 2022 Australian survey of over 4,000 women. Well, it has been shown that those who consumed at least five servings of vegetables a day had the 19% less risk of developing depression over a 15-year period compared to those who ate at least one. Even in relation to fruit, four portions mean the 25% less likely to get depressed compared to a single daily serving.
“Substitution effect”
According to experts, one of the reasons that eating fruits and vegetables increases mental well-being is the so-called “substitution effect”: being rich in fiber and waterplant foods they tend to “fill up” the stomach and to satiate more, reducing the sense of hunger, compared to other foods. Indeed, research shows that, on the other hand, with a high consumption of sweets, the chances of feeling nervous, agitated and restless go up.
Mental health and the microbiome
Studies show that the intestinal flora play a supporting role in depression and anxietysince the balance of the microbiome (i.e. the genetic heritage of the microbiota, definable as the set of microorganisms – including bacteria, fungi, viruses – which in a physiological, or sometimes pathological, way live in symbiosis with the human body) influences the production of serotonin, the hormone of good mood, and turns off the inflammatory processes.
“Right” vegetables and fruits
That foods can have a influence on our mental and emotional approach in daily life, the Italian nutritionist biologist also underlined this Sarah Cordaraspecialist in food science and sports nutrition. Among the vegetables that can give us an extra smile, indicated by her, there are also many vegetables and fruits. Avocados, pumpkin and beets, for example, contain “tyrosine which increases dopamine, improving our emotional state”. The pomegranate – like vanilla, which is a berry – is rich in oxytocin, “the love hormone that increases closeness and empathy towards others, strengthening and facilitating emotional ties and easing tension”. Always in the vegetable field, walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts are full of vitamin B1, folic acid and zinc, which counteract depressive states. Sunflower seeds, thanks to magnesium and vitamin B6, reduce stress and make us more serene.