Eat 8 servings of fruit and vegetables a day for optimal happiness.
Fruit and vegetables are essential for our health. So much so, that not enough fruit is the #4 cause of deteriorating health and death. The top 3? High blood pressure, smoking, and alcohol. There are so many health benefits to eating more plants, but health alone isn’t a good motivator. It never is. Instead of meeting the modest dietary guidelines, most of us fall far short.
Luckily, there’s another incentive to eat your fruits and vegetables: the more you eat, the happier you are. If you've ever been unemployed, do you remember how you felt when you got a job? I don't know about you, but I was ecstatic. That feeling doesn't come easily, but 12,385 Australian adults experienced it after increasing their servings from almost none to 8+ a day.
Another study looked at the eating habits of 80,000 Britons. As their daily servings of fruit and veggies increased, so did their mental wellbeing. The magic number for peak happiness was 7 servings per day, which only 10% of participants reached. Sadly, 25% ate only 1 serving per day, at most.
So what counts as a serving? Let’s keep it reaaal simple: as much as you can fit in your hand. It could be 1 banana, 1/2 cup of berries, a huge fistful of spinach... you get the idea. Your hands help with serving control – the bigger they are, the more you get to eat.
Struggling to fit enough plants into your day? Check out my Happy Green Smoothie recipe. With 7 servings of fruit and veggies, you’ll be well on your way to peak happiness.
i want to try and eat properly this year. more fruit and veg definately
Good luck! As long as you try including fruit and veg with every meal, you'll be on the right track. :)
Just followed and looking through some of you posts now. Looking to eat healthier this year so thank you for the help! Hoping you post more and looking forward to keeping up with your feed.
Thank you! ❤️ I'm so glad you found my posts helpful. My goal is to post something here every day, so you can expect to see a lot more from me. Welcome to Steemit, and all the best on your path to healthy eating! :)
I really love the photography of this post - minimalist pictures are my favorite 😉
Thank you! Element5 Digital take some great photographs. I'm a big fan of minimalism too, so when I saw this one I couldn't pass it up! 😃
Fruit and veggies should make up half of what you eat.
Absolutely – plant-based diets rule! I usually aim for 15-20 servings a day if I can. 🍇🍌🥕🍅🥒
I'm up to 6 servings so far today! Just one banana and I'll be set for the day!
I love fresh fruit. It's so satisfying!
Anyone who thinks that fruit is bad for them due to the sugar content is missing out. Missing out on all that fiber and micronutrients!!
That's awesome! Keep up the good work! :)
Fresh fruit is my favourite – I could eat it all day long :D I used to do bodybuilding and the whole community was super scared of eating any fruit except for berries and maybe half a banana in smoothies. There are so many health and nutritional benefits that they should make up a big part of the daily diet – definitely nothing to be scared of! :)