While it is well known that eating lots of fruit and vegetable is good for physical health, a new research says that the benefits include mental health as well.

The new study, conducted by Neel Ocean and Peter Howley from the University of Leeds, shows that an increase in the consumption of fruit and vegetable can be linked to an increase in self-reported mental well-being, and life satisfaction in data that spans a five-year period, reported CNN.

The work suggest that adding one portion of fruit or veggies to the diet per day can be as beneficial to mental well-being as going for a walk on an extra seven to eight days a month. For example, vitamins C and E have been shown to lower inflammatory markers linked to depressive mood.

One portion is equal to one cup of raw vegetable (the size of a fist), half a cup of cooked vegetable or chopped fruit, or one piece of whole fruit.

This result means that there is a way to improve mental health and that could be something as simple as eating an extra piece of fruit every day or having a salad with a meal.

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