7-a-day for happiness and mental health
2012-10-09
(Press-News.org) Happiness and mental health are highest among people who eat seven portions of fruit and vegetables a day, according to a new report.
Economists and public health researchers from the University of Warwick studied the eating habits of 80,000 people in Britain. They found mental wellbeing appeared to rise with the number of daily portions of fruit and vegetables people consumed. Wellbeing peaked at seven portions a day.
The research was carried out in conjunction with Dartmouth College in the USA and is due to be published in the journal Social Indicators Research.
Most western governments currently recommend '5 a day' for cardiovascular health and as protection against cancer risk.
In Britain today, a quarter of the population eat just one portion or no portions of fruit and vegetables per day. Only a tenth of the British population currently consume the magic number of seven or more daily portions. The study does not distinguish among different kinds of fruits and vegetables and it defines a portion as approximately 80 grams.
Study co-author Professor Sarah Stewart-Brown, Professor of Public Health at Warwick Medical School, said "The statistical power of fruit and vegetables was a surprise. Diet has traditionally been ignored by well-being researchers."
She emphasized that much remained to be learned about cause-and-effect and about the possible mechanisms at work, and that randomized trials should now be considered.
Fellow co-author, economist Professor Andrew Oswald from the Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE) at the University of Warwick, said: "This study has shown surprising results and I have decided it is prudent to eat more fruit and vegetables. I am keen to stay cheery."
INFORMATION:
Notes to editors
The study 'Is Psychological Well-being Linked to the Consumption of Fruit and Vegetables?' by David G. Blanchflower, Andrew J. Oswald, and Sarah Stewart-Brown is available at http://www.andrewoswald.com/docs/October2FruitAndVeg2012BlanchOswaldStewartBrown.pdf
Professor Stewart-Brown can be reached at Warwick Medical School on 02476 574510 or on mobile 07824 541126, or by email on sarah.stewart-brown@warwick.ac.uk. Broadcasters - We have a camera and ISDN line on campus if you would like interview Professor Sarah Stewart-Brown for radio or television.
Professor Oswald is currently working in Germany and can be reached there on international cell-phone number +44 7876 217717 or by email through andrew.oswald@warwick.ac.uk
Kelly Parkes-Harrison, Press and Communications Manager, University of Warwick, k.e.parkes@warwick.ac.uk, +44 (0) 7824 540863, +44 (0)2476 150868
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2012-10-09
A study from the University of Granada based on police surveys indicates that in domestic violence crimes in which the woman kills her abuser, if she is more attractive she is perceived as guiltier.
From a social psychology point of view, it has been noticed that physical attractiveness has an influence on how people are perceived by others in labour, academic and even legal fields. On the one hand, this creates the mental association of "what is beautiful is good". On the other hand though, when it comes to domestic violence the results are different.
"One of the ...
2012-10-09
Fetuses with congenital malformations can be helped by surgical intervention while still in the womb. The potential of intrauterine surgery to improve their chances of survival is described by Anke Diemert and her co-authors in the latest issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2012; 109(38): 603). This kind of intervention is indicated only in fetuses with diseases that would lead to intrauterine death or to damage not amenable to postnatal repair.
Studies have shown a particularly high benefit of fetoscopic laser coagulation in twin-to-twin ...
2012-10-09
Last winter, scientists at the University of Wisconsin and Erasmus University (Netherlands) shocked the world by announcing they had developed strains of H5N1 influenza that could easily pass between mammals (ferrets). In nature, H5N1 is extremely lethal (kills nearly 60% of its human cases), but it does not easily spread from person-to-person. Thus, biosafety concerns were raised over the possible release, accidental or intentional, of these new viruses.
In January 2012, an international panel of 39 influenza researchers agreed on a 6-month moratorium on all gain-of-function ...
2012-10-09
Car accidents are the main cause of serious injury and death among children in Norway. A new study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health shows that 37 per cent of all children under 16 years are incorrectly restrained in the car. 23 per cent of children are so poorly restrained that a collision would have very serious consequences. The study results were presented at a seminar on traffic accidents in Oslo on 8th October.
"With the correct use of safety equipment, fewer children will be injured and killed in traffic," says Dr Marianne Skjerven-Martinsen from the ...
2012-10-09
A new-cloud based operating system for all kinds of computer is being developed by researchers in China. Details of the TransOS system are reported in a forthcoming special issue of the International Journal of Cloud Computing.
Computer users are familiar to different degrees with the operating system that gets their machines up and running, whether that is the Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac, Linux, ChromeOS or other operating system. The OS handles the links between hardware, the CPU, memory, hard drive, peripherals such as printers and cameras as well as the components ...
2012-10-09
Tampa, FL (Oct. 9, 2012) -- Adolescent girls participating in a sexual risk reduction (SRR) intervention study were more likely to practice abstinence and, if sexually active, showed substantial decreases in unprotected sex, number of partners, and unintended pregnancies, reports a research team led by principal investigator Dianne Morrison-Beedy, PhD, RN, WHNP-BC, FNAP, FAANP, FAAN, Senior Associate Vice President of USF Health and Dean of the College of Nursing at the University of South Florida. Results of the study demonstrate the value of risk-reduction interventions ...
2012-10-09
AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers, experts in revealing molecular structure by X-ray crystallography, have identified two new small "chaperone" molecules that may be useful in treating the inherited metabolic disorder known as Schindler/Kanzaki disease. This offers hope for developing the first ever drug treatment for this very rare disease.
Findings are reported in the current issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. First author Nathaniel Clark conducted this work for his doctoral degree at UMass Amherst with his advisor, ...
2012-10-09
Rosemont, Ill. – Wearing a knee brace following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery has no effect on a person's recovery. However, strength, range-of- motion, and functionality exercises provide significant benefits, and other new therapies may show promise.
In a new literature review recently published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS), a team of orthopaedic surgeons reviewed 29 studies regarding treatment following reconstructive ACL surgery. They found that physical therapy, begun shortly after surgery, can bring about very good outcomes for patients. ...
2012-10-09
URBANA – University of Illinois professor of agricultural law A. Bryan Endres and his wife are both lawyers so, between the two of them, they've read a lot of legal documents, but when they became members of their local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), even they struggled to understand the agreement they were asked to sign. Endres's experience as a consumer led him to develop simple contracts that can clarify expectations, avoid misunderstandings, and protect farmers and their customers.
CSAs create a partnership between local farmers and consumers who become members ...
2012-10-09
Scientists affiliated with VIB and UGent have discovered a mechanism used by the protein A20 to combat inflammation. This could be a very important point of focus in the search for a treatment for autoimmune diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, in which the patient suffers from chronic, uncontrolled inflammation.
Rudi Beyaert (VIB –UGent): We hope that our research can eventually contribute to the development of new therapies against Rheumatoid Arthritis and other auto-immune conditions."
Friday 12 October is "World Arthritis Day".
A20, a protein involved in Rheumatoid ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] 7-a-day for happiness and mental health
