The 14-day ‘Eat more’ intervention for health and happiness

What if you could increase your happiness, vitality and motivation in just two weeks by making one small tweak to your diet? Would you try it?

What if I told you this one small change could completely overhaul your mind and body? And here’s the best part…

It’s so ridiculously simple that it takes very little effort. There are no strict dietary guidelines to follow or strange foods to purchase. You don’t even have to give anything up. You’ll actually get to eat more!

All you have to do is eat more fruit and vegetables.

You’ve heard this advice millions of times before… but have you ever followed it? I mean, really stuck to it? Because it’s pretty amazing how much this one simple change can impact your physical and mental health….

In fact, the latest study from researchers at the University of Otago revealed that this one minor dietary tweak has a significant and fast-acting effect on your mind.

These researchers found that people who ate more fresh produce on a daily basis experienced an improvement in their psychological well-being in just two weeks.

More specifically, people who received just two extra servings of fruit and vegetables per day had increased vitality, felt more motivated and felt like they were flourishing a short 14 days later. Sounds like a sweet deal to me!

But here’s the catch…

You’ll need an intervention

The only people who experienced these benefits were those who were physically handed two extra servings of fruits and vegetables each day. These people received what researchers called a “fruit and vegetable intervention.”

However, there were other people in the study who were reminded to eat extra servings of fruits and vegetables each day through text message and even given vouchers to go buy fruit and vegetables. But they didn’t experience the same benefits.

Why? Because they didn’t follow through.

When it comes to eating more fruit and vegetables, most people don’t. As a result, the vast majority of Americans don’t eat nearly enough of fresh produce. A 2015 report published by the CDC stated that 87 percent of Americans don’t meet the daily recommended intake for fruit and 91 percent don’t meet the recommended intake for vegetables.

That means most Americans are in dire need of a fruit and vegetable intervention. And maybe you’re one of them…

Of course, you don’t have a group of researchers around to hand you a bag of fresh produce every day, so you’re going to have to lead the charge on your own intervention. That means eating at least five to nine servings of fruit and vegetables per day. For women, that’s roughly 2 to 2.5 cups of vegetables per day and 1.5 to 2 cups of fruit per day. For men, it’s about 2.5 to 3 cups of vegetables and 2 cups of fruit.

And if you don’t trust yourself to follow through with your intervention, make a deal with a friend, family member or a bestie at the office that you see every day to join you. Commit to bringing each other a serving of a fruit or vegetable every day.

With spring right around the corner, you could also join a local CSA (community supported agriculture). In a CSA, you purchase a share of fruit and vegetables from a farm at the beginning of the season, and they deliver a fresh box of produce to you weekly. That’s a great way to kick-start your fruit and vegetable intervention, support local farmers and increase your health, happiness and vitality all at the same time!

Sources:

1. “Well-being can improve quickly by eating more fruit and vegetables, study finds.” MedicalXpress. https://medicalxpress.com. Retrieved February 10, 2017.

2. S. Conner, et al. “Let them eat fruit! The effect of fruit and vegetable consumption on psychological well-being in young adults: A randomized controlled trial.” PLOS ONE, 2017.

3. “Most Americans Still Don’t Eat Their Fruits & Veggies.” Live Science. http://www.livescience.com. Retrieved February 10, 2017.

4. “Experts Recommend 5-9 Servings of Fruit & Veggies Per Day.” Fruits & Veggies— More Matters. http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org. Retrieved February 10, 2017.

5. “All About the Fruit Group.” ChooseMyPlate.gov. https://www.choosemyplate.gov. Retrieved February 10, 2017.

6. “All About the Vegetable Group.” ChooseMyPlate.gov. https://www.choosemyplate.gov. Retrieved February 10, 2017.