You undoubtedly urge your clients and family members to eat more fruits and vegetables to better their health, but new research suggests that fruit and vegetable consumption could be as good for mental health as it is physical health. 

The study, conducted by the University of Warwick’s Medical School in Coventry, England, focused on mental well-being and found that high and low mental well-being were consistently associated with an individual’s fruit and vegetable consumption.

The research involved 14,000 participants in England aged 16 or over, with 56 percent of those being female and 44 percent male, as part of the Health Survey for England. This survey collected detailed information on participants’ mental and physical health, health-related behaviors, demographics and socioeconomic characteristics.

Significantly, researchers found that 33.5 percent of respondents with high mental well-being ate five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day, compared with only 6.8 percent who ate less than one portion. Even a slightly lower intake was associated with higher well-being, with 31.4 percent of those with high mental well-being eating three to four portions and 28.4 percent consuming one to two.

“The data suggest that the higher an individual’s fruit and vegetable intake is, the lower the chance of [him or her] having low mental well-being,” explains Dr. Saverio Stranges, associate clinical professor of cardiovascular epidemiology and lead author of the study. “These novel findings suggest that fruit and vegetable intake may play a potential role as a driver, not just of physical, but also of mental well-being in the general population.”

Low mental well-being is strongly linked to mental illness and mental health problems, but high mental well-being is more than the absence of symptoms or illness; it is a state in which people feel good and function well. Optimism, happiness, self-esteem, resilience and good relationships with others are all part of this state. Mental well-being is important, not just to protect people from mental illness but because it protects people against common and serious physical diseases.

“Mental illness is hugely costly to both the individual and society, and mental well-being underpins many physical diseases, unhealthy lifestyles and social inequalities in health. It has become very important that we begin to research the factors that enable people to maintain a sense of well-being,” says co-author Professor Sarah Stewart-Brown, chair of public health for the University of Warwick’s Medical School.

“Our findings add to the mounting evidence that fruit and vegetable intake could be one such factor,” Stewart-Brown continues, “and mean that people are likely to be able to enhance their mental well-being at the same time as preventing heart disease and cancer.”

Urging your clients to eat more healthfully by adding more fruits and vegetables to their diets is well within your scope of practice as a fitness professional. After all, as this and other studies suggest, this one dietary change could make a significant difference in your clients’ physical and mental health.