Fruits and Vegetables: Seven-A-Day for Happiness and Mental Health

Now I got to admit, for me this is a bit counter-intuitive. Can you imagine eating seven (7) helpings of fruits and vegetables a day and being happier than with, say, one or two helpings a day? Figuring out how to make, let alone eat seven (7) helpings a day gives me a headache.

But a 2012 study from the University of Warwick reports that, “Happiness and mental health are highest among people who eat seven portions of fruit and vegetables a day.”

My initial thought was, “Ok, they talked to a dozen (12) people in a couple of focus groups and extrapolated…or maybe even exploited the findings.”

I was wrong.

According to an article in ScienceDaily.com, “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.”

Somehow, I’ve never thought of Brits as big veggie eaters: drinkers – yes, veggies – no.

I felt somewhat vindicated and better about the research findings when the researchers admitted that “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.”

Somehow a tenth seems high for us Americans.

I felt I needed to write about this because almost every brain tumor victim or caregiver or friend or relative I know or have met really needs better mental health or to be happier, usually both.

Will I be eating seven (7) helpings? I doubt it.

Here’s a link to the ScienceDaily.com article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121009102003.htm

And here’s a link to the original press release issued by the University of Warwick: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/7-a-day_for_happiness/

Image credit: <a href='http://www.123rf.com/photo_18988597_composition-of-fruit-and-vegetables-framed-in-wood.html'>franckito / 123RF Stock Photo</a>

“How to Build a Happier Brain”

That’s the theme of an October 23^rd article by Julie Beck in the Atlantic magazine: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/10/how-to-build-a-happier-brain/280752/

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from presenting to brain tumor/stroke victims and caregivers, they all could be happier. That’s not to say that these victims haven’t been unfairly assaulted with horrific diseases, they have. I wish, though, they could enjoy the moments of happiness or fun or humor that drifts into their lives a bit more.

That thought is at the heart of this article, learning to enjoy the moments you should be able to enjoy instead of relentlessly focusing on the negative.

Beck says it much better, though, saying “There is a motif, in fiction and in life, of people having wonderful things happen to them, but still ending up unhappy. We can adapt to anything, it seems—you can get your dream job, marry a wonderful human, finally get 1 million dollars or Twitter followers—eventually we acclimate and find new things to complain about.”

Beck goes on to cite Dr. Rick Hanson, a neuropsychologist, a member of U.C. Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center's advisory board, and author of the book Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence, in which he observes that “our brains are naturally wired to focus on the negative, which can make us feel stressed and unhappy even though there are a lot of positive things in our lives.”

The rest of the article relates an interview with Dr. Hanson in which he discusses “A neuropsychological approach to happiness, by meeting core needs (safety, satisfaction, and connection) and training neurons to overcome a negativity bias.”

As an exercise advocate, I also want to point out that, regarding exercise, “Research shows that exercise is a very good physical health factor obviously, but it also confers mental health benefits. For example, regular exercise is roughly as powerful on average for mild depression as medication is, studies show.”

Again, here’s a link to the article: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/10/how-to-build-a-happier-brain/280752/

Image credit: <a href='http://www.123rf.com/photo_14381169_positive-thinking-word-cloud-concept-in-red-capital-letters-with-great-terms-such-as-good-mental-tho.html'>mybaitshop / 123RF Stock Photo</a>

Happiness = Longer Life

One of the issues my brain tumor forced me to think about was my longevity. As I went into the operation fully aware that, while the odds were in my favor, I might not survive it.

And while I’ve survived, articles that give me ideas on how to live even longer are still of special interest to me.

The most recent one I read was by Dr. Gov Michaeli who was a professor at the University of California San Francisco before leaving to enter the world of biotech. He is now the founder and CEO of Madah Medica, an early stage biotech company developing products to improve post-surgical pain control.

He recently reported that “There are many studies showing a relationship between happiness and longevity, some of which are scientifically excellent.”

He went on to cite a study from the U.K. which tracked the happiness of 3,800 people ages 52 to 79 over time (yes, I fall in that age group). Here’s his synopsis of the findings of that study: 

“Happiness has been shown before to be a strong factor in longevity. But the magnitude of the effect uncovered in this study is truly surprising. Here they are:Five years on from their assessment, just 3.6 per cent of the happiest participants – those who had the highest positive affect – had died.
In contrast, some 4.6 per cent of those who were averagely happy and 7.3 per cent of the group with the lowest positive affect had died during the same time frame.”

Here’s a link to the article: http://www.thedoctorweighsin.com/give-thanks-be-happy-and-live-longer/