Consumption of fruits and vegetables: improved physical health, mental health, physical functioning and cognitive health in older adults from 11 European countries

Gehlich, Kerstin H; Beller, Johannes; Lange‐Asschenfeldt, Bernhard; Köcher, Wolfgang; Meinke, Martina C.; Lademann, Jürgen

doi:10.1080/13607863.2019.1571011

Cited by 45 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The systematic review of the observational studies analyzing the association between the intake of fruit and vegetable and mental health in adults revealed the possible beneficial influence of the indicated products. This association was studied for various aspects of mental health, ranging from general and mental well-being [35,45,49,62,68,77,82,84,94], quality of life [36,39,42,43,47,55,70], sleep quality [55], life satisfaction [50,66,82], flourishing [50], mood [50,62,68,77,81], self-efficacy [56], curiosity [68], creativity [68], optimism [91,93], self-esteem [90], stress [40,48,67,71,73,80,89,92], nervousness [82], or happiness [52,59,65,82], to anxiety [35,…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Mental Health in Adults: A Systematic Review

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The role of a properly balanced diet in the prevention and treatment of mental disorders has been suggested, while vegetables and fruits have a high content of nutrients that may be of importance in the case of depressive disorders. The aim of the study was to conduct a systematic review of the observational studies analyzing association between fruit and vegetable intake and mental health in adults. The search adhered to the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), and the review was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) database (CRD42019138148). A search for peer-reviewed observational studies published until June 2019 was performed in PubMed and Web of Science databases, followed by an additional manual search for publications conducted via analyzing the references of the found studies. With respect to the intake of fruit and/or vegetable, studies that assessed the intake of fruits and/or vegetables, or their processed products (e.g., juices), as a measure expressed in grams or as the number of portions were included. Those studies that assessed the general dietary patterns were not included in the present analysis. With respect to mental health, studies that assessed all the aspects of mental health in both healthy participants and subjects with physical health problems were included, but those conducted in groups of patients with intellectual disabilities, dementia, and eating disorders were excluded. To assess bias, the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS) was applied. A total of 5911 studies were independently extracted by 2 researchers and verified if they met the inclusion criteria using a 2-stage procedure (based on the title, based on the abstract). After reviewing the full text, a total of 61 studies were selected. A narrative synthesis of the findings from the included studies was performed, which was structured around the type of outcome. The studies included mainly focused on depression and depressive symptoms, but also other characteristics ranging from general and mental well-being, quality of life, sleep quality, life satisfaction, flourishing, mood, self-efficacy, curiosity, creativity, optimism, self-esteem, stress, nervousness, or happiness, to anxiety, minor psychiatric disorders, distress, or attempted suicide, were analyzed. The most prominent results indicated that high total intake of fruits and vegetables, and some of their specific subgroups including berries, citrus, and green leafy vegetables, may promote higher levels of optimism and self-efficacy, as well as reduce the level of psychological distress, ambiguity, and cancer fatalism, and protect against depressive symptoms. However, it must be indicated that the studies included were conducted using various methodologies and in different populations, so their results were not always sufficiently comparable, which is a limitation. Taken together, it can be concluded that fruits and/or vegetables, and some of their specific subgroups, as well as processed fruits and vegetables, seems to have a positive influence on mental health, as stated in the vast majority of the included studies. Therefore, the general recommendation to consume at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day may be beneficial also for mental health.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Higher consumption of vegetables and fruits is significantly associated with a lower risk of depressive symptoms. 5 [42] Frequent consumption of fruits and vegetables is associated with improved health outcomes, including mental health.…”

Section: Ref Findings Quality * Observationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Mental Health in Adults: A Systematic Review

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…At the same time, including these covariates could not substantially explain declines in young and middle-aged adults. Thus, further research must examine age-specific risk factors for depression that might explain these differential effects, such as problematic social media use, or changes in other lifestyle factors [3,25,26]. Another methodological explanation is that cognitive biases might have unduly influenced self-reports.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In their study, the depression prevalence was found to be relatively constant overall. However, the authors also found a shift in the age distribution in women, with significant increases in the depression prevalence among the young age group (age [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34], no significant change in the middle-aged age group (age 35-49) and a significant decrease in the old age group (age 50-65). All studies point towards the need to further study cross-temporal differences in depression, considering the whole lifespan and using multi-national samples.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Decline of depressive symptoms in Europe: differential trends across the lifespan

Beller

Regidor

Lostao

et al. 2020

Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose We examined changes in the burden of depressive symptoms between 2006 and 2014 in 18 European countries across different age groups. Methods We used population-based data drawn from the European Social Survey (N = 64.683, 54% female, age 14–90 years) covering 18 countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland) from 2006 to 2014. Depressive symptoms were measured via the CES-D 8. Generalized additive models, multilevel regression, and linear regression analyses were conducted. Results We found a general decline in CES-D 8 scale scores in 2014 as compared with 2006, with only few exceptions in some countries. This decline was most strongly pronounced in older adults, less strongly in middle-aged adults, and least in young adults. Including education, health and income partially explained the decline in older but not younger or middle-aged adults. Conclusions Burden of depressive symptoms decreased in most European countries between 2006 and 2014. However, the decline in depressive symptoms differed across age groups and was most strongly pronounced in older adults and least in younger adults. Future studies should investigate the mechanisms that contribute to these overall and differential changes over time in depressive symptoms.

show abstract

“…Obesity, smoking, low level of physical activity, lack of fruit and vegetable intake, and harmful consumption of alcohol, all are established risk factors that have undesirable effects on health. These behavioral risk factors are potentially preventable to avoid their adverse effect on health 1–4 as well as their potential economic consequences. Modifying these risk factors is important to be considered in interventions to improve public health.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The association of health behavioral risk factors with quality of life in northern Sweden—A cross‐sectional survey

Al-Rubaye

Johansson

Alrubaiy

2020

J of Gen and Family Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background It is well known that behavioral risk factors such as obesity, smoking, physical activity, diet, and excessive alcohol are linked to general health in northern Sweden. This study aimed to explore the joint relationship between these risk factors and the quality of life (QoL). Methods Data were collected from Sweden's national public health survey between February and May 2014 in the four northern counties in Sweden. QoL was assessed using the EuroQol (EQ‐5D). Multivariable regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between five risk factors: BMI, physical activity, smoking status, fruit and vegetable intake, and alcohol consumption and QoL. Results Data from 17 138 complete questionnaires showed that individuals who were not obese, did at least 30 minutes of physical activity daily, consumed at least 3 portions of vegetable or fruits, were not smoking daily, and who did not report being drunk at least once every week were found to have better QoL (P < .005). The mean EQ‐5D score ranged from 0.85 to 0.79. Approximately, two thirds of the studied population reported being physically active for at least 30 minutes every day and two fifths of them had a normal BMI. Only around 7% of the sample reported that they were eating the recommended daily level of fruits and vegetables. Conclusions The results of the study suggest that QoL has a significant relationship with lifestyle behaviors. This finding would emphasize the role of interventions to improve population health.

show abstract

Consumption of fruits and vegetables: improved physical health, mental health, physical functioning and cognitive health in older adults from 11 European countries

Cited by 45 publications

References 31 publications

Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Mental Health in Adults: A Systematic Review

Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Mental Health in Adults: A Systematic Review

Decline of depressive symptoms in Europe: differential trends across the lifespan

The association of health behavioral risk factors with quality of life in northern Sweden—A cross‐sectional survey

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About