Consuming Fruits And Vegetables Everyday Would Likely Reduce The Risk Of Stress And Lung Disease

Eating up to seven servings a day of fruits and vegetables could lower the risk of stress in middle-aged women. The symptoms of this stress include anger, anxiety, irritability, nervousness and depression. These are also linked to the conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.

The findings of the study were printed in BMJ Open. The research was led by Binh Nguyen, a Ph.D. student at the University of Sydney in Australia, and other colleagues.

The study involved 60,404 men and women aged 45 and older. The researchers examined their fruit and vegetable intake between 2006 and 2008 and again in 2010. The participants' psychological distress was gauged using the Kessler psychological distress scale, which is a 10-item questionnaire that evaluates the symptoms of anxiety and depression, according to Medical News Today.

The results showed that those who ate three to four servings of fruit and vegetables would likely have less risk of stress by 12 percent compared to those who ate zero to one serving daily. Furthermore, those who consumed five to seven servings a day of fruits and vegetables have a 14 percent lower risk of stress than those who consumed zero to four servings a day. On the other hand, the team discovered that the reduced stress caused by fruit and vegetable intake was much stronger for women.

Another new study was conducted related to fruit and vegetable intake indicated that consuming more fruits and vegetables up to five or more servings could lower the risk of acquiring chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The study that was led by Joanna Kaluza of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and colleagues involved more than 40,000 men, according to Reuters.

The team found that among the participants, the current smokers who ate up to five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day were about 40 percent less likely to have COPD than smokers who ate two servings or less. Kaluza urges all the smokers and former smokers to consume much fruits and vegetables to prevent the risks of developing lung diseases.