Via: 5 Health Benefits of Blueberries

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

Yes that's right...in this study done in the UK, happiness and mental health were highest among people who ate seven portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Now heres the problem.  Only one in ten people actually ate that many servings of fruits and vegetables and 25% ate less than one serving daily. Clearly we can do better.

–University of Warwick (2012, October 9). Fruits and vegetables: Seven-a-day for happiness and mental health. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 10, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­

Asthma patients breathe easier when they eat more vegetables and fruit.

A comparison in asthma patients of the difference between high antioxidant intake vs low found better breathing and less episodes of symptoms requiring use of inhalers. Breathing improvements were measured by a higher predicted forced expiratory volume and percentage predicted forced vital capacity in the high-antioxidant group while the low-antioxidant diet group showed an increased level of inflammation, measured as plasma C-reactive protein elevation.

The high antioxidant group averaged 5 servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit daily while the low antioxidant group ate only two servings of vegetables and one serving of fruit.

"Manipulating antioxidant intake in asthma: a randomized controlled trial," Wood LG, Garg ML, et al, Am J Clin Nutr, 2012 Sep