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Let them eat fruit! The effect of fruit and vegetable consumption on psychological well-being in young adults: A randomized controlled trial
Open accessAbstract
This study tested the psychological benefits of a 14-day preregistered clinical intervention to increase fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption in 171 low-FV-consuming young adults (67% female, aged 18-25). Participants were randomly assigned into a diet-as-usual control condition, an ecological momentary intervention (EMI) condition involving text message reminders to increase their FV consumption plus a voucher to purchase FV, or a fruit and vegetable intervention (FVI) condition in which participants were given two additional daily servings of fresh FV to consume on top of their normal diet. Self-report outcome measures were depressive symptoms and anxiety measured pre- and post-intervention, and daily negative and positive mood, vitality, flourishing, and flourishing behaviors (curiosity, creativity, motivation) assessed nightly using a smartphone survey. Vitamin C and carotenoids were measured from blood samples pre- and post-intervention, and psychological expectancies about the benefits of FV were measured post-intervention to test as mediators of psychological change. Only participants in the FVI condition showed improvements to their psychological well-being with increases in vitality, flourishing, and motivation across the 14-days relative to the other groups. No changes were found for depressive symptoms, anxiety, or mood. Intervention benefits were not mediated by vitamin C, carotenoids, or psychological expectancies. We conclude that providing young adults with high-quality FV, rather than reminding them to eat more FV (with a voucher to purchase FV), resulted in significant short-term improvements to their psychological well-being. These results provide initial proof-of-concept that giving young adults fresh fruit and vegetables to eat can have psychological benefits even over a brief period of time. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12615000183583.
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“Nutrients derived from diet, such as vitamins, minerals, poly-unsaturated fats, and amino acids support healthy brain function [51–55].”
From Role of diet and its effects on the gut microbiome in the pathophysiology of mental disorders (2022) · cites this paper as [52]
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Li, W., Du, X., Ma, Y., Cao, H., Jin, S., Fan, J., Gao, J., Hou, M., & Chen, B. (2026) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu18040581
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Fatigue, depressive symptoms, and stress relate to diet quality and food Choices
Kossowska-Wywiał, M., & Brzezicka, A. (2026) · Nutritional Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.nupsyc.2026.100038
Metadata
- Authors
- Conner, T. S., Brookie, K. L., Carr, A. C., Mainvil, L. A., & Vissers, M. C. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Otago (NZ)
- Corresponding author
- Conner, Tamlin S.
- Venue
- PLOS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2017-02-03
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- e0171206
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5291486
- OpenAlex
- W2583989724
- Cited by
- 207
- References
- 69
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 13.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- University of Otago (H15/010)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Keywords
- fruit and vegetable intake, psychological well-being, young adults, dietary intervention, SMS reminders, food vouchers, depressive symptoms, anxiety, mood, vitality, eudaimonia, motivation, curiosity, creativity, vitamin C, carotenoids, ecological momentary intervention
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Affect, Anxiety, Depression, Feeding Behavior, Female, Fruit, Humans, Male, Mental Health, New Zealand, Vegetables, Health Behavior, Outcome Assessment, Health Care, Young Adult, Public Health Surveillance
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