Eating fruits and vegetables may lower women's stress risk

You don’t need to pop pills or have costly unnatural supplements to keep the stress at bay. All you need to do is have an extra serving of fruits and vegetables every day to keep stress at bay! According to a new study, it can help you lower the risk of stress. The study of over 60,000 Australians aged 45 years and above measured participants fruit and vegetable consumption, lifestyle factors and psychological distress at two-time points, 2006-08 and 2010.

"Fruit and vegetable consumption may help reduce the prevalence of psychological distress among middle-aged and older adults. However, the association between fruit and vegetable consumption and the incidence of psychological distress requires further investigation and possibly, a longer follow-up time.

Moderate fruit and veg intake reduced women's stress risk by 23 percent

Overall, the researchers found that adults who consumed three to four servings of fruits and vegetables daily were 12 percent less likely to experience stress than those who consumed zero to one serving daily.

Eating five to seven servings of fruits and vegetables each day was associated with a 14 percent lower risk of stress, compared with adults who consumed zero to four servings a day.

However, when looking at the results by sex, the researchers found that the link between fruit and vegetable intake and reduced stress was much stronger for women.

Women who ate five to seven servings of fruits and vegetables each day had a 23 percent lower risk of stress, compared with women who consumed zero to one serving per day.

Women who consumed two servings of fruits daily had a 16 percent lower risk of stress than women who consumed zero to one serving, while eating three to four servings of vegetables daily was linked to an 18 percent lower stress risk.

Eating more than seven servings of fruits and vegetables each day was not associated with lower stress risk, the team reports.

The researchers say that while their findings support current guidelines that recommend fruit and vegetable consumption as part of a healthful diet, further research is needed to better determine how these foods might impact stress.