Heena Sharma Blog

While it's well-established that eating fruits and vegetables can benefit physical health. A recent study suggests that it may also benefit psychological well-being. The research showed a positive association between the quantity of fruit and vegetables consumed and people's self-reported mental well-being. Specifically, the findings indicate that eating just one extra portion of fruits and vegetables a day could have an equivalent effect on mental well-being as around 8 extra days of walking a month (for at least 10 minutes at a time). Findings of the study were published in the Journal of Social Science & Medicine. "It's well-established that eating fruit and vegetables can benefit physical health . Recently, newer studies have suggested that it may also benefit psychological well-being," said Peter Howley, lead author of the study. Explaining the study, Howley said, "Our research builds on previous work in Australia and New Zealand by ...

Consuming a higher amount of green leafy vegetables can help reduce the risk of developing liver disease , a new study has suggested. Liver steatosis or fatty liver is a common disease that affects approximately 25 per cent of the global population. The most important causes are overweight or high alcohol consumption and there is currently no medical treatment for the disease. In a study published in the journal PNAS, researchers from Karolinska Institute showed how a larger intake of inorganic nitrate, which occurs naturally in many types of vegetable, reduces accumulation of fat in the liver. They also showed how a greater intake of inorganic nitrate can prevent the accumulation of fat in the liver. "When we supplemented with dietary nitrate to mice fed with a high-fat and sugar Western diet, we noticed a significantly lower proportion of fat in the liver," said Mattias Carlstrom, a researcher. Read More Business Standard

Men who eat leafy greens, dark orange and red vegetables , berries and drink orange juice may be at a lower risk of developing memory loss in older age, according to a study The findings showed that men who ate larger amounts of fruits and vegetables 20 years earlier were less likely to develop thinking and memory problems, whether or not they kept eating larger amounts of fruits and vegetables later. Men who consumed the most vegetables were 34 per cent less likely to develop poor thinking skills than the men who consumed the least amount of vegetables. Men who drank orange juice every day were 47 per cent less likely to develop poor thinking skills than the men who drank less than one serving per month. This association was mainly observed for regular consumption of orange juice among the oldest men, the researchers found. "One of the most important factors in this study is that we were able to research and track such a large group of men over a 20-year pe...

Middle-aged women who follow a Mediterranean-style diet -- rich in fruits, vegetables, grains, potatoes, olive oil, seeds, fish, low saturated fat, dairy products and red meat -- may have a reduced risk of stroke, say researchers. The study shows that the diet may be especially protective in women over the age of 40, regardless of menopausal status or hormone replacement therapy . The diet reduced the onset of stroke by 17 per cent in all adults, but women saw greater reduction of 22 per cent, whereas the benefit was seen only in 6 per cent men. "It is unclear why we found differences between women and men, but it could be that components of the diet may influence men differently than women," said lead researcher Ailsa Welch, Professor at the UK's University of East Anglia. Read Complete Article