Research done at the University of Warwick along with the University of Queensland indicated that eating fruits and vegetables doesn’t just have positive effects on people’s physical health, but also makes them happier, hence affecting their psychological well being.

The research involved 12,385 randomly sampled Australian adults, and the results showed that people experience an increase in life satisfaction in a manner and degree that’s equivalent to what people experience as they move from an unemployed status to employment, and it can all happen by changing your diet and health-lifestyle. Increasing the amount of fruits and veggies per day by up to 8 portions resulted in large psychological benefits experienced by almost everyone involved, and the positive health changes were noticed within 24 months.

The subjects well being was measured, and they were also asked to keep food diaries. According to Andrew Oswald, Professor of Economics and Behavioural Science at the University of Warwick, some physical-health benefits can only be accrued decades later, while the uptake in happiness and other psychological and health benefits can be observed in two short years and maybe even less.

The happiness effect is cumulative up to eight portions per day, increasing incrementally for each extra daily portion of fruit and veggies. The research, performed in 2007, 2009, and 2013, was adjusted by the teams from the two universities for effects on incident changes in life satisfaction and happiness to take into account personal circumstances and changing incomes.

So if being physically healthier wasn’t enough motivation to eat fruits & vegetables, your actual psychological well being can be greatly increased in a short amount of time just by eating healthier. For the full report, go to the AJPH website.