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A healthy diet goes hand in hand with a high quality of life, but researchers are still learning more about the connection between food and mental health. To explore this topic further, a recent study published in the British Journal of Nutrition delved into the effects of consuming kiwifruit and vitamin C on mood and the speed at which participants experienced improvements.
The study found that consuming kiwifruit improved mood after four days, with the impact on vitality and mood being slightly stronger compared to those participants who received vitamin C supplements. This highlights the importance of vitamin C on mental health and suggests that obtaining this nutrient from whole food sources may be the most effective method.
Kiwifruit is one of the many fruits that offer several health benefits. In addition to containing fiber, potassium, and vitamin E, it has relatively high levels of vitamin C. Vitamin C is a critical nutrient essential for immune system function and wound healing. Previous studies suggest vitamin C supplements and vitamin-C-rich fruits can help improve mood.
For the current study, researchers hypothesized that vitamin C could affect mood and healthy brain function. They were curious how fruit intake could impact mental health over some time. The participants were divided into three groups: one group received a daily vitamin C supplement, the second received two kiwifruit daily, and the third received a daily placebo tablet.
Participants took their assigned intervention or placebo for four weeks and answered surveys every other day. The surveys collected data on several components such as energy and fatigue, mood, flourishing, sleep quality and quantity, and physical activity levels. Researchers found that participants consuming the kiwifruit saw mood and vitality improvement at around four days and improvement in flourishing at around day 14.
The study’s findings suggest that there is value in measuring real-time mood changes frequently in daily life across intervention trials to understand patterns and timeframes of change.