Fight Depression with Fruit, Vegetables, Fruit Juice & Smoothies

Even though it is well known that eating lots of fruits and vegetables is good for you, almost nobody does. But if you do, a new study shows, you could seriously improve your chances of not being depressed.

It is well known that eating more fruits and vegetables is good for your physical health; it is less well known that it is good for your mental health. Eating more fruit can lower your risk of depression by 15%-17%, and eating more vegetables can reduce it by 9%-14% (Br J Nutr. 2018;119:1087–1101; Ageing Res Rev. 2021;70: 101403). Recent research continues to reinforce this important link (Scientific Reports. 2024;14,29711).

Though everybody knows this, hardly anybody acts upon it. The World Health Organization recommends 400g of fruits and vegetables a day. In the UK, they promote this recommendation as 5-a-day: five 80g portions of fruits and vegetables each day. But only 17% of adults in the UK meet even this simple goal.

But what if they did? British researcher conducted a 4-week study of people who ate 2 or fewer servings of fruits and vegetables a day. One group stuck with their 2 a day. One group increased it to the recommended 5 servings a day. And one group increased to 5 a day but made one of those servings a glass of fruit juice or a fruit smoothie.

A serving was defined as 80g of fruit or vegetable or 30g of dried fruit. A serving of fruit juice was defined as 150ml of unsweetened fruit juice or fruit smoothie.

At the end of the study, the people in the 4 servings a day + 1 serving of fruit juice group had significantly better scores for depression than the people eating only 2 servings a day. There was no significant difference between the 2 groups who increased their fruit and vegetables for improvement in depression, but only the improvement in the group who included a serving of fruit juice or smoothie reached significance compared to the control group.

Though it did not reach statistical significance, there was a trend toward improved anxiety scores in both groups who increased their fruits and vegetables.

This study adds to the evidence that increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables, including unsweetened fruit juices and fruit smoothies can safely–there were no changes in any metabolic markers–improve depression.

British Journal of Nutrition. Published online 2026:1-15. doi:10.1017/S0007114526107569.