Health gem

If you do one thing this week . . . aim for seven a day

“Make sure you get your five a day” – it’s common and sound advice to include plenty of different fruit and vegetables in our daily fare.

But should we be aiming for an even higher number?

A new study at Warwick University in the UK and Dartmouth College looked at cross-sectional data from around 80,000 people in England, Scotland and Wales.

And the analysis found that mental wellbeing peaked not at five but at seven servings of fruit and veg a day, where a serving is around 80 grams.

It’s important to stress that the study, due to be published in Social Research Indicators, doesn’t establish a causal link. But maybe it’s another motivator to reach for the fruit bowl instead of the biscuit barrel and to heap the dinner plate with an array of vegetables.