Eating the recommend daily intake of fruit and vegetables can improve your mental health and life satisfaction, as well as physical wellbeing, according to new medical research.

The new report by the University of Queensland found eating 4-5 servings each of fruit and vegetables every day had significant impacts across a variety of different wellbeing measures, including vitality, mental health and psychological distress.

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Just one quarter of Australians eat the recommended daily intake of fruit and vegetables, despite the positive findings.

Lead researcher of the study Dr Redzo Mujcic said the study of 12,000 Australians found vegetables had a greater impact on general health, while fruit had a greater impact on overall mental health.

Dr Mujcic said the study would change how governments treated healthy diets.

“The results have implications for both government policy-makers and health professionals; in that, fruit and vegetable consumption should be considered in public policy design aimed at improving people’s mental, and not only physical, levels of health.”