Cecily Paterson

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How To Be Happy #14: Vegetables are happy-drugs

I love to eat. So much. And, I’ll be honest, I love to eat all those sugary, buttery treats you can get in the bakery. I love chocolate, I love pudding, I love toast and jam.

But I also love fruit. And, possibly even more than that, I love veggies. If I can’t eat fresh fruit and vegetables every day, I feel ill and sick and bloated.

I travelled overseas once when I was younger. It was literally a 26 hour trip from the time I left home to the time I got to where I was going and in that time there was nothing fresh available to eat. I was desperate for anything green by the time I arrived, but my hosts had nothing fresh in the fridge. My body felt terrible.

Eating right is super-important for your mental health. I can’t tell you enough just how key this is. You eat the wrong things and you’re making yourself susceptible to all sorts of illnesses and mental health issues. What are the wrong things? Stuff that’s full of refined flour and sugar, mostly. A lot of it comes out of brightly coloured packets. A lot of it is advertised on TV. A lot of it is from the chips-and-chocolate aisle in the supermarket. I know, we all love that stuff, but if that’s all we eat, our happiness is going to suffer.

We need to eat right. I’m not talking about eating so that you’re thin. I’m talking about eating so that you’re healthy. And nothing makes you healthier than vegetables (don’t groan) as part of a balanced diet.

Yes, have your treats, here and there. But not everywhere. Mostly, eat non-processed foods, especially vegetables and fruit. If it looks like it just came out of the garden, it’s the good stuff.

In Australia they recommend eating more than five serves of veggies and two serves of fruit per day. Let me tell you, even for someone who loves veggies, I find that pretty challenging to do. But it’s worth trying for. If you can get five serves of veggies down you every day, you won’t want as much of the unhealthy stuff. Hey, you won’t even have room for it.

Eat healthy first, and you’ll do yourself and your happiness a big favour.

 

What’s your favourite thing to eat for breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? What do you snack on between meals?

Be honest – how many serves of veggies and fruit do you get in each day?

How do you feel when you eat your fruit and veg?

Try and eat five veggies a day for a week. How do you feel now that you have done that? Are you craving those unhealthy foods or are you full on the fresh stuff?

Action: find a way to put one extra serve of vegetables or fruit into every meal today. Even breakfast!


Want more on how to be happy*? Check out the rest of Cecily Paterson's How To Be Happy blog series for more tips and advice. Want more of Cecily's writing? You can grab a free copy of her novel, Invisible here.

*Please note, I’m not a psychiatrist, psychologist or mental health professional. I’m just a person who has had plenty of periods of low moods over many years and found some things that help me. If you’re really struggling, professional help can do a lot for you. If you’re in a super bad way, go here to Lifeline.