Your Business and Aging

The “4 types of foods can boost happiness, well-being in aging adults.”

There is ongoing research on how food relates to mental well-being and mental health conditions such as depression.
An area of study is how foods impact aspects like happiness and life satisfaction.

A recent study suggests that certain foods, like fish and vegetables, may be linked to positive psychological well-being.
Does what we eat contribute to positive mental well-being? One study Trusted Source published in the British Journal of Health Psychology Trusted Source sought to understand the connection. Rather than focusing on how foods help with negative psychological states, this research chose to focus on how food affects positive mental well-being.

Researchers found that higher intake of fruits, vegetables, and fish was linked to three domains of well-being and that polyunsaturated fatty acid intake was linked to two domains of well-being.

After model adjustment, fruit and vegetable intake remained linked to eudemonic well-being, and fish intake remained linked to happiness. The findings suggest that food may affect positive psychological well-being.

The 3 aspects of happiness and well-being.

This research focused on how diet affects positive mental well-being. The authors note that this area includes three domains. The first is eudemonic well-being, which has to do with a sense of purpose as well as aspects like having positive relationships. The second is affective well-being, which involves positive emotions like happiness. The third is evaluative well-being, which is overall life satisfaction. These factors of positive well-being were measured via three assessment scales.

Researchers used data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and looked at the relationship between “diet and positive well-being among middle-aged and older adults in England.” They included 3,103 participants in their final sample.

The specific foods they included were fruits and vegetables, fish, and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). The researchers noted that PUFAs are “a type of fat that includes omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, essential for cell, nerve, and brain functions.”

More Information at:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/4-types-foods-can-boost-happiness-well-being-aging-adults#The-3-aspects-of-happiness-and-well-being