Eating fruits and vegetables -- suggested as much as five portions a day -- could be as good for you mentally as it is physically and may even ward off depression, suggests new research out of the United Kingdom.

A recent study conducted by the University of Warwick's Medical School using data from the Health Survey for England, and published by the online open-access journal BMJ Open, examined mental well-being and found a person's so-called "high" and "low" mental attitudes were consistently associated with an individual's fruit and vegetable intake.

About 33.5 percent of those surveyed in the study -- and who reported high mental well-being -- ate five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day, compared with 6.8 percent who ate less than one portion, said a university news release.

Additionally, 31.4 percent of those who reported high mental well-being ate three to four daily portions of fruits and veggies, while 28.4 percent indicated they ate one to two servings.

"The data suggest that higher an individual's fruit and vegetable intake the lower the chance of their having low mental well-being," Dr. Saverio Stranges, the research paper's lead author, said in a statement.

Stranges and his colleagues said other health-related behaviors were also found to be associated with mental well-being, but along with smoking, only fruit and vegetable consumption was consistently linked to the mental well-being in both men and women.

Alcohol intake and obesity didn't show an appreciable impact on one's ability to maintain a high sense of well-being, the study said.

"These novel findings suggest that fruit and vegetable intake may play a potential role as a driver, not just of physical, but also of mental well-being in the general population," said Stranges. "Our findings add to the mounting evidence that fruit and vegetable intake could ... mean that people are likely to be able to enhance their mental well-being at the same time as preventing heart disease and cancer."

The research involved 14,000 participants in England aged 16 or over, 56 percent of which were female and and 44 percent male.

The mental well-being of the study participants was assessed using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, in which the top 15 percent of respondents are categorized as sporting high mental well-being, the bottom 15 percent as low and the middle 16-84 percent as middle, or moderate.