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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Courtney NealORCiD, Professor Georg LietzORCiD, Dr Kirsten BrandtORCiD, Dr Anthony WatsonORCiD, Dr Oliver ShannonORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Nutrition Society.Consuming fruit juice/smoothies could help overcome barriers to fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake. However, their contribution towards F&V intake within a healthy diet is contentious. We investigated how F&V intake is affected by UK 5-a-day advice, with and without one portion/day of fruit juice/smoothies and explored how these interventions impacted markers of health. Healthy individuals (n=42) with low F&V intake (≤2 servings/day) completed a four-week, parallel-group randomised controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT06628401). Participants were randomised to 1) control, 2) whole F&V (FV), or 3) whole F&V plus fruit juice/smoothies (FV+FJ). All groups received weekly financial support (to remove financial barriers to F&V purchase in the intervention groups). FV and FV+FJ also received a co-designed educational booklet. We investigated the intervention effects on self-reported F&V intake (primary outcome), biomarkers of intake and metabolism, mood, gut symptoms, and acceptability. Post-intervention F&V intake differed between groups (p<0.001; ηp2=0.62). It was significantly higher in FV ((estimated marginal means [SE]); 8.9 [0.64] portions/day, p<0.001) and FV+FJ (6.6 [0.64], p<0.001) versus control (2.45 [0.64]), but there was no difference between FV and FV+FJ (p=0.051). Both interventions showed good acceptability. Depression symptoms differed between groups (p=0.01; ηp2=0.21); they were significantly lower in FV+FJ than control. There were no differences in anxiety or gut symptoms, nor in intake or metabolic biomarkers. A financial and educational intervention based on UK 5-a-day recommendations, with or without fruit juice/smoothies, significantly increased short-term F&V intake and benefited mood without adversely impacting health markers in the short-term. Funder: Fruit Juice Science Centre.
Author(s): Neal C, Lietz G, Brandt K, Watson AW, Shannon OM
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: British Journal of Nutrition
Year: 2026
Pages: epub ahead of print
Online publication date: 22/05/2026
Acceptance date: 02/04/2018
Date deposited: 02/06/2026
ISSN (print): 0007-1145
ISSN (electronic): 1475-2662
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
URL: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114526107569
DOI: 10.1017/S0007114526107569
Data Access Statement: Data described in the manuscript, code book, and analytic code will be made available upon request pending author approval.
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