Key Nutrients Found to Make You More Attractive
A new study shows how eating a plentiful amount of fruits and vegetables not only leads to great health, but can also make you look more attractive. The study points out how certain compounds found in fruits and vegetables have the ability to alter skin tone, changing the redness or yellowness of people’s skin and ultimately leading to what they say is a more attractive appeal.
Fruits and Vegetables Change Skin Tone
A small study involving 35 university students between the ages 18 and 25 examined the participants’ fruit and vegetable intake while researchers recorded their skin color over a six week period. All but one of the participants were white. The researchers found that higher fruit and vegetable consumptions resulted in an increase in skin redness and yellowness.
“Our study suggests that an increase in fruit and veg consumption of around three portions, sustained over a six-week period, is sufficient to convey perceptible improvements in the apparent healthiness and attractiveness of facial skin,” said Ross Whitehead, a researcher at the University of St. Andrews’ school of psychology.”
The skin tone changes are associated with what are known as carotenoids, naturally occurring highly pigmented compounds found in many fruits and vegetables. Although carotenoids are assumed to be found in yellow or red, green vegetables are also high in the compounds. The study concludes with:
“Increased fruit and vegetable consumption confers measurable and perceptibly beneficial effects on Caucasian skin appearance within six weeks. This effect could potentially be used as a motivational tool in dietary intervention.”
While carotenoids are shown to be useful in boosting attraction, there are many other beneficial compounds that can be found in fruits, vegetables, as well as other foods that make you more attractive.
A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that higher dietary intake of vitamin C, found in fruits like oranges and papaya, actually reduced the visibility of a wrinkled appearance. Additionally, biotin, a b-complex vitamin found in Swiss chard, is associated with enhanced looked. Other vitamins present in many vegetables such as vitamins A, K, and C can also help to slow the aging process.
