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HEALTHY GLOW FROM FIVE A DAY DIET PROVES TO BE MORE ATTRACTIVE THAN A TAN, SAYS NEW STUDY
An interesting study carried out by a team at Bristol University indicates that the 'five a day' campaign to encourage people to eat more fruit and vegetables may have something else going for it - the 'natural glow'.

A group of volunteers was put on a diet which included five portions of fresh fruit and vegetables for one month. Photographs of the volunteers faces were then mixed with those of suntanned people, and study groups were asked to choose which skin tones they found more attractive. The healthy glow resulting from the improved diet won hands down.
 

"We have produced evidence that dietary intake of fruit and vegetables affects skin colour," said Ian Stephen, the experimental psychologist who lead the project. "There are two pigments which have a major effect on yellowness of fair skin: melanin, which is associated with sun exposure, and carotenoids from the diet. We found people always preferred the golden effect from diet to the darker effect from the sun. All our results were consistent with carotenoids being the decisive element."

The findings are in line with evolutionary and biological science in that a healthy mate is more attractive because it promises healthier, stronger offspring. Humans are similarly programmed and Stephen says that the research indicates that we are able to see beyond the temporary effect produced by sunshine.

The research could provide a compelling boost for the government's five-a-day campaign, according to Prof. Janet Allen from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, which co-funded the project. Prof. David Perrett, who was part of the research team, commented that telling people that the five a day diet could make them more attractive might have more effect than the health concerns - especially amongst the young.

Skin 'superfoods' - those rich in carotenids - include carrots, spinach, cos lettuce, kale, tomatoes, peppers, apricots, peaches and plums. See also our special feature on superfoods.

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