Fruit and veg makes you more attractive

SCIENTISTS are appealing to people’s vanity to motivate them to improve their diet after discovering eating more fruit and vegetables can give skin a “golden glow” within weeks.

Scientists at the University of St Andrews looked at the impact of the orangey-red carotenoid pigments found in fruit and vegetables on skin tone.

The results showed eating two extra portions of fruit and vegetables every day created a change in skin colour within six weeks.

Ross Whitehead, researcher at the school of psychology, said: “Most of us know we should eat plenty of fruit and veg, yet we are not sufficiently motivated to actually eat a healthy diet.

“We hope that highlighting the rapidly achievable benefits of a healthy diet on our attractiveness will be a stronger incentive for people to eat more healthily. Knowing you are going to look more attractive in a few weeks may be more persuasive than the promise of health benefits later in life.”

The research paper was published yesterday in the American Journal of Public Health.

Skin colour changes occur because pigments in fruit and vegetables are transported in blood bound to protein and fats and deposited under the skin surface, staining the outer layers.