- Fruit and vegetables give people a golden glow, according to new study
- This helps us pick a mate and avoid sickly sorts who might pass on infection
By
Fiona Macrae
19:08 EST, 3 December 2013
|
06:40 EST, 4 December 2013
Getting your five-a-day isn’t just good for your health – it could also give you a healthy love life.
Research shows that eating lots of fruit and vegetables gives people a golden glow that makes them look more attractiveÂ
And as we don’t find the yellowy colour more appealing in other contexts, the researchers believe we have learnt to link bronzed skin with good health.
This could help us pick a mate and also ensure we avoid sickly sorts who might pass on an infection.
Positive: Fruit and veg give people a golden glow that makes them look more attractive, says a new study
Those who find it difficult to eat their greens will be pleased to know that even one or two extra portions a day can make a difference.
The finding comes from York, St Andrews and Cambridge University researchers who took photos of 20 men and women and then adjusted them to create four different versions.
In one set of images, the faces had the golden glow of someone who eats a lot of fruit and veg and in a second they had the less healthy complexion of someone who eats few greens.
The third and fourth sets also had contrasting skin tones but the faces were jumbled up to create abstract images that were unrecognisable as being human.
Beneficial: Even one or two extra portions of fruit and veg a day can make a difference
Volunteers then rated the attractiveness of the images.
The yellowness of the abstract images didn’t make a difference but the more golden faces were clearly judged as being better looking.
The results suggest that rather than being a colour we find attractive in general, yellow tells us something special when part of someone’s skin tone.
York University researcher Carmen Lefevre said: ‘This suggests we use it in other people as a quick of who could be health and, perhaps more importantly, who may be unhealthy. You don’t want to touch someone who has an illness you might catch.’Â
Previous research has shown that the golden glow of those who eat their greens is due to plant chemicals called carotenoids, the yellow, orange and red pigments in fruit and vegetables.
Absorbed by the body and distributed in the skin, they appear yellowish gold to the naked eye.
Carotenoids boost the human immune system and although they are most commonly associated with carrots, they are also abundant in green fruits and vegetables.
Even small amounts can make a difference.
Dr Lefevre, who is working up to eating five-a-day, said: ‘Other work we have shown that eating one or two more portions makes a visible difference after only four weeks.’Â
Her finding, reported in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, could also explain why a suntan is often described as a healthy glow.
The researcher said: ‘Some other work that our lab has done indicates that people prefer a tan to no tan.
‘However, they seem to prefer the carotenoid colour more than a tan. Eating more fruit is better than going in the sun.’Â
She suggests that people eat a variety of different fruit and vegetables to get the most benefit.
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Lexie,
London, United Kingdom,
12 minutes ago
It always makes me laugh when people moan about the price of fruit and vegetables, which is why they don’t buy it, yet the same people probably pay £40 a month for their fancy iphone. My sister has twins and struggled to feed them healthy food because of the cost. What did she do? She ditched her iphone contract and bought a simple pay as a you go phone. She sold her spare car and now she and her husband use the one car. And for those people that say this is marketing. When was the last time you saw an advert in a magazine/newspaper for fruit and vegetables? I always see ads for dairy products, protein shakes, chocolates and all that processed crap. I suppose people need a reason not to eat their fruit and veg!
V V,
Cheshire, United Kingdom,
26 minutes ago
Make sure ist not cooked in the microwave or boilled to death, or you may as well eat cardboard. To get the benefit, it needs to be organic, fresh and not GM/mass prodcued. Vegetables have less than 1/3 of the nutrients they did 60 years ago, before over farming. Articles like this are missleading. We want the truth about food. BTW I am a former carb and meat addict, conned in to beliving all calories are equal. I am now a weekday RAW vegan. The difference is amazing. Its the balance, not the amount you eat that counts.
Frank,
Detroit – Michigan – USA, United States,
49 minutes ago
Lots of fruits and veggies will give you bowels a good work-out.
MSINGH,
Hounslow – UK,
56 minutes ago
Fruit veg is good, but it contains less nutrients than you think, and it doesn’t do wonders for your body, that experts claim it does
Hojo,
Virginia Beach, United States,
54 minutes ago
Dixie Wrecht,
New York City,
1 hour ago
Or you can eat that fast food pizza or hamburger and fries and smile that grease face smile at your mate. Fast food is neither fast or food.
Can Ali Gurguc,
¿stanbul, Turkey,
1 hour ago
I don’t think people have to change their eating habits.It is better to eat all sorts of food in ordinary portions and I advice them not to listen the tv programs when the subject is concerned with diets.
mimi,
Ennis, Ireland,
1 hour ago
PrivateSi,
WORCS,
1 hour ago
Veggies taste better than real humans too…
Hojo,
Virginia Beach, United States,
53 minutes ago
Gordon,
Romford,
2 hours ago
Also gives you chronic wind, and wonderful skidmarks.
Angry Bird,
Hove, United Kingdom,
1 hour ago
Hojo,
Virginia Beach, United States,
52 minutes ago
SueCB,
Stuttgart, Germany,
2 hours ago
Here, the doctors are always pushing us to remember to drink at least 2 litres of water daily . As far as the ‘ 5 a day’,…does a glass of red wine count as one of the 5 per day?!
Simon,
ENGLAND,
3 hours ago
You are what you eat.
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