Physical Wellness

Vegetable Consumption Linked to Facial Attractiveness

By Christine Hsu | Update Date: Dec 04, 2013 11:06 AM EST

Eating vegetables and fruits really does make you more beautiful, according to a new study.

The study revealed that people who eat lots of fruit and vegetables have a glow that males them more attractive.  Researchers said that the latest findings, which linked bronze skin to good health, could help people pick healthy mates and avoid those who look ill.

Researchers said that even one or two extra portions a day boosts attractiveness.

Researchers from York, St. Andrews and Cambridge University took photographs of 20 men and women.  Afterwards they altered each picture to create four different versions.

In one version, the faces had a glow of someone who eats a lot of fruit and vegetables, the second version were altered so that people look less healthy and ate fewer grains. The other two versions also had contrasting skin tones but the faces were unrecognizable.

Afterwards, researchers had volunteers rate the attractiveness of faces in the photographs.

The findings revealed that while the yellowness of the abstract images didn't make a difference, more golden faces were judged as being significantly better looking. 

Researchers said the findings suggest that the color of skin tones may signal the health of individuals.  

"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," said researcher Carmen Lefevre of York University, according to the Daily Mail.

"Other work we have shown that eating one or two more portions makes a visible difference after only four weeks," she said.

"Some other work that our lab has done indicates that people prefer a tan to no tan," Lefevre said. "However, they seem to prefer the carotenoid colour more than a tan. Eating more fruit is better than going in the sun."

The findings are published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.

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