You know eating fruit and vegetables is virtuous. But did you know it can also make you look good?
People who increased their intake over just six weeks developed a healthy glow and appeared more attractive, researchers found.
Scientists at St Andrews University found eating them subtly increased yellow and red pigments in the volunteers’ skin.
They monitored the food intake of 35 people and took pictures of their faces, arms and hands using a sensitive camera at the start, and after three and six weeks.
Increasing their intake of greens by 2.9 portions a day was found to make the person look more healthy and an extra 3.3 portions could enhance their attractiveness, when their photographs were rated by others.
Fruit and vegetables are rich in carotenoids, which are known to protect against cell damage from pollution and UV rays, and can also prevent age-related diseases including heart disease and cancer.
But while it was known eating extreme amounts of certain vegetables such as carrots could turn skin orange, it was not known a small increase was perceptible to others - and was seen as appealing.
A camera measured changes to the skin’s redness, yellowness and lightness, and found it significantly changed in people who naturally increased their intake. These changes were not evident at three weeks.
Using light sensors, the researchers showed these red and yellow hues were linked with the levels of carotenoids in their skin.
There are hundreds of carotenoids but those thought to have the most dramatic effect are lycopene - which gives tomatoes and red peppers their red colour - and beta-carotene found in carrots as well as broccoli, squash, and spinach.
Skin colour is also affected by chemicals called polyphenols, found in apples, blueberries and cherries, which cause blood rush to the skin surface.
你知道吃水果和蔬菜有很多好處，但你可知道多吃水果蔬菜會讓你變漂亮？
研究人員發現，增大水果蔬菜的攝入量，只需六周就能讓你煥發出健康的光彩，看起來更有魅力。
聖安德魯斯大學的科學家發現，吃水果蔬菜能微量增加志願者皮膚中的黃色素和紅色素。
他們監測了35人的食物攝入量，並在一開始、三周後和六周後用高靈敏相機給他們的臉、胳膊和手拍了照片。
研究發現，從他人對照片的打分來看，每日增加2.9份的蔬菜攝入量將讓人看起來更健康，再增加3.3份攝入量將使人看起來更有魅力。
水果和蔬菜的類胡蘿蔔素很豐富，而據我們所知，類胡蘿蔔素可以保護細胞不受污染和紫外線的損害，還可以防止心臟病和癌症等老年病。
不過，儘管人們知道某些蔬菜（如胡蘿蔔）攝入過量會讓皮膚變成橘黃色，但人們不知道這種細微變化會被他人覺察到，而且這種皮膚顏色還被視為很有吸引力。
研究人員通過相機拍照來測量皮膚的紅色、黃色和明亮度發生的變化，發現那些以自然的方式增加蔬菜水果攝入量的人的皮膚發生了明顯改變。不過這些改變在三周內還看不出來。
借助光感測器，研究人員指出，皮膚呈現的紅色和黃色與皮膚內所含的類胡蘿蔔素水準有關。
類胡蘿蔔素有數百種，但據認為對皮膚顏色影響最顯著的是番茄紅素和胡蘿蔔素。番茄和紅辣椒的紅色都源自番茄紅素，胡蘿蔔素則可以在花椰菜、南瓜、菠菜和胡蘿蔔中找到。
皮膚顏色還受到化學物質多元酚的影響，多元酚可以在蘋果、藍莓和櫻桃中找到，這種物質可以讓血液流向皮膚表面。
