A recent study conducted by Dr. Ian Stephan at the University of Nottingham at the Malaysia campus proves that eating fruits and vegetables will give your skin a glow that looks better than a tan. Dr. Stephan’s study was published in the Journal Evolution and Human Behavior and evaluates how we perceive skin.
The study took place in Malaysia; the participants were asked to compare how skin looked after a fruity diet heavy with fruits and vegetables (5 times a day) compared to skin after tanning. The sixty participants were given computer images of participants with tans and participants who had eaten a healthy diet of fruit and vegetables and were asked to choose which participants had been looking skin; most of the participants preferred the carotenoid skin color, which is “responsible for the red skin color in fruit and vegetables such as carrots and tomatoes.”
“Dr Stephen and his team in the Perception Lab found that people who eat more portions of fruit and vegetables per day have a more golden skin colour, thanks to substances called carotenoids. Carotenoids are antioxidants that help soak up damaging compounds produced by the stresses and strains of everyday living, especially when the body is combating disease.” Carotenoids are more commonly found in deeply-colored vegetables.
Although the research was conducted in Malyasia--a mutli-cultural society consisting of Malays, Indians, and Chinese--the research conducted by Dr. Stephan was done on Caucasians. A different study that was cited by Dr. Stephan and his research team in the paper found that Africans also had a strong preference for yellow-tinged skin. ( I don’t know if a similar study has been performed on Asians but do know that Asians in several countries have a strong preference for lighter-colored skin, which means that tanning was never all that popular to begin with.)
Humans aren’t the only species that prefer the healthier color resulting from the carotenoids in fruits and vegetables—male birds with brighter plumage (also as a result of carotenoids) find themselves more popular with female birds than their duller-feathered counterparts.
Caretenoids are also beneficial for fertility and also contain anti-oxidants. Interestingly enough, carotenoids are helpful to prevent aging; as everyone should hopefully know by now, tanning has the exact opposite result.
It might be wise to consider some of the health and beauty benefits of reducing the amount of tanning and eating more fruits and veggies instead. The fruits and vegetables portion of the food pyramid may just be the only part of the pyramid that is actually correct.
Image Courtesy of Flckr User: karimian