The five-a-day tan: Forget the sunbed, fruit and veg give you a natural glow
By David Derbyshire
Last updated at 10:00 AM on 24th May 2010
If you want a rosy glow, munch on an apple.
For the secret to a golden, healthy complexion doesn't lie in sunbeds, sprays or sunbathing - but in eating plenty of fresh fruit and veg.
It takes just one month for the benefits of a five-a-day diet to enhance the colour of pale skin, scientists say.
Five-a-day: The secret to a golden, healthy complexion doesn't lie in sunbeds, sprays or sunbathing - but in eating plenty of fresh fruit and veg
The researchers also found that people preferred the healthy colour of skin created by eating lots of fruit and veg to the suntanned look.
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'We have produced evidence that dietary intake of fruit and vegetables affects skin colour,' said Ian Stephen, of Bristol University, who led the research team. 'We found people always preferred the golden effect from diet to the darker effect from the sun.'
He believes carotenoids - a class of around 600 different types of pigment found in plants - are the secret ingredients that gives an attractive glow.
For the study, volunteers were put on a diet of five fruit and vegetables every day for at least a month. Photos of them before and after were shown to strangers and rated for attractiveness. The 'after' faces were consistently ranked higher.
The scientists - who include psychologist Professor David Perrett of St Andrews University - say the findings could be used to back up the Government's healthy eating campaign.
Telling people that their diet could give them a more attractive skin may be more effective than stressing the adverse impact of a poor diet on health.
'Most people don't know the effect of diet on skin tone,' said Professor Perrett. 'We were very surprised by these results ourselves.'
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