Pretty as a vegetable

People will inject, cut, apply, and inhale almost anything that promises to make them more attractive. Thousands of dollars and dubious consequences are attached to many “beauty” treatments but it seems if you can wait a few weeks then true Beauty might be as close as your garden.

The researchers in a new study had subjects add two extra portions of fruit and vegetables daily to their diet over a period of six weeks. Some subjects, by contrast, reduced the amount of fruit and vegetables that they consumed. They monitored changes in skin colour that occurred during the study and also took regular pictures the subjects which they showed to impartial observers to see when changes in skin tone could become discernible.

After a few weeks there was an increased “golden” hue to the skin of the people eating fruit and vegetables. This was noticeable after a few weeks and was judged to be more attractive by observers. By contrast, people reducing their fruit and vegetable intake were judged as less attractive by the end of the study.

The researchers noted that even small increases in fruit and vegetable consumption lead to visible improvements in skin colour and that this applies across cultures. The effect is probably due to carotenoids and other pigments found in fruit and vegetables.

Everyone knows that eating fruit and vegetables is part of being healthy. Still, for many this knowledge is not enough. Perhaps vanity may succeed as a motivation where health is not enough?

Perhaps it is also time to replace the rose as the symbol of love with something more reflective of true beauty such as a carrot, turnip, or another suitably attractive root crop.