Researchers Suggest “Vanity” Could Hold Key to Encouraging People to Eat More Fruit & Veg

08 Mar 2012 --- The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, claims that eating more fruit and vegetables can give your skin a noticeable "golden glow" within weeks. The researchers suggest that focusing on the ways that fruit and veg boost attractiveness could motivate more people to have a healthier diet.

March 8 2012 --- Researchers from St Andrews University have suggested that appealing to people’s vanity might be a more successful strategy to encourage people to eat more fruit and veg, than focusing on health benefits.

The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, claims that eating more fruit and vegetables can give your skin a noticeable "golden glow" within weeks.

The researchers suggest that focusing on the ways that fruit and veg boost attractiveness could motivate more people to have a healthier diet.

Researchers looked at the impact of the orangey-red carotenoid pigments found in fruit and vegetables on skin tone.

The results showed that two extra portions of fruit and vegetables every day created a change in skin color within six weeks.

Scientists from the University of St Andrews who carried out the research said it supports NHS guidelines to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables every day.

The researchers added that 75% of people in the UK do not eat the recommended daily amount, but they hope their findings will appeal to the nation's vanity and offer a better incentive for people to take up a healthier diet.

Researcher Ross Whitehead said: "Most of us know we should eat plenty of fruit and veg, yet we are not sufficiently motivated to actually go ahead and eat a healthy diet. Government strategies aimed at improving diet typically only offer information about why a healthy diet is good for us. These strategies have, so far, had no real impact on the nation's eating habits.

"We hope that highlighting the rapidly achievable benefits of a healthy diet on our attractiveness will be a stronger incentive for people to eat more healthily. Knowing you are going to look more attractive in a few weeks may be more persuasive than the promise of health benefits later in life."

Scientists tracked 35 students over a six-week period, measuring natural changes in their diet and skin color. The individuals who improved their diet over the study period showed an increase in the desired golden skin tone, while the color reduced in those whose diet had slipped.

Mr Whitehead added: "People who eat more fruit and vegetables have a 'golden' skin tone that looks healthy and attractive. Our latest research finds that even small improvements in diet produces visible benefits to skin color. We were very surprised by how quick the changes were."

Source: The results are published in the paper Appealing to Vanity: Could Potential Appearance Improvement Motivate Fruit and Vegetable Consumption? in the American Journal of Public Health.

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