TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Fruit and vegetables key to attractive skin: Study
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Researcher Kristine Pezdirc says fruit and vegetables have certain pigments that may be absorbed by the skin if a person consumes a healthy amount of it. (Shutterstock/File)
I
t has long been claimed that eating fruit and vegetables helps attain attractive-looking skin. The claim has come to the fore again in a recent study by Australian researchers.
In mid-May, researchers at University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, published a report on research involving young Australians concerning face attractiveness based on levels of melanin (a dark pigment in the skin and hair) or carotenoid coloration that may occur when one consumes fruit and vegetables, Indian Express reported.
Report author Kristine Pezdirc told Xinhua news agency that participants of the research were given facial images to look at on computer screens. They could adjust the axis of the color and pick an image that they deem to be as “healthy as possible.”
Read also: Food that can help your skin heal more quickly
The participants looked at three different images: image within the melanin axis, carotenoid axis and combination of both axis. “That is where we got the result of seeing that they preferred the carotenoid to the melanin,” said Pezdirc.
The researcher explained that fruit and vegetables had certain pigments that may be absorbed by the skin if a person consumed a healthy amount of it. “If you eat a lot of carrots, or other orange fruits, your skin color can actually change in hue, the carotenoid in the actual pigmentation that changes the skin color when you are eating these fruits and vegetables,” Pezdirc said.
The research is hoped to influence young people to eat more fruit and vegetables. A healthy diet is said to consist of at least five servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit per day. (mas/asw)
