Want an instant sun tan without the sun damage? Want to get a healthy glow that’s noticable to others without being obvious?

Then eat your caratenoids.

WHAT??

Caratenoids are the yellow, orange and red pigments in fruits and vegetables that not only make them beautiful to look at, but evidently make you beautiful also after you consume them. They also protect the skin from sun damage just like they protect the plant in hot sun as well.  They have anti-aging effects and help delay sun burning. Carotenoids are a group of 600 antioxidants including alpha-carotene, beta-carotene,lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin, and astaxanthin.

According to a study that compared the above photos, the yellow-tinged skinned photos were rated more attractive and healthy-looking. This look can be achieved by eating fruits and vegetables rich in those substances. Evidently caratenoids are what make stunning colors in exotic birds as well and attract their mates to them.

This is what the study had to say:

““Professor David Perrett, who heads the Perception Lab, said: ‘This is something we share with many other species. For example, the bright yellow beaks and feathers of many birds can be thought of as adverts showing how healthy a male bird is. What’s more, females of these species prefer to mate withbrighter, more coloured males. But this is the first study in which this has been demonstrated in humans.’”

http://donmatesz.blogspot.com/2011/01/study-people-prefer-carotene-complexion.html

And fish as well:

“Brightly colored carotenoid-based ornaments are displayed by many bird and fish species, the size and brightness of which reflect aspects of health and condition. Male greenfinches with brighter yellow breast feathers showed stronger humoral immune responses to a novel antigen (Saks et al. 2003). Male and female yellow-eyed penguins with more saturated yellow eye ornamentation produced more offspring per season (Massaro et al. 2003). Researchers have demonstrated mate choice based on the brightness of carotenoid ornaments in greenfinches (Eley 1991), yellow-eyed penguins (Massaro et al. 2003), and goldfinches (MacDougall and Montgomerie 2003).”

In fact, it even affects fertility.

““Carotenoid supplementation is associated with improved development of the immune system in human children (Alexander et al. 1985), whereas individuals infected with HIV and malaria have reduced carotenoid levels (Friis et al. 2001). Carotenoid levels may also affect spermatogenesis in boars (Chew 1993), and women who failed to conceive during in vitro fertilization had unusually fluctuating carotenoid levels in their follicular fluid (Schweigert et al. 2003).”

Where do the birds and fish get their caratenoids? Algae, plankton and green leaves as well as fruit.

And it doesn’t matter what race one was either.

So if you are a parent trying to get your teenager to eat healthier and it’s not going so well, then appeal to vanity. Show them these photos and let them know that they won’t get this look from burgers and fries or ice cream sundaes and candy bars. Nope, leafy greens, tomatoes, and yellow fruits and veggies are where one gets this golden glow.

Mangoes, carrots, broccoli, spinach, sweet potatoes, cabbage, leafy green lettuce, tomatoes, red and orange peppers, pumpkin…you get the idea. Eat up and get your glow on.

These foods also help vision and promote healthy eyes as well are correlated with increased longevity. The famed long-lived Okinawans are known for consuming sweet potatoes or “Imo” regularly as well as growing their own vegetable gardens.

While beta-carotene is a precursor to Vitamin A, which is a fat-soluble vitamin as is Vitamin D, leafy greens come with their own Omega 3’s for absorption and nuts and seeds provide plenty of Omega 6’s.

Think NUTRIENT DENSE when making your food selections and not just taste. These foods are delicious in and of themselves so if one is not gravitating toward these gorgeous foods, perhaps a juice feast would be in order to cleanse the palate and give an infusion of much needed phyto nutrients and anti-oxidants.

It will boost your immune system as well as your looks.