Higher levels of fruit and vegetable consumption can lead to a healthier, rosier and more attractive complexion, website Nutraingredients.com reported.

St Andrew's University scientists, led by Professor David Perrett, monitored 35 individuals' diets over six weeks and found increased intakes of fruit and vegetables boosted the redness and yellowness of participants skin tone.

The researchers said that these changes in complexion also correlated with increased levels of attractiveness.

"Such coloration is held to contribute beneficially to the appearance in human faces as is the case with skin yellowness," the scientists were quoted as saying.

Carotenoids are yellow-red phytochemicals that are abundant in fruit and vegetables and give them their color.

The pigments have been suggested to be beneficial by offering protection against oxidative stress that could contribute to age-related degenerative processes, such as cardiovascular disease and possibly some cancers.

"As antioxidants, carotenoids are important for skin health, serving a protective role by virtue of their relatively high levels of concentration in all layers of this organ," said Perrett and his team.

He added that carotenoids presence in the skin also reduced levels of sensitivity to ultraviolet light.

The U.K. Economic and Social Research Council and Unilever Research and Development U.S. supported the research.

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