Dull skin? Eat carrots and plums!

We all want clear skin, of course, but that’s not where our skincare wishes to end. For many of us, we’re also craving that dewy, glowy look.

The color and glow of our skin depend on a few things — our melanin content (Our skin type, the tone of our skin), our hemoglobin content (The amount of hemoglobin we have can cause things like rosacea), and also our carotene content.

What’s carotene, exactly? It’s a compound found in vegetables like carrots, apricots, oranges, mangoes, and spinach! A few studies have shown that eating fruits and veggies that contain carotene can give our skin that coveted glow so many of us are looking for.

In one study about how carotene affects the skin, participants were shown two versions of different faces: One that simulated skin color with high carotenoid content and the second that simulated skin with a tan. The response analysis showed that pictures with simulated high carotene content seemed more attractive (86%) to the opposite sex than images that simulated tan (78%). Pretty interesting, right?

It seems that adding two small portions a day of carotene-rich vegetables or fruits to your is enough — the effects on your skin glow are expected in less than two months. However, while veggies are super good for you, make sure you don’t switch your diet to be ALL carrots and other carotene-rich veggies — eating too much can give your palms a yellowish/orange tint (If you do have this tint, don’t freak out — it’s normal and harmless!).

Carotene has other benefits for your skin, too — it absorbs ultraviolet light and scatters orange or red light (Free sun protection!). In addition, some of your ingested carotenes will be transformed into retinol, a compound that helps the skin renew and helps with clogged pores. You can find the highest amounts of carotene in Carrots, leafy greens, sweet potatoes, squash, cantaloupe, broccoli, bell peppers, and apricots.

Wanna see the original study? Here it is.

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