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Describing their findings in the journal, Evolution and Human Behavior, the team of researchers prove that eating plenty of fruit and vegetables is by far the most effective way to achieve a healthy, golden glow.
《進化與人類行為》雜志刊登了一項新發現，英國的一個研究小組證明：多吃水果蔬菜最能使你身體健康、容光煥發。
“Most people in the West think that the best way to improve your skin colour is to get a suntan,” said Dr Ian Stephen, lead researcher on the project and an ESRC post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Bristol, “but our research shows that eating lots of fruit and vegetables is actually more effective.”
“多數西方人認為要想改善自己的膚色，最好的辦法是進行日光浴，但我們研究的結果是，多吃水果蔬菜實際上更為有效。”該研究首席研究員伊恩•史蒂芬對外界表示。史蒂芬現在是英國經濟社會委員會派駐布里斯托爾大學實驗心理學系的博士后。
The team, working at the Perception Lab at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, first assessed the skin colour of people in relation to their diet. Those who ate more portions of fruit and vegetables a day were found to have a more golden, yellow skin colour. Further analyses using a scientific instrument called a spectrophotometer measured the way that light in different parts of the spectrum is absorbed by the skin, revealing that those with a healthy glow had a higher presence of carotenoids, which are yellow and red antioxidants thought to play a role in the immune system and fertility. Carotenoids are commonly found in fruit and vegetables such as yellow and red peppers, spinach, apricots and melons.
在蘇格蘭的圣安德魯斯大學Perception實驗室，這個研究小組首次評估了飲食對人們膚色的影響。那些每天進食大量水果蔬菜的人，膚色呈現出更多的金黃色。然后研究人員采用一種科學儀器——分光計，測量了皮膚對光譜中不同光的吸收方式。結果發現，有健康光澤皮膚的人其體內類胡蘿卜素含量較高。類胡蘿卜素是一種紅色或黃色的抗氧化物，在人體的免疫系統和生殖系統中發揮著重要作用。在紅色或黃色的辣椒、菠菜、杏、瓜等果蔬中類胡蘿卜素含量較高。
In the second part of the study, the team used specialist computer software to manipulate the skin colour on the images of 51 faces to simulate more and less carotenoids and more and less suntan. Participants were then asked to adjust the skin colour to make the faces look as healthy as possible. Given the choice between skin colour enhanced by suntan and skin colour enhanced by carotenoids, participants preferred the carotenoid skin colour.
該項研究的第二部分是，研究小組人員使用專業的電腦軟件，將51張人臉圖片的膚色處理模擬成濃淡不同的類胡蘿卜素顏色或日光照射形成的膚色，然后要求參與者對圖片上人的膚色進行調整，使其看起來更健康。讓其選擇日光色和類胡蘿卜素所致膚色的顏色時，參與者更喜歡類胡蘿卜素所致膚色。
“Our study shows that not only do people use colour cues to judge how healthy other individuals are, but they are accurate when they make those judgements,” said Prof Perrett, who heads the Perception Lab. “This is important because evolution would favour individuals who choose to form alliances or mate with healthier individuals over unhealthy individuals.”
Perception實驗室負責人波賴特教授說：“我們的研究表明，人們習慣于通過膚色來判斷一個人的健康狀況，這種判斷還是比較準確的。這一點非常重要，因為在進化過程中，那些選擇健康的同類結為群體或作為配偶的生物個體更受大自然的恩寵。”
The study is the first to reveal such striking similarities between humans and 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. Females of these species prefer to mate with more brightly coloured males. This bright colouration in birds is caused by the same antioxidant carotenoids that drive the effect in humans.
這項研究第一次揭示了人與許多其他物種之間在膚色方面的驚人相似之處。比如，鮮黃的羽毛和嘴，往往是許多雄性鳥類強健的標志，這些鳥類的雌性更愿選擇顏色更加鮮艷的雄鳥作為配偶。這種鮮艷的顏色，與人的膚色形成基理一致，同樣是由抗氧化物類胡蘿卜素形成的。
“The bright yellow ornaments of birds demonstrate that the bearer has such a strong immune system and healthy reproductive system that he has plenty of these valuable antioxidant carotenoids left over to use in ornaments to advertise himself to females,” said Dr Stephen. “Our work suggests that the carotenoid colouration of human skin may represent a similar advertisement of health and fertility.”
“外表的鮮黃表明這只鳥的免疫力和繁殖力非常強，有足夠的類胡蘿卜素用于體表，以吸引異性，我們的研究表明，人體皮膚的類胡蘿卜素顏色同樣也是身體強健和繁殖力旺盛的標志。”史蒂芬教授說。
While this study describes work in Caucasian faces, the paper also describes a study that suggests this phenomenon may exist across cultures, since similar preferences for skin yellowness were found in an African population.
該研究是以白人作為實驗對象的。報告說，研究結果可能也適合其他人種，因為在非洲人中也有類似的偏好黃色的傾向。
