Eat yourself beautiful | Carmen Lefevre | TEDxUniversityofYork
-
0:05 - 0:11First off, I would like to just introduce
attractiveness a little bit to you. -
0:11 - 0:13Especially thinking about
-
0:13 - 0:16why should we even bother
thinking about attractiveness? -
0:16 - 0:21Well, first, psychological research
has shown that people largely agree -
0:21 - 0:25on who is attractive
or who is perhaps, less so. -
0:25 - 0:28So I'm pretty sure
most of you in this room would agree -
0:28 - 0:33that Angelina Jolie is perhaps
somewhat more attractive than Ugly Betty. -
0:34 - 0:39And this perception of attractiveness
even hold universally. -
0:39 - 0:42So even if you went
to a very different culture, -
0:42 - 0:46people would probably still agree
that Angelina Jolie is more attractive. -
0:47 - 0:52In addition to this, work in psychology
over the last two decades or so -
0:52 - 0:56has shown that attractiveness
has advantages -
0:57 - 1:00over and above perhaps getting bought
a drink in a bar on a night out. -
1:02 - 1:05And specifically,
these advantages include things -
1:05 - 1:09like being seen as more honest,
more socially competent, -
1:10 - 1:15more successful, more trustworthy,
friendlier, and even smarter. -
1:16 - 1:21And that last bit is quite important
because even in your career, -
1:21 - 1:23your attractiveness levels matter.
-
1:23 - 1:27And this holds by the way
for men just as much as for women. -
1:27 - 1:30If you are more attractive,
you are more likely to have a good career. -
1:30 - 1:32Being attractive literally pays.
-
1:33 - 1:36And we call this the Halo Effect,
-
1:36 - 1:40which means that simply
because you look a certain way, -
1:40 - 1:43people make all sorts of attributions
about what you're like. -
1:44 - 1:48And while that might seem
a little bit gloomy for some, -
1:49 - 1:51there's actually a flip side to this coin
-
1:51 - 1:55which is: can you make yourself
more attractive? -
1:55 - 1:59I'm not talking about
going and getting plastic surgery, -
1:59 - 2:04or going to a salon and paying
for very expensive beauty treatments. -
2:04 - 2:10I'm talking ... - oh, not about that! -
I'm talking about changing your health. -
2:12 - 2:17With that in mind, I'd like to turn
to the animal kingdom for a moment. -
2:18 - 2:21You can see these beautiful birds on here,
-
2:21 - 2:25and they have something in common
which is that they are all colorful; -
2:25 - 2:30and these colours aren't just there
for us to think of them as beautiful -
2:30 - 2:34But they're actually signals
that they use to attract mates. -
2:34 - 2:36The more colorful these birds are,
-
2:36 - 2:39the more likely they are
to find another bird -
2:39 - 2:41who's willing to mate with them.
-
2:42 - 2:44And this is important
and relevant for humans, -
2:44 - 2:49because the colors in these birds
are not actually something -
2:49 - 2:52they produce from their own biology.
-
2:52 - 2:57This is something they can only produce
following their diet. -
2:57 - 3:01They eat something
that makes them colorful. -
3:01 - 3:05And this something are carotenoids.
-
3:05 - 3:08Carotenoids are little pigments;
they are a group of pigments. -
3:08 - 3:11There's about 500 or 600 different ones.
-
3:11 - 3:13But they have something in common,
-
3:13 - 3:16which is that they are all red,
yellowish, orangey in color, -
3:16 - 3:20and they are contained
in almost all fruit and vegetables. -
3:20 - 3:22Importantly, they are actually contained
-
3:22 - 3:25not only in carrots
that are obviously orange -
3:25 - 3:29but even in fruit and vegetables
that are perhaps less clearly colorful, -
3:29 - 3:32including green vegetables;
-
3:32 - 3:33and fruit, for that matter.
-
3:34 - 3:37And these pigments in the birds
-
3:37 - 3:41signal that these birds are able
-
3:41 - 3:45to go out and look for a healthy diet
-
3:45 - 3:48by foraging through perhaps
the forest or the fields, -
3:48 - 3:51which they couldn't do
if they were in poor health condition. -
3:51 - 3:57So in those birds, being very colorful
suggests to a mate that they are healthy. -
3:58 - 4:00Of course, us humans,
-
4:00 - 4:03don't have to go in to the forest
to get fruit and vegetables, -
4:03 - 4:07we can walk in to the supermarket
and buy any food that we desire. -
4:07 - 4:12Our problem is more, perhaps,
that we'd choose foods we shouldn't eat. -
4:12 - 4:16I'm sure you're all aware
that we are supposed to eat -
4:16 - 4:20about a third of our diet
from fruit and vegetables. -
4:20 - 4:24This is also often referred to
as the five a day: -
4:24 - 4:29you're supposed to at least eat five
portions of fruit and vegetables per day. -
4:30 - 4:33So if eating fruit and vegetables
-
4:33 - 4:36- which have all sorts of health benefits
-
4:36 - 4:38including getting vitamins, getting fiber,
-
4:38 - 4:44and getting a whole range
of relevant products into you body - -
4:44 - 4:50if that is important for birds,
then what about humans? -
4:50 - 4:54Do we perhaps also somehow
signal in our appearance -
4:54 - 5:00the fact that we have eaten
lots of fruit and vegetables? -
5:00 - 5:03So, to recap how this works:
-
5:03 - 5:08the carotenoids that we've consumed
with fruit and vegetables -
5:09 - 5:14work and function in our immune system.
-
5:14 - 5:18So if some nasties, some bugs
enter your system, -
5:18 - 5:21one thing that the immune system
can do is use carotenoids -
5:21 - 5:24that are stored in our system
as antioxidants -
5:24 - 5:30that will then fight these nasties
and cause them to disappear. -
5:31 - 5:35If there are carotenoids
left over, as it were, -
5:35 - 5:37after this immune function has happened,
-
5:37 - 5:41these carotenoids can then
be layered into our skin. -
5:41 - 5:48This happens through a process whereby
carotenoids are entered into the sweat -
5:48 - 5:52which is then of course sweated out
through the sweat glands -
5:52 - 5:55and are literally layered onto our skin.
-
5:55 - 6:02And this layering process causes our skin
to turn somewhat goldenish yellow. -
6:02 - 6:05This is just a representation;
it's not accurate. -
6:05 - 6:07You're not going to turn
exactly that color, -
6:07 - 6:11if you eat more fruit and veg,
but it illustrates the point. -
6:12 - 6:16There's a different scenario
that we could imagine -
6:16 - 6:19whereby again, we have
plenty of carotenoids, -
6:19 - 6:26but this time, there isn't just
four of these nasties but many more; -
6:26 - 6:29which should hopefully appear
on screen in a moment. -
6:29 - 6:30There we go.
-
6:30 - 6:36And in this situation, the majority
of our carotenoids stored -
6:36 - 6:42might be used up to fight these nasties.
-
6:42 - 6:48And then, there's very little leftover
to go into our skin, -
6:49 - 6:54which then causes our skin
-
6:54 - 6:58to turn a lighter color again.
-
6:58 - 7:00This is because the carotenoids
-
7:00 - 7:04that were originally layered
into our skin get rubbed off, -
7:04 - 7:06and our skin of course
rejuvenates all the time. -
7:06 - 7:09So if you don't replenish constantly,
-
7:09 - 7:12then our skin color will change back
-
7:12 - 7:16to a less attractive version of itself.
-
7:17 - 7:21That led us to the interesting question
-
7:21 - 7:27of whether this different skin color
is perhaps found attractive in humans. -
7:27 - 7:32Remember, in birds,
the high-carotenoid coloration -
7:32 - 7:35was something they use to attract mates,
-
7:35 - 7:39which is similar
to attractiveness in humans. -
7:39 - 7:44And given this is a cue of somehow health,
so you have a lot of disease burden, -
7:44 - 7:48you might not be able to create
this lovely skin color, -
7:48 - 7:52this might actually be a cue
of your appearance. -
7:54 - 7:57So, for this, we conducted an experiment.
-
7:58 - 8:02We first measured empirically
-
8:02 - 8:08the axis of color change in skin
associated with carotenoids. -
8:08 - 8:10To do this, we had a group of students
-
8:10 - 8:14that eat a lot of fruit and vegetables
in their regular diet, -
8:14 - 8:16and we measured their skin color;
-
8:16 - 8:18we also had a group of students
-
8:18 - 8:20that didn't eat
very many fruit and vegetables -
8:20 - 8:23- It was more easy to recruit
in that group unsurprisingly - -
8:23 - 8:28and we match these groups
on their sex, on their age, -
8:28 - 8:30and on other lifestyle characteristics
-
8:30 - 8:31so that we could be relatively certain
-
8:31 - 8:35that the only consistent difference
between these groups -
8:35 - 8:37was their fruit and vegetable consumption.
-
8:37 - 8:41After we measured
each individual's skin color, -
8:41 - 8:44we averaged this skin colors,
and could then calculate -
8:44 - 8:49the difference between the color
of the high carotenoid intake group -
8:49 - 8:50and the low carotenoid intake group.
-
8:50 - 8:54We could derive this kind of color axis.
-
8:54 - 8:59This allows us to take a photograph
of anybody, for example this girl, -
8:59 - 9:01or anybody in this room,
-
9:01 - 9:05and we are then able
to transform this image -
9:05 - 9:12to become either higher
or lower in carotenoid color. -
9:13 - 9:18We then asked people, in an experiment
-
9:18 - 9:20which color they think is more attractive.
-
9:20 - 9:25So let's try this here:
you see the two versions of her face. -
9:25 - 9:28Who thinks the girl on the left
is more attractive? -
9:30 - 9:32One … not many, good.
-
9:32 - 9:35Who thinks the girl on the right
is more attractive? -
9:36 - 9:38That's a vast majority,
-
9:39 - 9:42and this is consistent
with what we found in our experiments -
9:43 - 9:46where of course we wouldn't present
people with only this one girl -
9:46 - 9:50but with a large range of faces
that we have manipulated in this way. -
9:50 - 9:55We find that in fact,
nine out of ten people approximately -
9:55 - 10:00chose the higher carotenoid version
of faces as more attractive. -
10:00 - 10:02So this is a really good indication
-
10:02 - 10:07that there is something about this color
that makes people more attractive. -
10:07 - 10:12We also looked at other cultures
-
10:13 - 10:17and found that in Asian
and African cultures the same holds: -
10:17 - 10:21people who had
a more carotenoid-linked skin color -
10:21 - 10:23were seen as more attractive.
-
10:25 - 10:29And even some people were still
arguing back at us and saying, -
10:29 - 10:31"Oh, this is just about sun-tanning."
-
10:31 - 10:35We all like a suntan, so you all know
you like to go out in the sun, -
10:35 - 10:37you like to go to the beach,
-
10:37 - 10:44and it leads to of course a somewhat sort
of brownish yellowish color on your skin. -
10:44 - 10:47This color is caused
by a pigment called melanin, -
10:47 - 10:49which is activated by UV rays
-
10:49 - 10:53and it's meant to protect your skin
to some degree from a sunburn. -
10:54 - 10:57A lot of research in the past has shown
-
10:57 - 11:01that a suntan is thought of as attractive
at least in our societies. -
11:01 - 11:05People argued with us, that perhaps,
-
11:05 - 11:09what is going on is
that carotenoid coloration -
11:09 - 11:13looks somewhat similar to a suntan;
it's also a little bit yellow, -
11:13 - 11:15so perhaps people like a tan.
-
11:15 - 11:17And because they like a tan,
-
11:17 - 11:20they also like this color
which looks somewhat similar. -
11:20 - 11:22So we investigated this question.
-
11:22 - 11:27We investigated it by asking people
-
11:27 - 11:29which face they prefer
-
11:30 - 11:34out of a high carotenoid face
and a high suntanned face. -
11:35 - 11:39So we manipulated the tan in the same way
I showed you before for the carotenoids. -
11:39 - 11:45And now, let's do this again: who thinks
the face on the left is more attractive? -
11:48 - 11:51OK, and who thinks the face
on the right is more attractive? -
11:52 - 11:53Fewer. Interesting.
-
11:54 - 11:56Right, I'm sure you all now want to know
-
11:56 - 12:00which of these is the tan
and which of these is the carotenoids. -
12:00 - 12:06Well, this one if the carotenoid face;
and the majority of you prefer this face. -
12:06 - 12:10We find the same pattern
of results in our research -
12:10 - 12:15with eight out of ten people on average
-
12:15 - 12:18preferring the carotenoid face
over a suntan. -
12:18 - 12:21That really means
that there's something specific -
12:21 - 12:23about this color that people like,
-
12:23 - 12:26even when we compare it to another color
-
12:26 - 12:30which is normally liked
by people in this culture. -
12:30 - 12:32This also might actually mean
-
12:32 - 12:35that the reason or part
of the reason we like a tan -
12:35 - 12:40is because it mimics to some degree
this healthy color of carotenoids. -
12:42 - 12:47We've seen that eating
fruit and vegetables -
12:47 - 12:50makes your skin change color,
-
12:50 - 12:53and that this new color
is seen as attractive. -
12:53 - 12:58But remember, at the start, I told you
attractiveness isn't the end of the story, -
12:58 - 13:03but other traits such as being perceived
as more trustworthy or smarter -
13:03 - 13:06are also associated with attractive faces.
-
13:07 - 13:10So we were interested to assess
whether these traits -
13:10 - 13:15might also be associated
with a carotenoid skin color. -
13:15 - 13:17We've conducted two studies to date:
-
13:17 - 13:20we once looked
at trustworthiness judgments, -
13:20 - 13:23and we also looked
at leadership judgments, -
13:23 - 13:26so how good a leader
people thought a person was. -
13:26 - 13:32And in both cases, we found that having
a high carotenoid coloration in your skin -
13:32 - 13:35influenced these judgments
quite dramatically. -
13:35 - 13:39People really thought the people
with the healthy carotenoid coloration -
13:39 - 13:42were more trustworthy
and would be much better leaders. -
13:44 - 13:48So that should give you
some food for thought hopefully. -
13:48 - 13:49But to finish off,
-
13:49 - 13:52there is one important question
to answer, isn't there? -
13:52 - 13:55How much do you actually need
to eat of the stuff? -
13:55 - 13:58Do you need to eat
25 carrots every day to get this effect -
13:58 - 14:00which might be rather unmanageable?
-
14:00 - 14:04Well, colleagues
at the University of St. Andrews -
14:04 - 14:06have conducted a study into this
-
14:06 - 14:09and found that actually eating
only two more portions a day, -
14:09 - 14:14this might be for example eating an apple
and drinking a glass of orange juice, -
14:14 - 14:18or eating a portion
of vegetables twice a day, -
14:18 - 14:21is enough to change
your skin color within six weeks -
14:21 - 14:23to be perceived as more attractive.
-
14:24 - 14:28the difficulty is though,
as you might recall, -
14:28 - 14:31that if you don't keep it up,
your skin color will go back down. -
14:31 - 14:34So really what this means
is you have to eat -
14:35 - 14:37more fruit and veg
for the rest of your life. -
14:37 - 14:38Thank you very much.
-
14:38 - 14:40(Applause)
- Title:
- Eat yourself beautiful | Carmen Lefevre | TEDxUniversityofYork
- Description:
-
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
In the modern world we are obsessed with our appearance. While many take radical steps to resemble a beauty ideal, in this talk I will explore the power of eating fruit and vegetables to improve appearance. Fruit and vegetable consumption can give skin a healthy glow, which in turn boosts attractiveness, irrespective of cultural or ethnic background.
Carmen is a psychologist with research interests centring on appearance and perceptions of other’s appearance. After completing her PhD at the University of St Andrews in 2013 she has held research positions at the University of York and University of Leeds before moving to her current position at Northumbria University.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 14:42
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for Eat yourself beautiful | Carmen Lefevre | TEDxUniversityofYork | ||
Riaki Ponist commented on English subtitles for Eat yourself beautiful | Carmen Lefevre | TEDxUniversityofYork | ||
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Denise RQ edited English subtitles for Eat yourself beautiful | Carmen Lefevre | TEDxUniversityofYork | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for Eat yourself beautiful | Carmen Lefevre | TEDxUniversityofYork | ||
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Denise RQ edited English subtitles for Eat yourself beautiful | Carmen Lefevre | TEDxUniversityofYork |
Riaki Ponist
0:05
First of,
=>
First off,