If you didn’t think that fruits and vegetables would ever score a place on your plate, you may be missing out on quite a beneficial part of your diet — and your look.

Two new studies done by researchers at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland analzyed a group of 35 undergraduates and their fruits and vegetable intake. The first test was to determine how their skin would look after three sessions. The undergrads had their first session, before eating any fruits or veggies, a second session three weeks post that, and a third session three weeks after that.

According to the NYTimes:

“On those same three occasions, researchers measured the students’ skin color in terms of lightness, redness and yellowness using a spectrophotometer — a machine designed to do that sort of thing (To be included in the study, students could not have a recently acquired tan from sun, salon or chemical product, and they could not be wearing facial makeup.).”

The fruits and vegetables add to improving the quality of pigmentation imn your skin, making you appear healthier and even, more attractive.

Yet after the initial study researchers weren’t quite sure whether or not people would generally be able to decipher whether or not the additional fruits and veggies actually helped your skin looked healthier, so they tried a second study.

This time, students were told to choose between pairs of faces, to determine which looked better.

“The difference of about 2.9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day was enough for the students to discriminate on the basis of healthy appearance, with more servings associated with looking healthier. Similarly, about 3.3 servings a day was enough for them to discriminate on the basis of attractiveness — with more servings associated with better looks.”

So maybe you might want to consider a re-up on your fruits and veggies, even a small increase just might make you look that much better.

What are some things that you eat that can help improve your skin?