This Diet Could Make You Look Hotter and Smell Better. Here’s How It Works. - VICE

Vegans. You either love them or you want to run as soon as they start talking. Science just gave them one more thing to be smug about—and this time, it’s actually kind of hard to argue with.

A study published in Recent Progress in Nutrition by researchers at the University of Helsinki and the University of British Columbia found that eating more plants can change how attractive people seem in a few very literal ways: skin, body odor, and body composition.

The researchers were hoping this might actually motivate people to eat better. People don’t change their diets in hopes of a health benefit they’ll see 20 years from now. But they will change if they’re told they could look hotter immediately. 

Carotenoids are the yellow, orange, and red pigments in foods like carrots, bell peppers, mangoes, and cantaloupe. With regular intake, some of that pigment ends up in the skin and gives it a warmer tone. In one experiment, participants chose carotenoid-enhanced faces over more tanned-looking faces in nearly 76% of trials.

Another randomized trial found that adding around three daily portions of fruits and vegetables improved attractiveness ratings within weeks. Vegans also had 56% higher plasma carotenoid levels than omnivores, with nearly twice as much beta-carotene.

This is where it gets a little stranger. In one controlled study, men ate either a meat or non-meat diet for two weeks, then women rated the smell of their sweat. The non-meat version smelled better: more pleasant, more attractive, and less intense. Another study found that people who ate more fruits and vegetables had sweat that smelled more floral and fruity. People who ate less of them were described as smelling more meaty or animal-like. 

Garlic also did better than you’d expect. In larger amounts, it was associated with more attractive-smelling sweat, possibly because its antibacterial properties can reduce some of the bacteria responsible for body odor.

A 2025 systematic review also found lower BMIs and greater fat loss among people eating plant-based diets compared with omnivores. That finding comes with an important asterisk: body size and attractiveness are not the same thing.

It also notes that looking healthier and actually being healthier are not always the same thing. Carotenoids can change how healthy someone appears without necessarily changing every measure of health underneath.

Cheeseburgers don’t have to be the enemy here. But if vanity is what finally gets someone to eat a carrot, science seems willing to take the win.