According to a new study, attractive people are also those who have a good immune system. Conversely, less attractiveness would be linked to weaker immune defences.
- Unbalanced diet, poor quality sleep, age or even stress are factors that can weaken the immune system.
- However, it is possible to strengthen your immune defenses by favoring a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.
Beauty is not just in the eye of the beholder. According to a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society Bit is also linked to the… immune system!
This is the conclusion reached in any case by the authors of the work, attached to Texas Christian University, in the United States. By looking at the link between physical attraction and physical health, they realized that people with an effective immune system to fight infections were also those who were considered to be the most attractive.
A more efficient immune system
To reach this astonishing conclusion, the scientists recruited 159 male and female students, whom they submitted to blood tests and whose faces they photographed. Participants were required to have a “neutral facial expression” and women were not to wear makeup.
Next, 492 different volunteers were asked to rate the facial attractiveness of the participants based on the photos. The researchers collected their ratings and matched them with the blood test results.
Verdict: Traits traditionally linked to attractiveness — a symmetrical face, fair skin, high cheekbones, bright eyes and red lips — may be signs the body is better at fighting infections, study finds blood tests. Indeed, the blood of participants deemed more attractive had higher rates of phagocytosis, “the process by which specific white blood cells ingest foreign particles like bacteria,” and “lower plasma bacterial growth, indicating that attraction may be related to antibacterial immunity”details the study.
A brain programmed to seek healthy partners
According to the authors of this study, if people are attracted to attractive people, it is not only because of their appearance, but also because the brain is “programmed” to seek healthy partners. As well, “perceptions of attractiveness may play a larger role in guiding mate choice with well-functioning immune systems”.
However, points out Summer Mengelkoch, who led the study, people who consider themselves less attractive still have a chance of seducing. “Thanks to modern medicine, infections aren’t as deadly as they used to be, so people might be lowering their standards, and starting to give less attractive people a chance.”
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