Impact of Lifestyle Factors on Global Skin Carotenoid Levels (Quantified by Non-Invasive Spectroscopy-Based RRS Technology)

Diet is a key lifestyle factor that provides many important nutrients to combat oxidative stress (OS) and promote health. Carotenoids are naturally occurring pigments found in plants and have been linked to various health benefits including reducing the risk of age-related diseases and promoting healthy aging. Advancements in technology have provided a non-invasive method to determine carotenoid antioxidant levels by scanning the skin by spectroscopy measurements to quantitatively estimate and validate the fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC) in individuals from diverse populations. In addition to diet as a lifestyle factor, smoking and increased body weight or high body mass index (BMI > 30) have been shown to reduce the body’s capacity to combat oxidative stress. Intake of nutraceutical supplements have been shown to enhance its defensive function. This report examined data from a global database of approximately 21 million skin scans, providing evidence that these lifestyle factors and smoking had the greatest negative impact in skin carotenoid scores (SCS) (at 19.16 K). Next individuals with an increased BMI (at 23.65 K) who did not smoke had a SCS at 23.65 K. Lastly, individuals that had a normal BMI and did not smoke but had no or low FVC and no nutraceutical supplementation had SCS at 29.74 K. All these negative lifestyle factors had lower SCS compared to the average global skin carotenoid score (at 32.74 K). The present findings confirm and extend previous reports on the important impact lifestyle factors have on skin carotenoid scores.