Scientists prove that your five a day make you more attractive – by subtly altering your skin colour

Most of us know that eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day will do us far more good than 20 minutes on a sun bed or two hours basted with factor 10 and sprawled on a Mediterranean beach in high summer. But new research suggests that it will also make us more attractive to the opposite sex. Consequently, it seems far more likely to affect the dietary habits of the young than any amount of hectoring from the Department of Health.

In Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), Lord Henry remarks of Lady Brandon that "She tried to found a salon, and only succeeded in opening a restaurant." The brothers Albert and Michel Roux opened a restaurant, and succeeded in founding a dynasty.

It was in 1967 that Albert and Michel put together their savings, borrowed some money, hoped for the best, and opened Le Gavroche, in Mayfair, London. Le Gavroche – "the urchin" – had great ambitions and they were soon fulfilled; the urchin became a gourmand. In 1974, the Roux brothers were awarded their first Michelin star for their cooking at Le Gavroche. In 1977, they were awarded a second, and in 1982 they were awarded their third. Le Gavroche was the first British restaurant to be so honoured. Michelin stars for the brothers' other restaurant, the Waterside Inn at Bray, in Berkshire, soon followed.

… be slightly overweight, don't exercise too much and stop peeling your fruit and veg. Follow these seven simple steps to better health

Have you woken up in 2011 vowing to cut down on your drinking, eat less and exercise more? All good basic principles, but research published in the past year has suggested that living a healthier lifestyle isn't quite so straightforward – and we needn't be quite so abstemious, either. There are plenty of less obvious, even counterintuitive, ways we can extend our lives and improve our health this year.

These hard-won diet tips are simple: sit firmly on guilt and self-doubt, and set your own limits

Dieting is just like marrying Elizabeth Taylor. Both endeavours are doomed to certain failure, yet everybody embarks on them thinking: "With me, it's going to be different. With me, it's going to work." They are invariably wrong. Liz is still single and I bet you're still fat (or rather, and crucially – since fat is more often than not a state of mind – think of yourself as fat). Statistically, if you have ever dieted you are extremely likely not only to regain any weight you lose, but to go on to gain even more. Dieting makes you fat. (That's a "fat fact", by the way.)