Eating too much of certain foods may not be good for you. In some cases, such a habit could result in a physical transformation: The rumored phenomenon of your skin turning yellow-orange after eating too many orange-tinted foods, like carrots, is indeed true.
The condition is called carotenemia — and when you’re talking about just the skin, it’s known as carotenoderma.
“It’s caused by eating foods rich in beta carotene such as carrots or sweet potatoes and squash, though even foods that don’t look orange such as spinach or kale, all of which are popular in baby foods today,” are capable of tinting skin with a yellow-orange color, explains Dr. Albert Yan, a pediatric dermatologist and section chief of dermatology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “It’s aggravated by pureeing the foods which increases absorption of the nutrients, so it’s a common but benign occurrence in babies who eat pureed foods.”
Carrots and sweet potatoes are usually some of the first vegetables introduced to babies, according to Deborah Krivitsky, the director of nutrition at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Center. It’s a problem that usually affects infants when they start eating solids like these, she explains, but can also happen in adults who eat too much food packed with high beta carotene.
“Your skin actually turns yellow due to large amounts of vitamin A,” she says. “There are many steps in the breakdown of carotenoids to vitamin A to further breakdown and excretion. Each step in the pathway is tightly regulated. Any misstep in the process can result in the buildup of carotenoids, and yellow skin.”
She explains that if you eat too much of these foods, not all the pigment is processed correctly — leading to the change in skin hue. “The most common sites are the palms of your hands, the soles of feet and the nose.”
“Luckily, within a few weeks of removing the offending foods, the condition is harmless and clears up,” she says. “The condition is harmless.” Yan adds that in rare instances it could be a sign of an underlying metabolic disorder.
All told, make sure you’re varying the color of the fruits and vegetables, Krivitsky says. Besides earning the maximum health benefits, this will also keep your color in check.
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Yes, Too Many Carrots Could Turn Your Skin Yellow-Orange originally appeared on usnews.com
