Question
Can eating carrots turn your skin orange?
Answer
Yes.
Explanation
Carotenemia or carotenosis is the orange or yellow discolouration of the skin, caused by a dietary excess of carotenoids. It is not to be confused with jaundice.
Any pigmented vegetables, fruit, as well as yellow corn, supply carotene in the diet. There is no sufficient data as to the quantity of carotene-containing foods one would have to consume to develop carotenemia, and not every person reacts in the same way.
Foods with the highest carotene contents.
| Vegetable | Contents |
|---|---|
| Sweet potatoes | 105-287% of RDA for 1 cup, depending on preparation |
| Pumpkin | 157% of RDA for 1 cup, canned |
| Carrots | 120% of RDA for 1 cup, sliced |
| Spinach | 105% of RDA for 1 cup, cooked |
| Kale | 98% of RDA for 1 cup, chopped |
| RDA = Recommended Daily Allowance (daily minimum intake level to meet the requirements of 97.5% of healthy individuals, roughly equivalent to the UK & EU's RNI) |
Other foods high in (alpha and beta) carotene, due to their concentrated contents, are babyfood and vegetable juices.
Sources
Lascari, A.D., Carotenemia: A Review (Clinical Pediatrics, January 1981)
United States Department of Agriculture, USDA Food Composition Databases [website], 2018, https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/, (accessed 9 March 2019)