Consume too many carrots or drink too much juice and your skin, mostly the hands, will turn yellowish-orange. There are two possible reasons why your skin is turns orange. Either your body is unable to process all the carotene properly in the carrot juice you are drinking, or your liver is toxic. Either way, the colour shows up in your skin.
If you are having difficulty-processing carotene:
You may be drinking too much carrot juice at once. Your body can't really assimilate more than 8-10 oz. of carrot juice at one time (taken on an empty stomach). So if you're drinking a bigger glass than that, you could be causing your own problem. Instead, try drinking no more than 8 oz. at a time. If you're trying to add extra carrot juice to your diet (possibly because you're fighting cancer and want the extra antioxidants), then drink 8 oz. of carrot juice and wait at least an hour before ingesting more. Your body can handle it at this rate and you shouldn't then be getting discoloured skin.
Carotenemia is the medical term for increased blood levels of the pigment carotene. Do not be fooled this is not a sign of good health. It signals excessive intake of carotene. This yellow-orange skin hue is a telltale sign of a beta-carotene overdose from this hefty carrot/juice consumption. Beta-carotene, along with other plant pigments generally called carotenes, found in carrots and other colourful vegetables and fruits, are a boost to your health - but like everything in life, only in moderation.
Like many foods eaten in excess, carrots can produce unhealthy results too. Carotene, the pigment that gives carrots and other yellow fruits and vegetables their colour, can cause jaundice when consumed in excessive quantities. Some people who have imbibed large quantities of carrot juice in a relatively short time developed a yellow hue to their skin.
03:34 Mon 28th Aug 2006