What Pigment Found in Skin Originates from Outside the Body

An excess of certain vegetable in your diet may add an orange hue to your skin tone. This condition is reversible and is most common in light-skinned people. It is often mistaken for jaundice, but its technical name is carotenosis.

Carotenosis is the presence of the orange pigment carotene in the blood from the excessive intake of vegetables like carrots. These vegetables contain the pigment resulting in increased serum carotenoids. Carotenoids are compounds which include alpha-carotene and beta-carotene.

Who Gets It

Serum levels of carotenoids vary between sex, ethnicity, and region in the healthy population. All are absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and are then metabolized in the intestine to the liver to vitamin A. Eventually it finds its way in blood plasma, then into the skin tissues. Your body eliminates carotenoids by natural body functions. Carotenoids contribute to normal skin tones, but when levels are high, create an abnormal color to the outer layer of skin.

Vegetarians and young children are most likely to develop Carotenosis. It is more easily recognized in light-complexioned people but may present an orange discoloration of the soles and palms in more darkly pigmented persons. Carotenosis does not promote orange discoloration of certain membranes like the whites of the eyes, making it easy to distinguish from the tell-tale yellow color of jaundice.

Carotenosis can be deliberately caused by beta-carotenoid treatments for certain photo-sensitive dermatitis disorders. It is prescribed in quantities which discolor the skin in these cases. Clinical studies have found high doses of beta-carotene to be harmless; however, it is aesthetically displeasing to may who attain it.

How to Get Rid of Carotenosis

The best way to rid yourself of carotenosis is to avoid foods that are rich in carotene and Vitamin A. When foods rich in these two components are consumed in excess, it leads to carotenosis, a condition in which the skin appears orange or yellowish. Avoiding these foods will allow the skin tone to fade in few days and is better than medicine intake.