Carrots pack some incredible health benefits. They’re great for your eye health and immune system and can help reduce inflammation thanks to their richness in beta carotene and vitamin A. And the crunchy vegetable, because of its carotenoids, may help improve your skin health.
While it’s known that carrots can help you achieve a radiant glow, can it actually affect the pigment of your skin? You may have heard that too many carrots can cause your skin to appear orange, but according to this recent TikTok trend, there’s a “just right” amount that allegedly can help you appear tan all year long.
“Just eat three large carrots a day, I’ve been doing this for years,” TikTok influencer Isabelle Lux said in a video that’s been circulating the app for months. “I don’t fake tan anymore, I don’t go out during the day in the sunlight and this is my natural skin color: pale and pink … Trust me.”
So what is it about carrots that can impact your skin’s pigmentation? And how many carrots a day is too much? Here’s what you need to know.
Does Eating Carrots Make You Tan?
Will eating carrots every day make you tan? The short answer is yes, but the number of carrots to consume may be much larger than you’d expect.
The condition of carotenemia has been studied for over a century. Carotenemia is a medical term describing the yellow-orange pigment in the skin that’s present when there are high levels of carotene in the body. In a recent book on carotenemia—fittingly titled Carotenemia by Yasser Al Nasser, Zohaib Jamal and Mohammed Albugeaey—published by the National Library of Medicine, the condition is described as benign and is typically mistaken for jaundice.
This 2023 book shows that regularly consuming 30 milligrams of beta carotene a day will cause your skin’s pigment to change. How many carrots does that equate to? With about 6 milligrams of beta carotene found in one large carrot, you’d have to consume at least five large carrots in your daily eating pattern for a noticeable difference.
“While there don’t appear to be negative health impacts from consuming high levels of beta carotene from food, you’ll want to make sure that eating a large amount of carrots doesn’t displace other nutritious veggies,” dietitian Emily Lachtrupp, M.S., RD, said, citing the National Institutes of Health. “Aiming to eat a variety of produce is helpful to get a wider array of nutrients.”
The Bottom Line
Eating TikTok’s recommended three carrots a day could help improve the health of your skin. However, a carrot tan is clearly hard to accomplish. It doesn’t hurt to add more carrots to your eating pattern for their healthy benefits, but be sure to talk to your doctor before considering a high-dose supplement form of beta-carotene.