If you eat too many carrots will you turn orange?

Dear Cecil: Is it true that by eating almost nothing but carrots and drinking carrot juice you can turn orangish in color? Is there a medical name for this? Tom B., Chicago

Cecil replies:

Yup. “Carotene” is the red or yellow hydrocarbon pigment that gives carrots their characteristic cheery color, and also helps to brighten up egg yolks, sweet potatoes, and a variety of leafy vegetables. Intemperate carrot consumption will make the carotene build up in your bloodstream. Before you know it, your skin will take on a sickly yellow pallor, a grisly condition that superficially resembles jaundice. You’ve got carotenosis, you poor sap, and good luck to you. Fatal cases are rare, if that’s any comfort: a London woman died from the disease in 1972, but she had to work at it.

Cecil Adams

Send questions to Cecil via cecil@straightdope.com.