Can You Really Get a ‘Natural Tan’ from Eating Carrots Every Day?

Forget spray tans. The new viral way to get a little color on your skin is to eat a ton of carrots or guzzle carrot juice daily.

Social media users claim this can produce a “natural tan” for your skin. But is changing your skin tone through diet a safe option? We talked to experts about what you should know.

Can Carrots Change Your Skin Tone?

Eating a few carrots daily can impact your skin tone over time. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, which gives them their distinctive orange color, said Beth Czerwony, MS, RD, LD, a registered dietitian with the Cleveland Clinic Center for Human Nutrition.

“For most people, consuming 10-20 milligrams of beta-carotene can cause skin changes, which is equivalent to five medium-sized carrots a day,” Czerwony said. But you’d have to eat that many every day for weeks before you might see changes.

Consuming beta-carotene in excess quantities results in a generally harmless condition called carotenemia, which is defined as yellow-orange skin discoloration. 

It won’t just rub off or fade away after a week, Czerwony added. “It may take several months to go back to the original skin tone.”

How Does Beta-Carotene Affect Your Skin?

“A portion of the beta-carotene we eat undergoes a chemical conversion to retinol in the livers and serves as an important source of vitamin A,” said Eva Rawlings Parker, MD, an Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

“When beta-carotene is ingested in high quantities, the carotenoids accumulate in the bloodstream and are subsequently deposited in the skin, resulting in a yellow-orange discoloration,” she explained. 

Most people who develop orange skin from their diet aren’t trying to do that on purpose, and it mostly impacts children and young adults. 

“Diet-associated carotenemia is technically a sign of beta-carotene toxicity, although it is generally considered a benign condition,” Parker said.  “In adults, it may be mistaken for more serious conditions such as jaundice—yellowing of the skin and eyes due to liver failure.” 

Parker cautioned that if your skin starts turning yellow or orange and you haven’t dramatically upped your beta-carotene intake, you should seek medical help, as it could be a sign of diabetes, hypothyroidism, or high cholesterol.

Can Other Foods Turn Your Skin Orange?

Carrots are not the only foods high in beta-carotene. Some fruits and vegetables containing high levels aren’t even orange, Parker said. Yellow and red fruits and vegetables and leafy greens are all rich in beta-carotene, including:

• Sweet potatoes
• Red bell peppers
• Pumpkin
• Butternut squash
• Cantaloupe
• Mango
• Papaya
• Apricots
• Tomatoes
• Kale
• Spinach
• Broccoli

With its distinctive yellow color, the spice turmeric also contains natural compounds called curcuminoids. If consumed in high quantities, the skin can develop a yellowish cast. But Parker warns that consuming large amounts of turmeric can be dangerous.

“High-dose turmeric consumption is associated with important health risks, including liver toxicity, medication interactions, anemia, white blood cell suppression, and kidney injury,” Parker said. 

What Is the Safest Way to Tan?

Sunbathing to get a tan can cause serious skin damage and increase your risk of developing skin cancer. So, what is the best option if you’re looking to avoid a pale skin tone? 

Whatever you do, avoid the tanning bed, said Parker. “Tanning resulting from exposure to natural or artificial sources of ultraviolet radiation actually represents active damage to the DNA in one’s skin cells, leading to signs of photoaging such as wrinkles and brown spots as well as an increased risk of skin cancer,” she said. 

Instead, Parker recommended sticking with a sunless tanner that contains the ingredient dihydroxyacetone (DHA).  The Food and Drug Administration has approved DHA for use in sunless tanners. It works by reacting with amino acids on the skin’s surface to darken it temporarily.

That said, having tanned skin is not necessary. “As a dermatologist, I empower my patients to embrace their skin tone’s natural aesthetic and recommend they avoid engaging in any tanning behaviors,” Parker said.