Can Foods Change the Color of One's Skin, even slightly?

[rashka]

Melanin, Carotene, and hemoglobin are the three pigments that impart a wide variety of colors to skin.

1. The amount of melanin causes the skin's color to vary from pale yellow to reddish-brown to black.

Melanin
Yellow
Reddish brown
Black
In epidermis


2. The red color is due to hemoglobin, the oxygen carrying pigment in red blood cells.

Hemoglobin
Pigment in red blood cells
In dermal blood vessels
Deeper color depends on amount of oxygen
bound to them

3. Carotene is a yellow-orange pigment that gives egg yolk and carrots their color. this precursor of vitamin A which is used to synthesize pigments needed for vision, accumulates in the stratum corneum and fatty areas of the dermis and subcutaneous layer in response to excessive dietary intake.


Carotene
Orange yellow pigment
Carrots, orange/yellow, green leafy veggies
Deposited in the stratum corneum and
subcutaneous tissue(called what?)
Causes skin color changes


Carotenaemia (xanthaemia) is the presence in blood of the orange pigment carotene from excessive intake of carrots or other vegetables containing the pigment resulting in increased serum carotenoids.

Carotenoids are deposited in the intercellular lipids of the stratum corneum, and the color change is most prominent in regions of increased sweating and thickness of this layer. This includes the palms, soles, knees, and nasolabial folds, although the discoloration can be generalized.

Carotenemia is a benign condition most commonly occurring in vegetarians and young children.Carotenemia is more easily appreciated in light-complexioned people, and it may present chiefly as an orange discolouration of the palms and the soles in more darkly pigmented persons.

Foods associated with high levels of carotenoids include:

Alfalfa Apples Apricots Asparagus Beans Beet greens Broccoli Brussels sprouts Butter Cabbage Cantaloupes Carrots Cheese Collard greens Cucumbers Eggs Figs Kale Kiwi Lettuce Mangoes Milk Mustard Oranges
Palm oil Papayas Parsley Peaches Pineapples Plums Pumpkins Seaweed
Spinach Squash Sweet potatoes Tomatoes Yams Yellow corn


Baby's nose has Carotenoderma

[Siginulfo]

So, niggers are black for obvious reasons...

[Odin]