Carrot juice is a non-toxic natural beverage and is one of our primary dietary sources of vitamin A. Drinking excessive amounts of carrot juice may turn your skin orange-yellow, a warning sign that you are ingesting too much vitamin A, but carrot juice is otherwise safe. However, if you are taking excessive amounts of vitamin A in pill or gel cap form, or eating too many foods that contain large amounts of vitamin A, you can develop a rare, potentially fatal illness called chronic hypervitaminosis A, and you will then have to reduce the amount of vitamin A you are ingesting from all sources, including carrot juice.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A was discovered by scientists Elmer McCollum and Marguerite Davis in 1913 at the University of Wisconsin. Vitamin A, also known as retinol, is needed for healthy vision, especially at night, and also keeps your skin, teeth, skeletal and soft tissue and mucus membranes healthy. Vitamin A is the largest nutritional component of carrot juice.
Vitamin A Foods
A half cup of carrot juice provides 450 percent of your body's daily requirement of vitamin A, according to the U.S. Office of Dietary Supplements. Other foods that offer high levels of vitamin A include spinach, kale, cantaloupe and beef and chicken livers. Vitamin A can also be ingested as a separate dietary supplement through vitamin A tablets and gel caps and multivitamin tablets.
Hypervitaminosis A History
The first case of chronic hypervitaminosis A was documented in 1944. During the next 70 years, physicians continued to encounter chronic hypervitaminosis A patients, who mistakenly thought taking excessive amounts of vitamin A supplements would benefit their health in general or cure their cancer symptoms or who were unknowingly eating a diet that contained too much vitamin A.
Hypervitaminosis A Symptoms
An essay by PubMed Health, "Hypervitaminosis A," offers a checklist of symptoms: a yellowish-orange skin coloring called xanthosis, blurred vision, dizziness, drowsiness, headache, liver damage, skin and hair deterioration and nausea. While chronic hypervitaminosis A can be fatal, most patients make a complete recovery if their vitamin A intake is reduced under a physician's supervision.
Carrot Juice Non-Toxic
Drinking carrot juice is not toxic. While there are stories about people who allegedly died from drinking excessive amounts of carrot juice, this evidence is anecdotal, as there do not appear to be any research studies that document this. Even developing xanthosis, which signals the ingestion of too much vitamin A, is likely to be harmless if it is caused solely by drinking too much carrot juice, according to Dr. Philipp W. Simon, a research geneticist at the University of Wisconsin.
See A Doctor
If you develop xanthosis while drinking large amounts of carrot juice, treat it as a warning signal that your body is getting too much vitamin A and cut back on the carrot juice. If the xanthosis is accompanied by chronic hypervitaminosis A symptoms such as blurred vision, you should see a physician immediately so he can assess whether your overall diet, including your diet supplements, is flooding your body with too much vitamin A.
References
- U.S. Department of Agriculture; Carrot Facts; Philipp W. Simon, Ph.D.; August 4, 2004
- MedlinePlus: Vitamin A
- "American Journal of Diseases of Children"; Hypervitaminosis A; Charles T. Fried, M.D., et al.; March 1950
- PubMed Health: Hypervitaminosis A
- National Institutes of Health - Office of Dietary Supplements: Vitamin A and Carotenoids
- "Scandinavian Journal of Nutrition"; The Vitamin A ...; Richard D. Semba, M.D.; February 2001
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