4 Foods That Can Discolor Your Skin

Most are familiar with Violet Beauregarde from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory who turned blue after chewing Willy’s unperfected three-course meal gum. Hate to break it to you, but there is no gum that can replace food (at least not yet, that is). However, skin color changes caused by food is an actual occurrence, albeit not very common. Here’s a quick run-through of the foods and beverages that could change your skin color if you’re not careful:

The Blue Man

Paul Karason is truly a remarkable character. The Oregon native began drinking colloidal silver, a product consisting of silver particles suspended in liquid, in an effort to treat his dermatitis, Today News reported. Although silver has antibacterial properties, the colloidal silver was banned by the FDA in the 1990s because of its ability to cause argyria, a condition where silver collects in the body and does not dissipate.

Unfortunately, it was too late for Karason and years of self-medicating with colloidal silver because his skin eventually turned blue. Karason died last September from issues non-related to his skin coloring, but still remains as one of the most widely known cases of argyria ever documented. Argyria (Greek for silver) is caused by chronic exposure to the element silver. The silver remains in an individual’s body, unable to leave and gives the patient a gray to gray-black staining on their skin and mucous membranes.

It Ain’t Easy Being Green

A 24-year-old Chinese man’s skin and eyes turned a lovely shade of green after contracting a parasitic infection from eating snails, Want China Times reported. Doctors at Guizhou Aerospace Hospital removed four common liver flukes, a type of parasitic flat worm, from the man’s body. It’s believed that the man’s daily diet of river snails was the root of his ailment.

Such infections are unfortunately quite common, and Want China reported that in the most extreme cases individuals have been found with close to a thousand parasites in their bodies. Those who eat plants from dirty water or who drink untreated water are at the highest risk for infection.

Mellow Yellow

When it comes to carrots, you literally are what you eat. Carotenemia is when a person has an excessive amount of carotenoids in their blood, most commonly caused by overconsumption of foods such as carrots, pumpkins, and even papaya. The most popular characteristic of this condition is a slight yellow tint to the patients’ skin.

Although the condition can be alarming at first, it is usually harmless and will go away with a simple dietary shift. On the other hand, if your yellow skin is caused by something other than food, it may be cause for concern. Jaundice is a condition caused when the liver cannot handle the blood cells as they break down. A substance called bilirubin builds up in the blood, and this can cause the skin and the whites of the eye to turn yellow. Unlike carotenemia, this condition is dangerous and requires medical attention.

Nice Golden Skin Tone

Finally, here's a food that will change your coloring for the better, not worse. A 2012 study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that eating more fruits and vegetables can change skin tone, lending it a healthier glow within a matter of weeks, Medical News Today reported. The main researchers, Dr. David Perrett, and his team found that as little as two extra portions of fruit and vegetables a day for six weeks was enough to cause a detectable change in skin tone.

People who eat more fruits and vegetables have a "golden" skin tone that looks healthy and attractive. "Our latest research finds that even small improvements in diet produce visible benefits to skin color," explained lead researcher Dr. Ross Whitehead.

This article originally appeared in Medical Daily.