Why Is My Skin Orange? And Other Weird Food Side Effects

Soy Can Decrease Sperm Count

A recent fertility study found that men who frequently ate foods high in soy had a lower (though still normal) sperm count than men who rarely or never ate soy foods. 

Carrots Can Turn Your Skin Orange

Your grandma was right; the vitamin A in carrots really does help your vision. However, slamming back too much carrot juice or taking more beta-carotene supplements than the daily recommended allowance may turn your skin an orangey-yellow (more intense than the slight, healthy-looking yellow tint of a balanced diet), a condition called carotenosis.

And So Can Tomatoes

The lycopene that give tomatoes their glowing red skin will give you glowing orange skin if you eat too many. Even if you're not eating crazy amounts of tomatoes, just eating a couple a day (or downing a lot of V8) can actually slightly alter your skin town. 

Trans Fats Make You Mean

A UC San Diego study found links between diets high in trans fats, like those found in margarine or shortenings, and irritability along with aggressive behavior. Yikes.   

Undercooked Mushrooms Can Cause a Rash

Undercooking shiitake mushrooms leaves a starch-like substance in the mushrooms called lentinan that can sometimes cause a pretty unsightly rash all over the bodies of people who are sensitive to the protein. Fully cooking shiitakes will prevent the reaction. 

Nutmeg Can Cause Hallucinations

We're not talking about the dash of nutmeg in your Christmas eggnog. You'd have to eat four to eight tablespoons of powdered nutmeg to experience hallucinations. It will also probably make you violently ill, so you're better off trusting us on this one. 

Sugar Gives You Wrinkles

That second scoop of ice cream could be showing up on your face. A diet high in sugar causes glycation, which sets off a hormonal reaction resulting in dry, inelastic skin. 

Miracle Fruit Can (Temporarily) Change Your Taste Buds

This berry (Synsepalum dulcificum) causes sour foods, like lemons, to temporarily taste sweet. The effect lasts until the flavor swapping protein in the fruit is washed away by salvia, which usually takes about an hour.

Red Meat Can Cause Anaphylaxis After a Tick Bite

Individuals bitten by the Lone Star Tick (a parasite found in the West, Midwest, and South) sometimes develop anaphylaxis after eating red meat. What's even scarier is that many people test negative for the allergy on a skin prick test even after they've become allergic to red meat. Be careful hiking in Texas if you're a fan of steak!