Can you be addicted to baby carrots?

Published: 6 June 2022

_{For the sake of simplicity, I will be using the term “baby carrot” throughout this post when referring to baby-cut carrots (a.k.a small carrots cut from larger carrots).}

It all started on a regular Wednesday morning. There I was, munching away on baby carrots for the fifth time that week, asking myself how this ordinary vegetable quickly became a breakfast staple for me. I had been traveling and, obviously, when you are living out of a suitcase, it can be very challenging to maintain healthy eating habits. Hence my growing fondness for baby carrots. I found them to be a great way to add veggies to my diet without much of a hassle. “The sweetness and snap of these carrots are seriously addictive”, I thought to myself. Jokingly, I continued entertaining this thought as I typed in “addiction to baby carrots” in my web browser. This can’t be a real thing, right? Oh how completely wrong I was…

I was astonished to find testimonies of people who had struggled with an unexpected addiction to these sculpted orange snacks. (And yes, I do mean “sculpted” as most baby carrots sold in today’s market are carved from larger carrots).

“A few years ago while trying to quit smoking, I became addicted to carrots…yes carrots¹” wrote a user on a reddit forum back in 2015. “Not the large ones, but the baby carrots that you can buy in 2lb bags. I ate about 5lbs or more per week.”

The user continued detailing symptoms he had experienced at the peak of his addiction. “I gained weight and I turned orange. I am not kidding (…) I gave up the carrots, but it took me 4 months of serious withdrawal. I had the sweats and I was so moody.”

In this 1992 paper, a man and two women described their carrot addiction to being very similar to the their dependance on tobacco. The women found it to be stronger than their addiction to cigarettes, whereas the man evaluated it as somewhat weaker.

In another study published in 1996 in the Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, Dr. Robert Kaplan reported the case of a 49-year-old smoker who had developed compulsive carrot eating while dealing with the stress of a troubled marriage. Interestingly enough, the patient was able to stop her carrot addiction and her smoking after an operation.

So what’s so addictive about carrots? Is carrot consumption a behavioural substitute to smoking for patients who are trying to quit? Or could the addiction stem from the beta-carotene found in carrots? These were just some of the questions that researchers were asking themselves.

A bunch of vegetables contain this phytochemical we call beta-carotene. Apart from carrots, beta-carotene is naturally found in butternut squash, sweet potatoes, dark leafy greens and red bell peppers, just to name a few. Once ingested, beta-carotene can be converted into vitamin A by our organism, most of which ends up stored in the liver until it is required by the body. It is worth noting that beta-carotene is fat-soluble, meaning it is more easily absorbed by our body when paired with a little fat or oil. According to registered dietitian, Leslie Beck, “all it takes is 3 to 5 g of fat in a meal (roughly one teaspoon worth) to enhance beta-carotene absorption²“. Cooking also releases more of the beta-carotene found in carrots.

Although the exact science behind compulsive carrot eating still remains unclear, we do know, for a fact, that excessive carrot consumption can ultimately lead to a condition called carotenemia. First described in 1919 by Hess and Meyers, carotenemia is mainly characterized by increased levels of beta-carotene in the blood and yellow-orange discolouration of the skin. Chances are you won’t turn as orange as an oompa-loompa from Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, but it will likely be noticeable, especially on the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet (where the skin is thicker).

The recent case of a 56-year-old Chinese woman alluded to a possible link between carotenemia and iron deficiency. The patient had been “eating four uncooked carrots and 20 mint candies per day for 3 months³” and presented signs of general fatigue. However, after being administered ferric oxide by her doctors, “her compulsion to eat carrots and mint candies disappeared in 3 days”. Cases of carotenemia were also reported in patients diagnosed with anorexia nervosa and Down Syndrome

The 1974 case of Londoner Basil Brown perfectly illustrates how bad things can get when the addiction goes untreated. Leading up to his tragic death, the 48-year-old food enthusiast was drinking close to a gallon of carrot juice every day. According to The New York Times archives, “Dr. David Haler, the pathologist who performed an autopsy, said that the effect of the enormous intake of Vitamin A from carrots and tablets was indistinguishable from alcoholic poisoning⁴“, producing results similar to cirrhosis of the liver.

So how many carrots can you eat per day? Ultimately, like most things in life, it all comes down to moderation. According to health experts, half a cup of carrots can give you up to half of your recommended daily intake of vitamin A. Other good sources of vitamin A include eggs, oily fish, cheese and liver.

Vitamin A not only supports healthy eyesight and immune system functions, but it also helps to protect the skin against UV-induced damage. An essential vitamin for the summertime!

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