What's common between Cigarette and Carrots????

Nope, it’s not their cylindrical shape.

And no, it’s not that they both start with the letter “C”.

Answer?

Addiction!

That’s right!  It is actually possible to be addicted to carrots.

Compulsive carrot eating is rare but does exist.

Studies have not yet determined whether the addiction is directly related to the beta-carotene in the carrots or to the physical act of putting carrots to the mouth – a behavioural substitute for those who  had been fighting cigarette addictions in the past.

In any case, when faced with withdrawal, those who live with the addiction experience things very similar to the nicotine addict: 

• Nervousness
• Cravings
• Insomnia
• Irritability

Our chances of becoming addicted to carrots is probably quite low -  Personally, you’d have trouble getting me to eat just one.

If you are addicted to carrots, did you know that the chances of your skin turning orange is actually very high?....Hard to believe? 

This condition is appropriately called “Carotenaemia”.

Carrots are very rich in something called beta-carotene  – an orange-coloured pigment that is responsible for this change in complexion.

It is completely harmless, other than its visual impact on the skin’s colour, which goes away over time. It is also becoming more common, with reported cases tripling in the last few years.

Have we stumbled upon a safer alternative to sun-tanning? Well, probably not.

It’s not clear how many of them we would need to eat to affect our skin’s tone, but having an addiction to carrots would probably help.