THE future's orange for a carrot-crunching student who has set out to prove she can change her skin colour by feasting on the vegetables for a month.
Hayley Davison has vowed to eat carrots for breakfast, dinner and tea for 30 days after an argument with her housemates.
They do not believe the condition, known as carotenemia, exists, so she has set out to prove them wrong.
The 19-year-old form
er Seaham School of Technology pupil has created her own MySpace page and is blogging her progress throughout The Orange Project.
So far she has eaten carrot soup, carrot stir fry and dips, washing it all down with carrot juice.
By the end of her carrot-crazy month she estimates she will have eaten 300 of the veggies.
Fascinated by her bid to turn her skin orange, web browsers from across the globe have sent her recipe ideas so she doesn’t get bored of eating carots.
Hayley, whose mum Linda, 38, lives in Londonderry Street, Seaham, is sharing a house in Benwell with six others as she takes a degree in psychology at Northumbria University in Newcastle.
Their disagreement about the condition began when Hayley mentioned a woman had turned orange after drinking too much orange juice.
She said: “I was laughed at and nobody believed me.
“I knew this was no lie and hope those who laughed now feel very silly.
“I had to prove my point so I turned to Google and from my research I found that a girl had a condition called carotenemia.
“I found out someone had temporarily turned their skin orange by doing what I’m doing in America before, but not here. I’m trying to eat 10 carrots a day and hopefully 300 by the end of it.
“I don’t think anybody thought I would do it – I’m just looking forward to seeing if it works.
“I’ve only been doing it for a few days, but I’ve got to do it for two weeks before it starts to work.”
Hayley is keeping a close watch on her palms and the soles of her feet, where the first signs of discoloration are supposed to show.
However, while some say carotenemia is harmless, other health experts warn a diet of just one thing causes them concern.
Susan Pinder, obesity and nutrition lead with Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust, said: “It’s not healthy. There’s no such thing as an unhealthy food, but unhealthy quantities.
“I wouldn’t recommend it and I’m sure she’s sensible and not putting herself at risk, but we would not encourage other people to do it.”
She added that high levels of vitamin A contained in carrots could be dangerous to pregnant women.
On her website Hayley says she launched her orange project to: “Turn as orange as David Dickinson ...
