Is drinking carrot juice good for your skin?

It changes the color of your skin, and that is the only effect shown in trials of juice. We found no trial that measured wrinkles, elasticity, hydration, acne or glow after drinking carrot juice. In a 6-week randomized trial in adults, the higher of two daily amounts of orange-carrot juice raised the carotenoid score of the skin by 42% from where it started. That score counts pigment stored in skin. It is a measure of what you have been eating rather than of how your skin looks or ages.

Unsettled. Whether carrot juice makes skin healthier is open because nobody has tested it directly. The closest evidence comes from beta-carotene and carotenoid supplements, and there the reviews disagree. One found protection against sunburn after at least 10 weeks. A newer one of 40 randomized trials found no significant benefit for skin aging.

Skin carotenoid score, measured on the finger

Both numbers come from the same group of adults drinking orange-carrot juice every day, and the rise is measured against their own starting score. The score counts carotenoids sitting in the skin. It does not measure how skin looks or how healthy it is. The source gives no interval, so none is drawn. Source: card ev-cjsk-01 below.

What the trials found

The pigment reaches the skin

In the adult trial above, 162 people from four US ethnic groups were randomized to apple juice or to one of two daily amounts of orange-carrot juice. In the higher amount the skin carotenoid score rose by 123 points from a mean of 290.4 at the start, over 6 weeks. In 58 children aged 5 to 17, 2 to 4.1 tbsp (30 to 120 mL) a day of a carotenoid-rich juice, carrying 2.75 to 11 mg of carotenoids, raised skin carotenoids over 8 weeks. That juice was a commercial blend rather than pure carrot juice.

The color is visible. In a 4-week randomized crossover trial in 30 young women eating high-carotenoid fruit and vegetables, skin became yellower in both sun-exposed and covered areas, with no change in how light or red it was. The food was whole fruit and vegetables, not juice.

Looking healthier is a different question

In a 4-week randomized trial of 2, 5 or 8 portions of fruit and vegetables a day in 30 low eaters, faces were rated by 73 independent raters. The trial found no link between how much produce people ate and how healthy their skin was rated. The authors were reluctant to promote fruit and vegetables for looks on effects this small.

Sunburn and skin aging, from supplements

A 2008 meta-analysis of 7 studies of beta-carotene supplements found protection against sunburn needed at least 10 weeks of use, and the protective effect grew by about half a standard deviation with each extra month. These were tablets, and the effect is no replacement for sunscreen.

A 2025 meta-analysis of 40 randomized trials of oral supplements found that lycopene and other carotenoids did not significantly improve photoageing or the skin's tolerance of UV light. A second 2025 meta-analysis, of 61 dietary studies on skin aging, said that evidence gaps remain, especially for carotenoids. None of these trials gave carrot juice.

Who should be careful

The yellow-orange tint has a name, carotenodermia. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements calls it the most common effect of long-term excess beta-carotene and describes it as harmless. In a 42-day trial with arms of 5 men, definite yellowing appeared only in the five who took 30 mg of purified beta-carotene a day. A 240 g glass of carrot juice carries about 22 mg of beta-carotene in US food data, and in 16 young adults a single 25 mg dose from juice gave a 2.09 times larger rise in blood beta-carotene than the same dose from raw carrots. So a heavy daily juice habit can come close to the amounts that tinted skin in that trial. We found no study of how much juice it takes.

In children, raised carotene is usually about diet. Of 31 children referred to a Glasgow hospital, 27 (87%) had simple diet-related carotenemia and were well. The rest had nutritional problems, so a yellow child who is not thriving still needs a doctor.

High-dose beta-carotene tablets and lung cancer

Randomized trials, pooled

These are relative risks against placebo from a meta-analysis of randomized trials of supplements, not of juice. The abstract gives no absolute risk, so we cannot say how many extra cancers per thousand people this means. Source: card ev-cjsk-10 below.

Not for everyone. Two groups have a real reason to hold back. Smokers: a meta-analysis of 9 randomized trials found that 20 to 30 mg a day of beta-carotene supplements raised lung cancer risk, with a relative risk of 1.20 in smokers and asbestos workers. That is about tablets, and nobody has tested juice, but a large daily glass carries a dose in the same range. People with birch pollen allergy: a case report describes an 11-year-old with facial swelling, rash and breathing difficulty within a minute of drinking raw carrot juice. Reactions this severe are rare.

We found no card on carrot juice for skin in pregnancy or alongside medicines.

What expert bodies say

We found no US or European body that makes any claim about carrot juice and skin. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements statement above is about safety: it treats the yellow skin as harmless. The EU has rejected two other claims for lactic-fermented carrot juice, on immunity and on digestion, and we found no skin claim on its register.

How we searched

Searched: a local copy of PubMed on 7 October 2026, for carrot juice, carrot, beta-carotene or carotenoids with skin, sunburn, wrinkles, skin color, carotenemia or acne, all study types. That returned 277 hits, and we screened the top 100. A search for "carrot juice" alone returned 25, all screened. Searches on carotenemia returned 48, of which 30 were screened, and on carotenoids and attractiveness 56, of which 20 were screened. We also read the NIH fact sheet on vitamin A, searched the US trial registry, which had nothing, searched the web for newer trials and reviews, and checked every trial and review against Retraction Watch.

Included: five randomized trials, four meta-analyses, one hospital case review, one case report and the NIH fact sheet.

Excluded: a smoothie trial that repeated the skin color finding without carrot, studies of branded carotenoid, astaxanthin and paprika supplements, already covered by the meta-analyses, narrative reviews of mechanisms, carrot juice studies on immunity and oxidation, single case reports of carotenemia, and web pages.

Also used: four entries from our carrot juice page: US food data on the beta-carotene in a glass, a trial comparing juice with raw carrots, and the two EU claim decisions.

What we read: abstracts for the studies found in this search, the full text of the juice and raw carrot trial, and the NIH page in full.

What we could not get: full texts with Results sections, which are not in our local copy. A 2024 trial comparing baby carrots with a beta-carotene supplement, which we found only in press and conference reports. And any trial or review of skin appearance after drinking carrot juice.

What would change this answer

A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of carrot juice that measures how skin looks, its wrinkles, elasticity, hydration or acne, over months.
A study of how much carrot juice, drunk daily for how long, turns skin yellow.
A trial of food-level beta-carotene, from juice, on sunburn, to test whether the supplement result carries over.
Publication of the 2024 baby carrot trial in a peer-reviewed journal.

The food behind this question

Carrot juice: beta-carotene the body absorbs well, with no disease outcome tested — numbers, evidence and safety

The same question for other foods (skin)

Sources

ev-cjsk-01 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized controlled feeding trial, 6 weeks · n = 162
In the high-dose group, there was a 42% change in skin carotenoids from baseline (mean = 290.4) to a 6-wk follow-up (increase of 123, 123/290 = 42.4%).
Who: adults from four US racial/ethnic groups randomized to apple juice, 6 fl oz (177 mL) or 12 fl oz (355 mL) orange-carrot juice a day
Effect: skin carotenoid score at 6 weeks 414.0 (high dose, 8 mg carotenoids/day) and 369.7 (moderate, 4 mg/day) vs 305.2 control; +42% from baseline in the high-dose group; plasma carotenoids +61%
Certainty: Outcome is skin carotenoid content (Veggie Meter), a biomarker, not skin appearance or health.
J Nutr, 2023 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-cjsk-02 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized controlled trial, 8 weeks · n = 58
Consumption of 30 to 120 mL (2.75 to 11 mg carotenoids) of a carotenoid-rich juice significantly increased skin carotenoid status over an 8-week period among children aged 5 to 17 years.
Who: children aged 5 to 17 years, Cache County, Utah; high dose, low dose or placebo juice
Effect: skin carotenoids +11,515 (high dose) and +10,009 (low dose) Raman counts at week 8 (both P<0.001); placebo +985 (NS); juice dose equal to about 23 to 92 g cooked carrots a day
Certainty: Biomarker outcome only; juice was a commercial carotenoid-rich blend, not pure carrot juice.
J Acad Nutr Diet, 2015 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-cjsk-03 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · single-blind randomized crossover trial, 4 weeks per arm, 2-week washout · n = 30
Following HCFV there was a significantly greater increase in skin yellowness (b*) in both sun-exposed (P<0.001) and unexposed areas, (P<0.001), with no change in skin lightness (L*) or redness (a*).
Who: young women eating 7 daily servings of high- or low-carotenoid fruit and vegetables
Effect: greater increase in skin yellowness (b*) in sun-exposed and unexposed skin (both P<0.001); no change in L* or a*; yellowness tracked plasma alpha- and beta-carotene
Certainty: Whole fruit and vegetables, not juice; color change, not skin health.
J Acad Nutr Diet, 2016 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-cjsk-04 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized controlled trial, supervised intake for 4 weeks · n = 30
No association between FV consumption and skin healthiness was found, but skin healthiness was associated with facial attractiveness.
Who: low fruit and vegetable consumers, faces rated by 73 independent raters
Effect: no direct effect on attractiveness; small indirect effect in women via skin yellowness; no association with perceived skin healthiness
Certainty: Small; authors hesitate to promote produce for looks on these effect sizes.
BMC Public Health, 2018 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-cjsk-05 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis · n = 7 studies
Regression plot analysis revealed that protection required a minimum of 10 weeks of supplementation with a mean increase of the protective effect of 0.5 standard deviations with every additional month of supplementation.
Who: human supplementation studies of beta-carotene and UV-induced sunburn
Effect: protection required >=10 weeks; protective effect grew by about 0.5 SD per extra month
Certainty: Supplements, not juice; small number of studies; not a replacement for sunscreen.
Photochem Photobiol, 2008 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-cjsk-06 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis · n = 61 studies
Evidence gaps remain, especially regarding carotenoids and vitamins.
Who: healthy humans in dietary intervention studies on skin aging
Effect: carotenoids: redness pSMD -0.53 (95% CI -1.02 to -0.04); no significant carotenoid effect reported for wrinkles, hydration or elasticity
Certainty: Mixed designs; carotenoid trials mostly supplements and extracts; authors flag evidence gaps for carotenoids.
J Physiol Anthropol, 2025 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-cjsk-07 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs · n = 40 RCTs
However, hyaluronic acid, lycopene, and carotenoids did not show any significant benefits in improving skin photoaging or MED/R2.
Who: healthy adults in RCTs of oral supplements for skin photoageing
Effect: no significant benefit of carotenoids or lycopene on photoageing, minimal erythema dose or elasticity (R2); all supplements safe over <=24 weeks
Certainty: Supplements, not juice; few carotenoid trials per outcome.
Front Med (Lausanne), 2025 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-cjsk-08 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized trial, six arms of 5, 42 days · n = 30
Definite carotenodermia was observed only in the five subjects who took 30 mg of purified beta-carotene daily.
Who: men randomized to 30 mg or 12 mg beta-carotene, 272 g cooked carrots, 300 g broccoli, 180 g tomato juice or placebo
Effect: carotenodermia only in the 30 mg group, after 25 to 42 days, above plasma carotenoids 4.0 mg/L; persisted 14 to >42 days after stopping
Certainty: Very small arms; carrot juice delivers more carotene per serving than cooked carrots, so heavy drinkers can still yellow.
Am J Clin Nutr, 1988 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-cjsk-09 · Position of an expert body · government fact sheet · n = —
The most common effect of long-term, excess beta-carotene is carotenodermia, a harmless condition in which the skin becomes yellow-orange [3].
Who: general population
Effect: carotenodermia harmless and reversible; beta-carotene not teratogenic; 20 to 30 mg/day supplements raised lung cancer risk in smokers (ATBC, CARET)
Certainty: Agency summary; dietary carrot juice not singled out.
NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Vitamin A and Carotenoids Fact Sheet for Health Professionals · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section
ev-cjsk-10 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs · n = 9 RCTs
The incidence of lung and stomach cancers were significantly increased in individuals supplemented with beta-carotene at 20-30 mg day(-1) (RR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.06-1.27 and RR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.06-1.70), in smokers and asbestos workers (RR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.07-1.34 and RR, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.08-2.19) compared to the placebo group.
Who: participants of 9 RCTs of beta-carotene supplementation
Effect: lung cancer RR 1.16 (95% CI 1.06 to 1.27) at 20-30 mg/day; smokers RR 1.20 (1.07 to 1.34); melanoma RR 0.98 (0.65 to 1.46); non-melanoma skin cancer RR 0.99 (0.93 to 1.05)
Certainty: Applies to high-dose supplements, not food; relevant to concentrated carrot juice habits in smokers only by extrapolation.
Int J Cancer, 2010 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-cjsk-11 · Observational data · retrospective case record review, 1998 to 2001 · n = 31
Twenty-seven (87%) children had simple diet-related carotenaemia and were well.
Who: children with elevated plasma carotene, median age 13 months
Effect: 27 of 31 (87%) benign diet-related carotenemia; 4 had nutritional problems with failure to thrive
Certainty: Single hospital; referral sample.
Scott Med J, 2004 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-cjsk-12 · Laboratory or animal data · case report · n = 1
We report an 11-year-old boy who experienced a unique anaphylactic reaction after consuming raw carrot juice.
Who: 11-year-old boy with seasonal allergic rhinoconjunctivitis
Effect: systemic reaction (facial and eyelid swelling, macular rash, dyspnoea); carrot-specific IgE Dau c 40.63 kUA/L
Certainty: Single case; systemic reactions in pollen-food allergy are rare.
Children (Basel), 2023 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
crju-r5-01 · Position of an expert body · reference dataset, not a study · n = 1 food code
FNDDS 2709683 Carrot juice, 100%: Vitamin A, RAE 956 ug/100 g, 240 g 2294.4 ug · Carotene, beta 9303 ug/100 g, 240 g 22327.2 ug · Energy 40 kcal/100 g, 240 g 96.0 kcal · Potassium 292 mg/100 g, 240 g 700.8 mg
Who: US household measures, FNDDS
Effect: per 3.5 oz (100 g): vitamin A 956 ug RAE, beta-carotene 9303 ug, 40 calories, potassium 292 mg
Certainty: one generic entry recomputed from 100 g; 240 g is the default amount when size is not given
USDA FNDDS 2021-2023 · checked 2026-09-29 · we read the dataset
crju-r5-03 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized crossover trial · n = 16
Furthermore, the area under the curve (AUC) for β-carotene absorption was 2.09 times greater in the juice group than in the raw carrot group, suggesting enhanced bioavailability from carrot juice (raw carrots: 15.58 ± 2.36 μg/mL, carrot juice: 32.56 ± 4.39 μg/mL, data not shown).
Who: 16 healthy non-smoking adults aged 20-30, 530 g juice or 320 g carrots plus 3.4 tbsp (50 mL) canola oil
Effect: AUC 32.56 vs 15.58 ug/mL (2.09x); peak 8.72 vs 3.74 ug/mL at 1.5 h (2.33x)
Certainty: single dose, small, fresh low-speed juicer juice; oil added to both
Nutr Res Pract, 2025 · checked 2026-09-29 · we read the fulltext
crju-r5-15 · Position of an expert body · regulatory decision · n = —
POL-HC-6691 Beta carota (carrot juice, lactic acid fermented) Supports the immune system, supports the natural antioxidant system in the body Non-authorised
Who: EU consumers, health-claim register
Effect: claim non-authorized
Certainty: non-authorized means evidence did not meet the bar, not proof of no effect
EU Register on nutrition and health claims, claim POL-HC-6691, snapshot 2026-09-21 · checked 2026-09-29 · we read the section
crju-r5-16 · Position of an expert body · regulatory decision · n = —
POL-HC-6689 Beta carota (carrot juice, lactic acid fermented) Supports a healthy digestion Non-authorised
Who: EU consumers, health-claim register
Effect: claim non-authorized
Certainty: non-authorized means evidence did not meet the bar, not proof of no effect
EU Register on nutrition and health claims, claim POL-HC-6689, snapshot 2026-09-21 · checked 2026-09-29 · we read the section

How this page was made. Evidence was extracted from primary sources into cards, every number was re-checked against the source, and the text was written from those cards. Bioma Learn has no human medical reviewer at this time, and we say so rather than invent one. Methodology. This is information, not medical advice.

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Carrot juice or carrots: more beta-carotene in the glass, the fiber left behind — food page