Most of us notice little juicing side effects as we start our juicing experience. When you’re first embarking on the juicing journey, you’ll begin to notice slight changes in your body, your skin, and even your mood.
And while most of these juicing side effects are totally welcome, there are a few vegetables that can cause pretty strange physical reactions – especially if you consume too much of them. So, let’s get into these rather weird juicing side effects – and how you can avoid them.
12 Weird Juicing Side Effects
We’ve all heard that vegetables are super good for us and whereas that is true, this little list of various vegetables with weird side effects serves as a good reminder that too much of a good thing is really not so good.
The majority of the below funky side effects could be totally avoided by following one of the best juicing tips: Moderation is key!
Carrot Juice Side Effects
This sounds too ridiculous to be true…but it is actually true: Carrots can turn your skin orange. Carrots – and other brightly hued veggies like squash – are chock full of rosy-cheek-boosting carotenoids. Carotenoids are great for you skin, helping to prevent it from sun damage and even contributing toward your natural skin tone – but when consumed in excess, they can totally backfire and turn your skin a shade of Jersey Shore orange.
This carrot-orange-skin phenomenon is actually a condition known as carotenemia and ‘though rare, has been known to happen to people who eat a lot of orange-hued produce like carrots, oranges and squashes. Young children are also susceptible, so take note of this when juicing for kids!
Despite this benefit, carrots are awesome for you so juice them (in moderation)!
Tomato Juice Side Effects
Tomatoes are high in lycopene, an awesome pigment that’s been found to reduce the chance of cancer as well as protect your skin from sun damage. But like carotene, too much of this pigment can lead to very orange skin.
Of course, you’d really have to be going tomato-crazy for this to happen. Stay away from drinking pints upon pints of tomato juice and you’ll be safe from the dangers of orange skin.
But…tomatoes have a little something else, too – they’re rich in vitamin C and whereas that’s mostly a good thing, did you know that your body can only process around 2,000 mg of vitamin C per day? Feed it more than that and you can actually overdose on vitamin C. You won’t wind up in the ER or anything but you may experience nausea and headaches so watch your vit C dosage.
Asparagus Juice Side Effects
Asparagus affects the smell of Your urine. Weird but true. You’re probably already aware of this if you’ve ever eaten a bunch of asparagus and then gone to the bathroom.
I actually became aware of this when my mom and aunt when on a month-long asparagus-consuming binge and I spent a bunch of time complaining about the strange smell in the bathroom. Yes, I know that’s gross, but it’s really pungent. I still don’t care too much for asparagus – especially boiled – to this day.
And unlike the other foods on this list, it doesn’t take much asparagus to cause this strange side effect – the reason for the pungent pee smell is because of a little something called methanethiol. You see, when your body gets to work digesting asparagus, it starts releasing stinky, sulfurous amino acids. That’s what you’re smelling when you pee after eating asparagus.
But the even stranger thing is that not all of us can smell it. Only 25 to 50% of the population has the ability to smell those sulfurous amino acids. Apparently, I’m one of them. Somehow it doesn’t make me feel too special.
Beetroot Juice Side Effects
While we’re on the topic of urine, I might as well share another veggie with weird pee-altering side effects. I’m talking beets – those beautifully hued veggies that taste so yummy in juice. Find all about the benefits of beets!
Well, when ingested, beets lend their brilliant hues to…your urine. So don’t worry when after shooting down a glass or two or beet-red beet juice, you notice that your pee is red. You’re not dying and you don’t have your period. It’s all due to a condition called beeturia that’s caused by a little pigment called betalain found in beets.
Beeturia is not really a ‘condition’ – it’s just what happens when you’re body has had too much betalain and decides to pee it out of its system. Yes, it can tint your urine a shade of red.
For those of you who’ve had their fair share of beet juice and never experienced the thrill of red pee, there’s nothing wrong with you. Only 10 to 15% of us get beeturia. Oh yea, I belong to this privileged group as well – lucky me.
Celery Juice Side Effects
So celery juice side effects aren’t that bad but they do make you go pee. A lot.
Wow, I just can’t seem to get off the topic of pee.
Yup, yet another vegetable that alters your urination habits is celery. This stuff makes you go. A lot. Probably more than you want to.
You see, celery speeds up uric acid excretion and increases the rate of urine production. It’s very detoxifying but also very annoying, especially if you have important things to do that day. Celery makes a great base for juices and is a natural way to fight bloating and treat swelling conditions, like edema. BUT it’s best consumed moderately if you plan to spend the day doing things that don’t involve the bathroom.
You’ve been duly warned.
Rhubarb Juice Side Effects
Like pink? I do. Just not in my pee.
Rhubarb is a little difficult to juice, but if you figure out how to do it effortlessly and end up consuming bunches of rhubarb juice – don’t be surprised to find you have reddish, pinkish urine.
Rhubarb is chock full of anthocyanins, which give it its lovely color. But when your body has had too much of this stuff, it’ll pee it out. Result? Pink pee.
Butternut Squash Juice Side Effects
This one is a pretty weird juicing side effects – too much butternut squash can make your hands peel. Or, more accurately, the skin on your hands. This is probably one of the least fun side effects on this list and one that I really recommend you take precautions to avoid when and if juicing butternut squash.
Raw butternut squash could have sap residue, which can cause something known as Cucubita moschata dermatitis (Sounds serious, doesn’t it? It’s not – that’s just the scientific name for ‘butternut squash’) if it comes into contact with your bare hands.
It won’t happen to everyone, but for some people, the condition could lead to the hands on the skin becoming dry, tight, rough and then cracking and peeling off.
Not fun. At all. Be sure to wear gloves when handling butternut squash.
Broccoli Juice Side Effects
Broccoli can make you fat. Okay, not really. Or at least not directly. But according to researchers at the University of Maryland Medical Center, cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower contain goitrogens that can interfere with thyroid hormone biosynthesis.
The result? Hypothyroidism, a condition in which your thyroid gland is not producing enough hormones and can lead to a number of health problems including obesity, joint pain, infertility, and heart disease. This is not something that people who don’t have an underlying thyroid condition need to worry about – the amount of goitrogens is minute and won’t cause adverse affects unless you’re consuming mass amounts. So don’t consume mass amounts and always rotate your veggies, okay?
All the above veggies have some pretty strange side effects, but vegetables aren’t the only foods that cause weird reactions. Nuts and legumes do too, which can make for some strange side effects if you choose to juice or blend too much of the below.
Pine Nuts Leave You Tasting Metal
Pine nuts from China are rumored to leave a lingering metallic taste in your mouth. This mysterious “pine mouth” syndrome is a complete mystery – scientists report in the European Journal of Emergency Medicine that yes, there is a weird aftertaste and no, they don’t know why.
They suspect triglycerides. I suspect it’d be best to buy pine nuts from another locale.
Soy Can Cut Your Sperm Count…and Give You Boobs
Boobs, you say excitedly? Yea, that’s what I thought…’til I realized most of the reported cases applied only to men.
Soy has become pretty popular and I still love soy milk, but if you’re worried about a lowered sperm count (I’m not) or man boobs (I’m not), it might be best to stay away. Or at the very least, make other types of nut milks.
And for those of you who love juicing and flavoring with herbs, here’s a heads-up of herbs you might want to consume in moderation…
Nutmeg Can Make You Hallucinate
Nutmeg’s not just for flavoring your food, apparently it can even make you hallucinate. And who’d say no to a good old hallucination? (Hint: not Malcolm X)
All kidding aside, nutmeg is fine in small quantities but when consumed in large doses, it can cause hallucinations, depression, headache, and even nutmeg poisoning.
Mugwort Can Cause Vivid, Vivid Dreams
Mugwort has been linked to occult for awhile, with mentions of the potent plant cropping up in various wiccan and pesudo-spiritual publications for years.
I’ll be the first to say that I absolutely love mugwort – I keep a huge bag of ground mugwort around for teas as well as DIY face masks, but it can affect your sleep. Especially if you juice the stuff – remember juicing is very concentrated! Please juice mugwort in moderation, especially if you’re not a fan of lucid dreaming.
Who knew eating healthy could be so dangerous? Check out some more of our juicing tips!
