Paleness

midlandsmissus

Hi,

I really make an effort to get the right amount of protein and I take iron supplements every day, and I am still deathly pale.

Ive been a vegetarian since I was 12 and im sure i was never this pale before.

Its been for about the last two years or so, I used fake tan to cover it up so its hard to tell how long, but I was really shocked atjust how sick looking i was.

I stopped using fake tan last week and I couldnt believe how bad I looked. I am talking blue white skin with red rimmed eyes. everybody asked me was I ill. Nobody around me is this pale, so its not just the shock of stopping the fake tan! What is wrong with me? I actually know one other person who is vegetarian and she is always the colour of death warmed up aswell. She looks really pale and bad. Are we harming ourselves by being vegetarian? I thought it was just lack of iron that made you pale but I'm taking supplements!Im sick of looking so ill!!! but dont want to eat meat!

sweet-rasmus

You need to make an appointment to see your doctor. Ultimately he/she is the best person to ask. Any thoughts here would be speculation and your condition may not be linked to being vegetarian.

Personally, I have never noticed any of my veggie friends or myself having particularly pale skin.

Tar.Aldarion

I have never noticed a change in skin colour when somebody became vegetarian. Ask a doctor and maybe get some tests to see if you are missing anything from your diet?
Also, I like pale people. :P

raah!

oooh craps, this thread has really scared me, I'm gonna go munch a trillion iron suppliments tomorrow...

Although I hope there's enough in my cereal and my green vegetables.

Crumble Froo

as someone who even before becoming veggie never ate anything with any protein value, i did used to be very very quite pale, but had always put it down to my nocturnal habits. now my diet is much the same, but i do outdoor sports a good bit, and have acquired a golden tan (euggh), so i can't tell if the original pale was to do with my diet or what.

andt hough it'd never occurred to me i looked sickly, when i came home with a tan, everyone was shocked as to how 'healthy' i looked... so ... *shrugs*

If your low in Iron, the rims of your eyes turn white don't they.
Hhmm I think it is worth getting checked out anyways.

I wouldn't be too worried about being a better colour when you were younger.
You get much more sun as a child, and your skin is more suceptable to damage (tanning).


I think you have just got used to seeing yourself with fake tan.
What colour of hair have you?

Monkey61

If your someone who likes wearing fake tan - chances are you're not a fan of paleness anyway, so what's normal to someone else is presumably not normal to you.

It's also the coldest time of year, so a lot of people are going to look pale, especially first thing in the morning or when you have just been out in the cold.

I very much doubt that you are pale specifically because you don't eat meat. More likely than that it could be due to just having a rubbish diet.

If it's actually worrying you it would be no harm to go to the doctor.

monellia

I also went vegetarian at the age of twelve or thereabouts and subsequently lost all the colour in my skin. I think it was more to do with melanin depletion than iron deficiency, though. The skin produces the pigment melanin when it is exposed to UV rays from the sun. When I was younger I was more coloured due to playing outside and going on sunny holidays with my family. Now I don't really like going out in the sun, as it damages the skin. But I dig teh pale look so it's all good.

McConkey

Hi OP,
you should definately see your doctor for this one. Let them know you are a vegetarian and that you wish for blood tests for iron, folate and B12 levels as these are ones that cause anaemia-and probably the pallor you describe. Even if your iron is fine the other two could be low, particularly the B12. (they are still anaemias but just not iron deficiency anaemia) I haven't read through this forum but I'm sure there must be a thread on B12 in it somewhere.

While I don't follow yer dietary regime, and subscribe to a more main stream diet, I have been stopped in the street and asked if I am OK by complete strangers due to my extreme paleness. Originally I was found to be iron, b12 and folate deficient, have corrected the iron and folate through supplements but now need monthly injections of B12. Lack of it causes nerve damage etc which is irreversible and so it is imperative that people should be checked for this deficiency.

Deficiency can be caused by dietary issues or inadequate absorption caused by genetic factors such as the presence of pernicious anaemia.
Lack of intake of animal products predisposes people to this deficiency. Some of the symptoms here (wikipedia) sound quite extreme and I have to say I only experienced about half of the symptoms outlined in the wikipedia page and they weren't too extreme even though I was very low in b12. Seemingly the longer it's left the worse symptoms become.

Further info on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_B12_deficiency

They need to check both folate and b12 at the same time as if you go about fixing one then the other can be masked and continue to go untreated. So definately get the bloods tested by your doctor first. There is an over the counter supplement available, the b12 vit (Cytacon) even aims itself at the Vegan and Vegetarian community however it would be prudent to get your blood levels checked first to avoid masking of either a b12 or folate deficiency and to avoid wasting your money if these deficiencies are not the root cause of your problem.

Good luck

Mentalmiss

I have been vegetarian for 36 years and have never taken iron or needed it. My colour is fine and I am forever getting complements on how healthy I look.

Sticking a label on a diet does not make it healthy. You could be a meat eater and have a healthier diet than a vegetarian if the veg diet is made up of mainly processed starch and refined sugar. Just because a food is labelled Vegetarian does not make it healthy.
If you are eating primarily wholefoods (as I do) then you do not need to eat meat or revert to your old diet to be healthy.

dynastygal

I've not eaten meat since I was 13 (20 now) ...I'm pale, but I was born pale-skinned O-o