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From:	Jeff Novick, MS, RD, LD, LN (novick.vegsource.com)
Subject:	Re: melons
Date:	July 16, 2008 at 6:33 am PST

In Reply to: melons posted by adam on July 15, 2008 at 4:55 am:

Hi Adam,

The form of Vitamin A that occurs naturally in fresh fruits and vegetables are in the form of carotenoids and are not toxic.

The toxicity only occur with preformed (retinoid) vitamin A which occurs in animal products (such as from liver) or when consumed in the isolated and concentrated forms available in supplements

The carotenoid forms (such as beta-carotene as found in carrots), give no such symptoms, but unusually high and excessive dietary intake of beta-carotene can lead to carotenodermia, which causes orange-yellow discoloration of the skin. This is difficult to occur when consuming whole foods but could occur is someone ingest large amounts of carrot juice on a regular basis.

Enjoy your melons

In Health
Jeff

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