Lycopene supplements or excessive intake of
tomatoes and tomato products can cause the skin to
turn orange, a condition called lycopenodermia. This
condition disappears when lycopene intake is reduced.
No recommendations have been set about the
maximum daily intake of carotenoids from diet, but
dietary supplements of carotenoids are not recom-
mended by the IOM, the American Heart Association
or the American Cancer Society.
Parental concernsParents should encourage their children to eat a
healthy and varied diet high in fruits, vegetables, and
whole grains. There is no need to give children dietary
supplements of carotenoids. The safety of these sup-
plements in children has not been studied.
Resources
BOOKS
Challem, Jack, and Marie Moneysmith.Basic Health Pub-
lications User’s Guide to Carotenoids & Flavonoids:
Learn How to Harness the Health Benefits of Natural
Plant Antioxidants. North Bergen, NJ: Basic Health
Publications, 2005.
Gaby, Alan R., ed.A-Z Guide to Drug-Herb-Vitamin Inter-
actions Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition: Improve
Your Health and Avoid Side Effects When Using Com-
mon Medications and Natural Supplements Together.
New York: Three Rivers Press, 2006.
Krinsky, Norman, Susan T. Mayne, Helmut Sies, eds.Car-
otenoids in Health and Disease. New York: Marcel
Dekker, 2004.
Lieberman, Shari, and Nancy Bruning.The Real Vitamin
and Mineral Book: The Definitive Guide to Designing
Your Personal Supplement Program. 4th ed. New York:
Avery, 2007.
Pressman, Alan H., and Sheila Buff.The Complete Idiot’s
Guide to Vitamins and Minerals. 3rd ed. Indianapolis,
IN: Alpha Books, 2007.
Rucker, Robert B., ed.Handbook of Vitamins. Boca Raton,
FL: Taylor & Francis, 2007.
PERIODICALS
Kushi, Lawrence H., Tim Byers, Colleen Doyle, et al.
‘‘American Cancer Society Guidelines on Nutrition and
Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention.’’CA: Cancer
Journal for Clinicians.56(2006): 254-281. [cited May 2,
2007].http://caonline.amcancersoc.org/cgi/content/
full/56/5/254.
Voutilainen, Sari, Tarja Nurmi, Jaakko Mursu, et al.
‘‘Carotenoids and Cardiovascular Health.’’American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition.83, no.6 (June 2006):
1265-71. [cited May 2, 2007].http://www.ajcn.org/
cgi/content/full/83/6/1265.
ORGANIZATIONS
American Cancer Society. 1599 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta
GA 30329-4251. Telephone: 800 ACS-2345. Website:
<http://www.cancer.org>
American Heart Association. 7272 Greenville Avenue,
Dallas, TX 75231. Telephone: (800) 242-8721.
Website:<http://www.americanheart.org>
American Dietetic Association. 120 South Riverside Plaza,
Suite 2000, Chicago, Illinois 60606-6995. Telephone:
(800) 877-1600. Website:<http://www.eatright.org>
Linus Pauling Institute. Oregon State University, 571
Weniger Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331-6512. Telephone:
(541) 717-5075. Fax: (541) 737-5077. Website:<http://
lpi.oregonstate.edu>
Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health.
6100 Executive Blvd., Room 3B01, MSC 7517, Bethesda,
MD 20892-7517 Telephone: (301)435-2920. Fax:
(301)480-1845. Website:<http://dietary-supplements.
info.nih.gov>
OTHER
Medline Plus. ‘‘Beta-carotene.’’ U. S. National Library of
Medicine, August 1, 2006. [cited May 2, 2007].<http://
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/
patient-betacarotene.html>.
Office of Dietary Supplements. ‘‘Dietary Supplement Fact
Sheet: Vitamin A and Carotenoids.’’ National Institutes
of Health, April 23, 2006. [cited May 2, 2007].<http://
ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitaminA.asp>.Tish Davidson, A.M.Caveman diet
Definition
The caveman diet is a diet that is intended to
mimic, as closely as possible, the way that the ances-
tors of humans ate more than 10,000 years ago.Origins
The caveman diet is also sometimes referred to as
the Paleolithic diet. The Paleolithic period is the
period occurring before 10,000 years ago. During the
Paleolithic period the ancestors of humans were hunt-
ers and gatherers. They ate the foods that they could
find in the wild, including game that could be killed
and fruits and vegetables that grew locally. Everything
during this time was consumed raw. Milk and other
dairy products were not available because animals had
not yet been domesticated.
10,000 years ago the Neolithic period began. Dur-
ing the Neolithic period fire was mastered, allowingCaveman diet