beta-carotene and Substance-Withdrawal-Syndrome

A case report of carrot addiction is presented with a review of the literature and comment on the role of beta carotene in addictive behaviour.. The addiction occurred in a 49-year-old woman under conditions of stress due to marital problems, leading to a depressive illness and increased smoking. The patient maintained that the sensations of carrot craving and withdrawal were quite distinct from those associated with smoking.. The patient was advised to record her daily carrot consumption.. The patient did not return for several months, but stopped eating carrots after an operation, at which time she also stopped smoking.. Compusive carrot eating, regarded as a rare condition, has received scant documentation, unlike hypercarotenemia due to unusual diets or food fads. Nervousness, craving, insomnia, waterbrash and irritability are associated with withdrawal from excessive carrot eating. The basis for the addiction is believed to be beta carotene, found in carrots. Does carrot eating, an aggressively oral activity, merely act as a behavioural substitute for smoking? Or does beta carotene contain a chemical element that replicates the addictive component of nicotine? Further study of this unusual but intriguing addiction may reveal more about the basis of all addictions, with particular implications for the cessation of cigarette smoking.

Topics: Behavior, Addictive; beta Carotene; Daucus carota; Female; Humans; Middle Aged; Motivation; Smoking Cessation; Stress, Psychological; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome

Alcoholics admitted for detoxification were entered into a double blind placebo controlled trial of oral supplementation with an antioxidant cocktail (vitamin E, beta carotene, vitamin C and selenium) in order to determine the effect of this supplementation on the rate of resolution of a serum marker of free radical activity and abnormal serum biochemistry. The molar proportion of linoleic acid that was diene conjugated (a marker of free radical activity), was increased in the alcoholics 2.9% +/- 1.2 (mean +/- S.D.) compared to normal controls 1.3% +/- 0.6 (P < 0.0001) but fell at a similar rate during the first week of hospitalisation in supplemented and placebo-treated patients with a mean fall of 53.7% (+/- 16.4 S.D.) in the placebo group and 56.0% (+/- 23.7) (P = 0.32, NS) in the antioxidant supplemented group. Similarly, there was no difference in the rate of fall between serum aspartate transaminase (AST) concentration in the two groups: the placebo group falling by a mean of 68.9% (+/- 35.2) and the antioxidant supplemented group falling by 70.1% (+/- 10.0) (P = 0.41, NS) over the first 7 days of hospitalization. Alcoholics had low serum concentrations of vitamin E compared with controls (15.6 mg/l +/- 6.2 S.D.) which rose more in the supplemented group over the period of a week (7.7 mg/l +/- 4.4 to 21.6 mg/l +/- 5.1) (a mean rise of 180.5%) compared with the placebo group (8.6 mg/l +/- 6.8 to 9.6 mg/l +/- 5.7)--a mean rise of 11.6% (P = 0.006).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Topics: Adult; Aged; Antioxidants; Ascorbic Acid; beta Carotene; Biomarkers; Carotenoids; Double-Blind Method; Drug Therapy, Combination; Ethanol; Female; Free Radicals; Hematologic Tests; Humans; Liver Diseases, Alcoholic; Male; Middle Aged; Selenium; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome; Vitamin E