My skin is turning yellow after becoming a vegetarian.

Dear Ask The Doctor: I've been vegetarian for 9 years, but I turned vegan only about 5 months ago. Since I became vegan, my skin colour's gone darker... not that I don't like dark skin, but I loved the tone of my natural skin colour! And now it's a horribly unhealthy yellow-toned dark brown colour. It's not my natural colour. Obviously this indicates that I'm deficient in something, but I don't know what, or what to do about it. I eat a lot of fruit, oranges in particular, which I've read usually restore your skin colour to normality and get rid of discolouration. Instead of milk and cheese I drink soya milk and eat dairy free cheese. What am I doing wrong? Please help!!

Dear Pee: The yellow color of your skin may be the the result of taking fruits containing carotene (carrots, radish). Though in certain cases the yellowing may also indicate jaundice due to an infection or inflammatory process in the liver. I would advise you to consult you physician to rule out any liver pathology.