Why starvation could leave a greenish cast
Prolonged starvation changes more than body weight. As the body runs short of energy and nutrients, it breaks down fat and muscle, while deficiencies can impair the production of healthy red blood cells. Anemia—the shortage of oxygen-carrying red blood cells—can make skin look unusually pale. In someone already frail, that pallor may appear sickly or faintly green, especially against darker shadows or in poor light.
A reported appearance, not a green pigment
The accounts describe a complexion, not evidence that fasting produces green skin as a distinct biological color. Starvation can drain warmth and color from the face, making underlying tones and changes in blood flow more noticeable. Historical observers may have used “green” for a pallid, yellowish, or ashen appearance that is difficult to distinguish precisely in written descriptions.
That distinction matters: the striking image is a way people described severe physical decline, not a predictable stage of fasting. The underlying change was a body visibly losing the reserves and blood health that normally give the face its color.
