# Is human flesh actually green? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 22, 2009, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-human-flesh-actually-green/518488 "2009-11-22T01:43:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-human-flesh-actually-green/518488/21 "2009-11-22T13:15:25Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Soylent green is _soy and lentils!_ :eek: No, Soylent Green is made from plankton (thus the green color). Soylent Red is basically corn flour with a touch of pepper (for a Southwestern flavour). The Classic Soylent Yellow is the only one made from soy and lentils (for high protein); the popularity of it from back when it was the only Soylent product available is the reason the Corporation has kept the Soylent branding for the expanded line of product. – From the Goliath Corporation Public Relations Ganda Propagator. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-human-flesh-actually-green/518488/22 "2009-11-22T15:08:55Z")
If I were faced with dead human flesh, I know my flesh would be green. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-human-flesh-actually-green/518488/23 "2009-11-22T16:06:18Z")
Human flesh can be green - examples are the gallbladder and also tissues affected by a [chloroma](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.webpathology.com/slides/slides/Kidney_ChloromaGross.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.webpathology.com/image.asp%3Fcase%3D71%26n%3D23&usg=__K3VaExp46UNbTHgOfXZigyajuAk=&h=378&w=507&sz=68&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=uEw_I1OpTzya-M:&tbnh=98&tbnw=131&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchloroma%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1R2GGLL_en%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1) (a soft tissue tumor representing a manifestation of acute myelogenous leukemia). > [@CatWhisperer](#): > > I too have seen my share (working in histotechnology lab) - no green except for maybe parts of the liver (the bile, you know). Body parts do actually look really cool, though (except the pails of breast tissue removed from old ladies). The pedant (or pissant) in me has to comment on the latter statement - normal breast tissue from _anyone_, including the young is just unremarkable fatty and fibrous tissue (we see a lot of breast reduction samples in our practice). None are green, thankfully. If you’re a forensic pathologist you undoubtedly get to see a number of green humans, which is why I’m glad to be a hospital-based anatomic and clinical pathologist. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-human-flesh-actually-green/518488/24 "2009-11-23T04:27:17Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > \The pedant (or pissant) in me has to comment on the latter statement - normal breast tissue from _anyone_, including the young is just unremarkable fatty and fibrous tissue (we see a lot of breast reduction samples in our practice). None are green, thankfully. Exactly, which makes it uncool. It’s just a pail of pale yellow fat, mostly. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-human-flesh-actually-green/518488/25 "2009-11-23T04:31:50Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Exactly, which makes it uncool. It’s just a pail of pale yellow fat, mostly. I! Heartily! Agree! I! prefer! Green! Breast! Tissue! Sincerely, Captain Kirk ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-human-flesh-actually-green/518488/26 "2009-11-23T18:27:50Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > a pretty girl told me Although I agree with what has been said regarding fresh human meat _not_ being green, I would point out that sometimes it is best to not disagree with pretty girls. Especially _very_ pretty girls. ---
**Author:** ![Laudenum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-human-flesh-actually-green/518488/27 "2009-11-24T01:36:18Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Although I agree with what has been said regarding fresh human meat _not_ being green, I would point out that sometimes it is best to not disagree with pretty girls. Especially _very_ pretty girls. And she was. Nice and meaty, but not fat, too. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-human-flesh-actually-green/518488/28 "2009-11-24T03:06:44Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > And she was. Nice and meaty, but not fat, too. Meat’s dream… ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-human-flesh-actually-green/518488/29 "2009-11-24T14:35:31Z")
My veins are decidely green. Is it the deoxygenated blood that causes it ? If so, then maybe if you drain a person of blood and they don’t have much in the way of fat under their skin they would look greenish. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-human-flesh-actually-green/518488/30 "2009-11-24T14:59:33Z")
OP: Define ‘meat’. Meat is muscle. Is muscle green? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-human-flesh-actually-green/518488/31 "2009-11-24T15:04:28Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I went on a carnival ride once. Got really sick and lost everthing in my stomachand shortly felt fine. As I was walking around, I noticed people looking at me oddly. > > Finally, about 5 minutes later a total stranger stops me and says “Dude, you are GREEN!”. The one time I’ve ever seen a green person was, coincidentally, while billfishing. Huge swells, all of us were chumming over the side. I look at my friend and burst out laughing because without question he had a noticable green hue to his face. It didn’t last beyond him being sick though, which was a pity because it was a real pick me up. ---
**Author:** ![Vihaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-human-flesh-actually-green/518488/32 "2009-11-24T17:13:24Z")
I think it might look green-ish, but mostly it seems that way because of the contrasting redness. If you take an albino rat and perfuse it with saline, replacing all the blood, the eyes go white, the arteries look white, the liver turns a tan color, the intestines and lungs turn white, and the skin goes whiter than it was before, but the muscles are still pink, though paler than they were. Since human muscle is made of the same basic bits as rat muscle, it’s probably that paler pink color, unless we’re missing some of the blood when we perfuse. (Possible, but we do get enough of it out to avoid antibodies staining the blood vessels in CNS tissue.) ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-human-flesh-actually-green/518488/33 "2009-11-24T17:22:53Z")
Oh! I thought the OP was about being “green” as in environmentally sustainable. Human flesh is, of course, good for providing nutrients and worm food when planted in the ground, nalthough cremation uses a lot of energy and doesn’t do much. Living human flesh is not at all green, and in fact is one of the least green things on the planet. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-human-flesh-actually-green/518488/34 "2009-11-25T17:38:02Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > Then I read Stephen King’s _On Writing_ a few years ago, and he mentioned his mother describing a jumper to him, and referred to the colour green. What does a sleeveless dress, or alternatively a sweater, have to do with human flesh? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-human-flesh-actually-green/518488/35 "2009-11-25T20:17:01Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > What does a sleeveless dress, or alternatively a sweater, have to do with human flesh? I was wondering this too. ---
**Author:** ![Kingspades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecae2f/32.png) [@Kingspades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kingspades)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-human-flesh-actually-green/518488/36 "2009-11-25T21:00:32Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > What does a sleeveless dress, or alternatively a sweater, have to do with human flesh? I’m guessing, in this case, it means someone who committed suicide by jumping off a building. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-human-flesh-actually-green/518488.md?page=1)