The Snack Chrissy Teigen Ate So Many Of, It Turned Her Lips Silver

Whether it's a food of your own creation or one of the 14 most popular snacks in the U.S., it can be difficult to limit yourself to a reasonable portion when partaking in your favorite snack food. TV personality and social media star Chrissy Teigen learned the consequences of prolonged grazing the hard way and, in an exclusive chat with Mashed, shared her tale of snacking gone wrong. We caught up with Teigen at an event honoring her collaboration with Maison Boursin, where Teigen amused us with an anecdote about the time she ate an inordinate amount of sunflower seeds and experienced a puzzling physical symptom.

According to Teigen, her lips turned silver after eating two bags of sunflower seeds. "I looked like ... What was it, Storm or something from one of those Marvel movies? It was a shiny silver coating," the star told us, referring to Ororo Munroe, aka Storm, an iconic member of Marvel's X-Men. Teigen explained, "Yeah. I love sunflower seeds a lot," when we expressed surprise at the volume of seeds she presumably consumed in one sitting. 

Sunflower seeds offer plenty of health benefits, like reducing inflammation and boosting heart health, but Teigen's experience shows that too much of a good thing can produce curious results. This isn't the first time the star has experienced a food-related health calamity, either — Teigen visited the hospital after filming a segment for "Hot Ones" due to injuries incurred while eating wings slathered in fiery hot sauce.

Eating the shells of sunflower seeds is not recommended, as the fibrous shells could lead to digestive issues and internal injuries. Based on Chrissy Teigen's experience, consuming too many shelled seeds may also be problematic from a health perspective. It should be noted that Teigen's complaint about her lips turning silver is not a common effect of eating sunflower seeds, and there's no information on why this may have occurred or examples of it happening to other enthusiastic snackers. When it comes to the possible risks of eating too many sunflower seeds, elevated sodium levels and excessive amounts of saturated fats are the most pressing concerns.

It's possible that Teigen experienced an allergic reaction to sunflower seeds, which can cause itchiness in the mouth. Sunflower seed allergies can also lead to oral allergy syndrome, which can cause the lips to swell. However, an allergy is unlikely in this case based on Teigen's professed love of sunflower seeds, as the star would experience symptoms every time she snacked on them if she was allergic. Whatever the reason for her discomfort, Teigen may enjoy sunflower seeds more conscientiously in the future. According to the social media star when speaking of her sunflower seed mishap, "It happens and it hurts."