☀️What If Humans Could Photosynthesize?

Imagine never needing to buy groceries again. No hunger, no food shortages—just stand in the sun and "eat" light like a plant.

Sounds like a dream, right? Well… not so fast. If humans had chlorophyll in their skin, our lives would change dramatically—but not in the ways you’d expect.

☀️ Photosynthesis Is… Kind of Useless for Us?

Plants survive on photosynthesis because they don’t move. They sit in the sun all day, using minimal energy while slowly making food.

Humans? We’re metabolic machines. Even if we had perfect chlorophyll-powered skin, here’s what would happen:

• Standing naked in direct sunlight for 10 hours would only give us about 240 calories , that’s less than a small bag of chips.

• An average human needs 2,000+ calories per day. Meaning? You’d starve to death unless you ate actual food.

Sorry, but your dream of living off sunlight like a houseplant? It’s DOA. ☠️

💨 Would We Still Need Oxygen? Umm Yess and actually a lot !

• Plants produce their own oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis.

• But humans wouldn’t make enough to survive because our bodies burn energy much faster than plants.

• The best-case scenario? You’d reduce your breathing rate by 10% at most. Not exactly groundbreaking.

🌿 Would We Even Be Green? Probably Not.

Forget turning into a Hulk-like superhuman , our photosynthesis would be... patchy.

• People in sunny areas? Maybe a tint of green on their face and arms.

• Office workers? Stuck in artificial lighting? They’d be pale with random green patches.

• Shift workers? Imagine someone cycling between green and white every few months like a human chameleon.

Basically, we’d look like badly dyed t-shirts. Not ideal.

🔥 The Real Superpower: Surviving Starvation?

Now, here’s where it gets interesting.

While photosynthesis wouldn’t replace food, it could help us survive extreme conditions:

• Lost in the wilderness? You’d last a few extra days without food, thanks to those small bursts of energy.

• Trapped underground? Instead of starving in 3 weeks, maybe you’d make it to a month.

• Space colonization? Mars doesn’t have a Taco Bell—but if we could absorb every bit of available light, we might just make food rations last longer.

So while photosynthesis wouldn’t make you superhuman, it might keep you alive just a little longer.

Final Thought: Evolution’s Biggest L?

Nature actually tried to give animals photosynthesis.

Sea slugs, spotted salamanders, and some corals already do it , but even they can’t survive on sunlight alone.

If evolution thought photosynthesizing humans was a good idea, we’d already have it. Spoiler: It doesn’t work.

Would you still take green skin and sun-powered snacks for a tiny energy boost? Or are we better off just eating like normal? 🌞🥗

🚀 Stay curious, stay wild.
— The What If? Digest Team