Recently I was asked why I believe getting sun on your skin is better for you than taking vitamin D supplements. The answer is simple. The body converts the sunlight it receives into the vitamin D it requires which is a naturally occurring reaction that has been happening for centuries.
Taking oral vitamin D, I believe has no effect, thus we are now seeing the rise of vitamin D deficiency due to sun protection products. Don’t get me wrong, overexposure to the sun can cause serious health problems and we should strive for a happy medium.
This conversation led on to self-tanning products and the claims they are natural, naturally derived or completely organic.
In my opinion, to make these claims, the product needs to contain all natural and or organic materials only. From my knowledge of this market, none of the brands I know are truly natural or organic. They all contain synthetically produced ingredients labelled “naturally derived” and surprisingly, the active ingredient in these types of product, dihydroxyacetone (DHA), is completely synthetic and does not appear in nature.
DHA is created in a chemical reaction by the oxidation of glycerol with hydrogen peroxide and a metal salt as a catalyst. It can also be synthetically produced from glycerol using cationic palladium-based catalysts with oxygen, air or benzoquinone acting as co-oxidant.
Essentially, not a plant material in sight. Natural and organic? DEFINITELY not.
On further investigation of DHA, I was shocked to find several clinical assessments stating “that there is no clear, safe use of DHA-containing sunless tanning products. The chemical reactions that occur during the Maillard reaction caused by DHA in sunless tanning products may cause DNA damage. This DNA damage seen with the use of DHA in sunless tanning products can cause diseases in the human body. Increasing evidence suggests that DHA contained in sunless tanning products causes changes in pigmented lesions”.
I have one thing to say to summarise the above- transparency, please!
