SolveYourProblem Article Series: Sunless Tanning
Enjoy a Healthy Looking Tan All Year Long
With A Sunless Tan

Tanning Accelerators

For a speedier tan, you might elect to try a tanning accelerator. Generally sold as lotions or pills, these products list an amino acid called tyrosine as an ingredient. This amino acid is reported (but not proven) by some users to increase the production of melanin, speeding up the tanning process. Again, these are not FDA-approved solutions or drugs.

Other Tanning Pills / Vitamin D

A different type of sunless tanning pill on the market today lists canthaxanthin, a color additive for food, as an ingredient. The FDA has approved this substance for use in foods (and only in small amounts). However, as with tyrosine, canthaxanthin has NOT been approved by the FDA. In actuality, to tan with this, you will need large amounts. And the results will likely be an orange/brown colored tan, and possible side effects are hepatitis or a retinopathic condition with yellow deposits forming in eye’s retina.

Some people worry about a vitamin D deficiency when using sunless tanning products and staying out of the direct sunlight. And they reach for supplements or increase their intake of foods that contain Vitamin D. Others turn to outdoor tanning for longer periods thinking that this will help them benefit more from increased exposure, more vitamin D. However, the scoop is the average person doesn’t need to be out in the sun that long to get the recommended vitamin D amount needed via their body’s absorption. Depending upon genetics, skin coloring, region and climate, for example, a person only needs between five and maybe 10-15 minutes per day, around the middle of the day, three or four times during the week. Less can work for those in warmer, sunnier regions.

Tanning Lamps / Indoor Tanning Tips

Tanning booths and lamps, unfortunately, can have the same bad effects on the body as direct sunlight. The equipment emits UV rays that are just as damaging as the sun’s. Some safety measures to take when using this type of equipment are to

1. closely monitor sessions,
2. keep to the minimum number and timed lengths that are recommended,
3. don’t book sessions more frequent than every-other day,
4. ALWAYS wear recommended safety eyewear,
5. follow safety and other directions that come with the equipment
6. and do place some sort of protection like a thin piece of acrylic between your body and tanning lamps. (Check for this possibility with booths, too, by asking the host or reading the equipment’s instruction booklet).

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