Carrots and the Sun

Beta-carotene is effective as sunburn protector¹

_{Comments courtesy of Dr Shaun Holt from www.naturalhealthreview.org}

The facts:

►Dietary supplementation with beta-carotene appears to provide a degree of sun protection, according to the pooled results of seven studies.

►In the studies, the protective effects of beta-carotene increased as the duration of supplementation increased.

►Nutritional protection against sun induced skin damage is increasingly being recommended to the general public.

Dr Shaun Holt: Often the best way to see if a treatment works is to gather up all the studies that have assessed it and add the results – a meta-analysis. This meta-analysis found a definite beneficial effect from beta-carotene in protecting against sunburn and of particular interest was the finding that the longer the beta-carotene is taken for, the greater the protection, with at least 10 weeks of supplementation needed for an effect. Beta-carotene is a highly coloured precursor of vitamin A.

MoleMap: This study appears to endorse the use of beta-carotene for a continuous period of at least 10 weeks prior to sun exposure to reduce sunburn.  Given it is now July, starting supplementation now may afford some benefits when things start to warm up again.  MoleMap advises that while the use of dietary supplements may be a useful adjunct, it should not replace the recommended sun-protective behaviours:

►Slip on some sun-protective clothing – that covers as much skin as possible
►Slop on broad spectrum, water resistant SPF30+ sunscreen. Put it on 20 minutes before you go outdoors and every two hours afterwards. Sunscreen should never be used to extend the time you spend in the sun.
►Slap on a hat – that protects your face, head, neck and ears
►Seek shade
►Slide on some sunglasses – make sure they meet Australian Standards

_{1. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-1097.2007.00253.x}