Pills that claim to tan you from within could lead to blindness and melanoma, doctors warn

In a never-ending battle against the sticky feeling, people are roasting themselves in the sun, covering their bodies in fake tan and now taking tanning pills.

Carter Gottlieb, a doctoral candidate at Saint Louis University School of Medicine who avoids the sun and “lives like a vampire,” said he takes two supplements — astaxanthin and lycopene — to make himself look tan.

After taking the pills for two months, Mr. Gottlieb said he began to notice that his skin looked sun-kissed.

“It’s subtle, but people never told me my skin was glowing, and now they do,” he said.

But experts warn against these types of pills because the active ingredient in many of them is called canthaxanthin can damage the liver and build up in your retina, affecting your vision, said Dr. Alexis Young, a dermatologist at Hackensack University Medical Center.

Mr. Gottlieb, a doctoral candidate at Saint Louis University, said he takes a combination of two pigment molecules — lastaxanthin and lycopene — every day to give himself a reddish hue, despite never being in the sun.

Additionally, these supplements do not provide protection against harmful UV rays and may give users a false sense of security while out in the sun, which could increase the risk of developing skin cancer.

“The ingredients can make your skin even more sensitive to sunlight, making you more susceptible to sunburn and possible skin cancer,” says Dr. Young.

Some of the popular brands featured on social media include MyTan Bronze Tanning Pills, GlowSci’s tanning gummies and GlowMe pop-up – which cost $27, $59 and $35 respectively.

There have been no side effects directly related to these brands – and none of them actually list canthaxanthin as an ingredient on their label – but Dr. Young advises against these types of supplements altogether, mainly due to antioxidant concerns.

They contain a similar molecule called astaxanthin.

It’s true that taking these supplements daily will likely help you change your skin color, but it may deviate from your desired bronze color and leave you with an orange or even purplish tint. Dr. Andrea Suarezsaid a board-certified dermatologist from Houston, Texas, in a TikTok.

Ms Fionn warned against using tanning pills and said she does not understand why she was taking them. “Don’t take tanning pills,” she said in her TikTok.

People have shared their unfortunate pigment changes online. TikTok user Sona Fionnsaid she took these pills constantly in the early 2000s, and said she looks back and wonders why she took them because they “turned her orange.”

Canthaxanthin is a molecule similar to beta-carotene, the pigment that gives carrots their orange color. It is often used on farms to make the color of salmon meat and egg yolks more vibrant.

Your skin color is determined by both the natural brown, pink and red pigments our bodies produce and the nutrients you eat.

When you eat canthaxanthin, a reddish pigment, your body processes it and then deposits that color in your skin, creating even more of a red hue.

Are has been approved by the FDA in small quantities as a dietary supplement and is said to support eye and joint health. But the amount you need to take to see a change in skin color is potentially dangerous. said Dr Mohiba Tareen.

Studies have shown Taking this additive in large amounts can cause muscle cramps, vomiting and allergic reactions, Dr. Tareen added.

Canthaxanthin is also an antioxidant, a type of nutrient that your body can use to fight against cellular damage that leads to cancer.

Although antioxidants can help your skin recover from the sun, they don’t protect against its harmful effects the way sunscreen does, Dr. Suarez said.

Despite this, some users online claim that taking these pills can actually serve as a natural sunscreen, but Dr. Suarez argued against this, adding: ‘PLease, please, please do not rely on any dietary supplement as an alternative or replacement for proper sun protection.’

Additionally, taking more than your body can process can put a strain on your organs, especially your liver, because it’s responsible for filtering all the nutrients in your blood, Dr. Young said.

According to ophthalmologists, taking large amounts of canthaxanthin outside your liver has been shown to cause small, crystal deposits in the lining of the eye. Wright State University.

These crystals, even though small, can damage the blood vessels that support the retina, leading to vision changes and blindness.

Fortunately, the Wright State University researchers wrote, these effects usually go away when a person stops using canthaxanthin.

All told, these pills pale in comparison to other low-risk options, such as sunscreen, Dr. Young said. Instead of the pills, she recommends tanning lotions that use a chemical called dihydroxyacetone (DHA), which reacts with the skin’s surface to produce a natural tan.

Regardless of which synthetic tanning option you choose, you should add a broad-spectrum sunscreen to your routine to protect against sunburn, cancer and premature aging, Dr. Young said.