Tanning Pills

The myth of tanning pills remains one of the most difficult to debunk, and it is really pervading among sun-free cosmetic treatments.

They have grown popular on a market that encourages and promotes their use as supplements by all means possible, from magazines, ads and web pages to campaigns in drug stores. Tanning pills are known as dietary supplements but they are not FDA approved and they all include the disclaimer that they are not designed to treat, cure or prevent any ailment whatsoever. It has happened several times that the tanning pills safety should become subject for controversial debates, but no decisive measures have been adopted to decrease their use. What efficiency rate do tanning pills have? What is their safety level?

Knowing the main factors that have an impact on tan formation could turn out to be helpful for the understanding of the mechanism behind tanning pills and their efficiency or lack of efficiency. This means that anatomical predisposition and the level of exposure to ultraviolets are the two main elements that put their imprint on tanning. As for nutrition, diet has a very light word to say in the matter of getting tanned. Take the example of a fair-skinned Caucasian person; regardless of how many tanning pills she/he will use, tanning will still be a challenge given the low melanin presence in the skin cells.

The main ingredient of some tanning pills is canthaxanthin, usually added to foods for its coloring properties. Though the Food and Drug Agency has approved this use, not the same thing can be said about the assimilation of cantharxanthin as a tanning factor. The disapproval comes from the fact that in food, only a small amount of chemical is necessary, whereas in tanning pills, very large concentrations have to be added. The effect of the chemical consists in the depositing of the substance under the skin layers giving it the brown orange-brown color; unfortunately, serious adverse reactions are related to the administration of this kind of tanning pills.

Liver disease cases have been related to the use of canthaxanthin tanning pills; FDA forbid these products and issued warnings in relation to their use. Another kind of tanning pills that are in the test phase in Australia rely on the hormonal stimulation of the secretion of melanin; it appears that this drug is more effective when combined with UV exposure too. Besides these two drug variants, there are all sorts of herbal supplements labeled tanning pills. Yet, nutrition does not seem to play such an important role in the quality of the tan, and thus the efficiency level of tanning pills remains pretty low.