Maybe you’ve seen them: oral sunscreen pills formulated with ingredients that claim to prevent photoaging and sun damage from the inside. Some contain vitamins, prebiotics, and cysteine which—when combined with topical sun protection—are said to help block UV rays.
Sunscreen in pill form? Sounds tempting—especially if you’re the type who forgets to reapply their topical sunscreen every few hours. But what are these so-called sunscreen pills and do they really work? Here, a deep dive into the truth about sunscreen pills.
Why is sun protection important?
As anyone with a vitamin D deficiency knows, it’s important to receive the sun’s natural light. However, you don’t need a ton of it—and it’s definitely not a good idea to go without sun protection most of the time, especially if you plan to be outside during peak mid-day hours.
“Sun exposure in limited amounts, such as 10 to 15 minutes per week on exposed skin (face, neck, hands) provides sufficient vitamin D from the sun for most patients,” explains Dr. Dawn Davis, a dermatologist at Mayo Clinic, who emphasizes the importance of protecting your skin from too much sun. “Sun protection is important to reduce the risk of skin cancer and also to reduce photoaging, which is sun-related skin damage such as wrinkles and spots,” she explains. To that end, she says that dietary sources like dairy products and fortified cereals are great ways to amp up your vitamin D intake without fear of sun damage.
Do oral sunscreen pills work?
We all know sun protection is important—and there are more options than you probably realized: “There are two types of sunscreens: chemical blockers that absorb UV light from the sun and physical blockers that reflect UV light from the sun,” Davis explains.
“The main advantage of orally-administered chemophotoprotectors, compared to topical sunscreens or even topical chemophotoprotectors, is that they have a systemic effect which can provide uniform protection throughout the skin,” explains Dr. Erika Aguilar of the clinic Belle & Health in Mexico City. She points out that there have been recent studies showing the effects of some naturally-derived chemophotoprotectors: “Polypodium leucotomos, an extract from the leaves of camellia sinensis, offers a relevant chemo-photoprotective profile.”