Myth Of "Healthy" Tan

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXVII, Issue 15057, 18 August 1949, Page 2

Myth Of "Healthy" Tan

Damage To Cells Deep

In Skin

Method Of Absorbing

Vitamin D

A sun tan may be desirable for cosmetic reasons, but. its relationship to physical well-being is tenuous.

True, some vitamin D may be absorbed into the body °y means of sunshine. But this vitamin, useful in building strong bones and teeth, can also be obtained by eating meat, eggs, or fish, or drinking milk or fish liver oil, says a writer in the "Ottawa Citizen." Except in the case of the oils, this method of absorbing vitamin D is not only efficient but has the added merit of being: palatable. But no doubt thousands of deluded persons will burn their skins to a crisp this summer in the belief that they will become healthier in the process.

Damage To Cells

Sunburn is caused when the short ultra-violet rays from the sun cause damage to cells deep in the skin. The result is what physicians describe as "irritation" although it seems more like agony to the sufferer similar to that received from an ordinary burn. Nothing healthy in that. During the process, the body throws out pigmentation, or colouring matter, which eventually becomes a tan.

If the pigmentation is uneven, the net result is freckles. The tan protects the skin from the short ultraviolet" rays, and consequently from further burning. Therefore, many people accept sunburn as protection from future burns against which they could just as' easily safeguard themselves by keeping their shirts on.

The sun's rays do not themselves give the body vitamin D. A fatty substance in the perspiration contains potential vitamin D. When exposed to the sun, this substance, called ergosterol, becomes activated, and is re-absorbed as vitamin D.

Take It Easy

If nothing else, however, a sun tan makes a person look fit. And for those so contrary that they prefer to get their vitamin D by burning in the sun rather than by eating a juicy steak, the best advice is to expose oneself for only 10 or 15 minutes the first day and to increase the rate of exposure gradually until a sufficient tan is developed to resist the assault of the short ultra-violet rays'.