Which Tanning Advice Should You Follow?

To Tan Or Not To Tan – That Is The Question!

Actually, the question is rather – of all the many advice on tanning, which should you follow?

I am sure you have heard and probably also are following the mainstream advice about tanning that goes like this:

“You should tan only before 10 AM or after 3 PM. Avoid being in the sun in the middle of the day when the sun is strongest. Apply sunscreen with high SPF before you go into the sun and re-apply every two hours.”

That is the mantra repeated diligently during at least 30 years by media, health-authorities, and cancer-councils as their best recommendation of how to reduce the risk of skin cancer.

Their theory is that burns from intermittent sun-exposure can increase the risk of skin damage and that this advice will help you avoid sunburn.

The problem is that there is no evidence that following this rule actually does reduce the risk of skin cancer.

There is, however, plenty of proof that it does wrinkle your skin and cause premature aging.

If you compare the two images below, which of the persons on the images would you guess have followed (albeit unknowingly) the mainstream advice from dermatologists and health-authorities and who do you think has followed the advice about healthy tanning from the Tanning Guru?

Tanning-advice

The man in the image to the left is, as reported in the Huffington Post, the truck driver Bill McElligott, 69.

According to The New England Journal of Medicine, Bill has unilateral dermatoheliosis (i.e. photo aging) from UVA-rays rays transmitted through the window of his delivery truck during 28 years spent driving.

The guy to the right is Göran Olson, 60, also known as “The Tanning Guru” and the author of The Tanning Blog.

Goran is a dedicated sun-lover who has tanned regularly both outdoors and indoors (in tanning beds) for more than 40 years. Yet his face-complexion comes out better than 91% of other men’s faces in the huge database included in the software in a camera/computer skin-analyzer. (The analysis was made at a longevity-exhibition in Moscow, Russia and that’s why the text is in Russian. The expensive test-equipment and its database is from the USA)

Here is the full set of images from the skin-analyzer. As you can see, Goran scores better than average on all eight measures.

Tanning-advice_skin-analysis

Why driving a truck and following the mainstream tanning advice can give the same photo-damage to your skin

Now you may think that truck-driver Bill did not use any sunscreen and that’s why his face got damaged. However, in practice, the resulting UVA exposure is exactly the same as if he would have followed the commonly accepted mainstream advice about how to tan (except, maybe, for some minor amounts of skin-caring ingredients that might be included in a sunscreen lotion of decent quality).

The tanning-advice from sunscreen manufacturers, dermatologists, and health-authorities guarantees that you will only expose your skin to UVA-rays and no UVB. In the morning and late afternoon, the sun is too low in the sky for its shorter UVB-rays to reach the earth. And an SPF-lotion effectively (98% already from SPF 8) filters away any UVB-rays and let through only UVA just like the glass-window of Bill’s delivery-truck.

Therefore, next time you look in the mirror and see some wrinkles on your face, don’t think that you have used too little sunscreen but rather that you have used too much and too often.

Deliberate tanning needs the knowledge to become healthy

If Bill McElligott’s UVA tanning is accidental, Göran’s tanning habits are more deliberate. Maybe not all the time from during his childhood days in the fifties and early sixties when being in the sunshine was a natural part of every summer’s pleasures, but definitely later in life.

However, it is not until during the last three-four years that Göran started to be more conscious about his tanning. For some time he even thought of adhering to all the warnings in the media about the dangers of sun-exposure and UV-exposure from tanning beds. He even thought that maybe his parents, teachers, doctors, and medical authorities during the earlier years of his life were wrong when they told him and his siblings to be in the sun as much as possible.

Being curious about from where the warning-messages about sunlight and indoor tanning really came, he began the research which leads to the dramatic disclosures you can read about on this site: www.tannersrights.com.

If tannersrights.com is dedicated to telling the truth about how we are being manipulated by manufacturers of sun-protection cosmetics to believe that tanning is lethal, The Tanning Blog focuses on giving advice on how to use the UV-light in the sunshine and from tanning beds to make us healthier.

In “The Tanning Blog”, Goran describes how he uses regular and moderate tanning in order to keep his vitamin D level high all year round and how you can do the same without any increased photo-aging or risk of other skin-problems.

His latest article about the secrets of UV-light for healthy tanning is a must-read for everyone who wants to use sunlight and tanning beds to improve their health.

Now, please share your best tanning advice for healthy tanning in the comments below …

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47 Comments

  4. “Therefore, next time you look in the mirror and see some wrinkles on your face, don’t think that you have used too little sunscreen but rather that you have used too much and too often” — Best thing I’ve read the whole day!

    Couldn’t agree with you any more!

  5. Very good informative post. I think, surely those will be useful for our skin. In my reason tanning is an ordinary issue. But most of the people does not able to select the rights steps. Your post must be helpful for those people. Thank you for your sharing.

  9. Thanks you
    Blog Great
    You should also know that the sun-fear actually was meant to cover also (and maybe mainly) UVA. Here is a quote from an article about that …

    In 1982, Recherché L’Oréal patented Mexoryl SX, “an ultra-powerful anti-UVA, that revolutionises sun protection.”

    It is interesting to note that L’Oréal’s scientists seemingly already knew in 1982 that exposure to the UVA component in sunlight was more damaging than exposure to UVB.

  11. amazing post i would like to recommend you some more stuff included in your wonderful blog that has got so much potential to become one of the very best in the business.

  18. A very good article on tanning, actually people like us didn’t look up the warning signs while going for tanning. You have just solved some major issue and there are more but these tips are very helpful for first-time people or wanna know more. At last, I would thank you for this amazing post.

  19. amazing post i would like to recommend you some more stuff included in your wonderful blog that has got so much potential to become one of the very best in the business.

  20. A very good article on tanning, actually people like us didn’t look up the warning signs while going for tanning. You have just solved some major issue and there are more but these tips are very helpful for first-time people or wanna know more. At last, I would thank you for this amazing post.

  22. Great tanning advice you gave. before reading this guide. I stand at 1pm to 2pm to tan. but thanks god you told that has the warning period. Hereafter i will stand after 3pm.

  26. we apply on our skin gets absorbed and is transferred to our blood stream. Use of chemical based products loaded with paraffin, alcohol, mineral oils, Parabens lead to skin damage and many harmful side effects. Thus, we should switch to natural products and be careful about what we apply on our skin.

  29. Sunbathing is the best thing because you get vitamin D which is very less in human beings. Apart from that, It is also good for mental health. Thanks for this awesome post.

  31. Consumers must still read labels to ensure they getting a broad-spectrum product, but every drugstore has them now. It’s misleading to infer that NO sunscreen is adequately protective, and that all sunscreen is problematic.

  32. It looks like theres a lot of pro tanners here, but I think going to a tanning booth is something you have to be really careful with.

    I’ve never been in one, however I just had to visit a dermatologist from skin damage from normal sun exposure.

    Not saying don’t do it, just be careful.

  33. Just wantt to say your article is as surprising.
    The clarity to your put up is simply nice
    and i can suppose you’re a professional inn
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    Thank you a million and please keep up the gratifying work.

  36. I actually have some fans on a facebook page related to this stuff. I’ll share your post with them and see what they have to say. I’m sure they’ll love it though.

  37. Very Good artilce, will informative and greatly fascinating. Such piece of work to share out. Keep up the good work of blogging such articles i like your ideas and instuctions allow me to share out.

  39. Well, I am from India and tanning is not a boon in our country. Basically, it is already too hot to handle heat in summers here.

    I was greatly astonished to come across this post while researching the remedies for tanning. Funny thing is, how one thing can have two different versions.

    Regards
    Bhanu

  42. Thanks Al, for your description of a holistic approach to UV-exposure. Good that you too have identified smoking as a main culprit for premature ageing of skin. I agree 110% with your recommendations and hope that many of the readers of this post will adhere to them.
    Goran

  43. Hi Teresa, I have been a tanner for some nearly 50 years, I am 64 now, and I have found that there are 4 main ways to minimize UVA induced photo-aging of the skin.
    # 1. Eat a good diet loaded with a broad range of antioxidants ie. lots of fruit and veggies and I also take a very high quality range of supplements from Amway. Their supplements are extracted from fruit,veggies and herbs grown on their own certified organic farms. In order to maintain maximum potency of the nutrients the crops are processed and bottled in 24 hours or less. Antioxidants protect you body’s cells from all kinds of environmental damage including oxidative stress from UVA rays. This is basically the same process that the UVA rays induce when they cause melanin to oxidize and turn brown similar to the rusting process.
    #2. Utilize tanning lamps that are of 5% to 10% UVB output. This will shorten the length of time that you need to stay in the tanning bed or booth to make a full dose of vitamin d and thereby lessen the photo-aging effect of the UVA rays.
    #3. Don’t smoke, this not only introduces hundreds of toxins into your body, but lungs coated with tar cannot provide good oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange. Also, carbon monoxide binds with RBC’s (red blood cells) so strongly that they are thereafter of no use to the body for O2 and CO2 transport. One other point, nicotine is a vaso-constrictor, that is it constricts your body’s arteries including those supplying blood to your skin. This prevents nutrients, antioxidants and O2 from getting to your skin and leaves your skin less healthy overall and less able to defend against and repair UV induced damage. Also drink plenty of good quality water and make sure you get plenty of sleep as this is when our body’s do most of the repair work.
    #4. Use a high quality tanning lotion as Goran said, the better ones are loaded with lots of vitamins and antioxidants. They also make your skin more translucent thus allowing more light to enter the skin more efficiently. They also help to maintain a barrier to moisture loss that can really dry out your skin especially when tanning in the winter when the relative humidity is very low and the tanning bed fans are blowing warm dry air over your body. Dry skin lacks the intercellular fluid needed to transport the oxygen and nutrients for maximizing the tanning process, as well as the delivery of the protective antioxidants and the cholesterol needed for the photochemical reaction to produce vitamin d. Oh and also never allow yourself to burn. Enjoy the benefits of the sun’s rays daily if possible, especially around solar noon outdoors weather permitting and otherwise indoors, but respect its power.
    -Al Sellen

  44. Great Blog!
    In my opinion sun bathing (and in winter times: tanning beds) are crucial for physical health and mental well being.
    But I’m still concerned about getting wrinkles. I’m really torn between the decision to use sunbeds or vitamin D supplements.. ( I know that the sun effects a lot more than just vitamin D synthesis)
    Of course, you have great skin but there are a lot examples with horrible skin coniditon due to UV exposure and photo aging is a fact.
    I am really lost 🙁

  45. You should also know that the sun-fear actually was meant to cover also (and maybe mainly) UVA. Here is a quote from an article about that …

    In 1982, Recherché L’Oréal patented Mexoryl SX, “an ultra-powerful anti-UVA, that revolutionises sun protection.”

    It is interesting to note that L’Oréal’s scientists seemingly already knew in 1982 that exposure to the UVA component in sunlight was more damaging than exposure to UVB.

  46. Hi Sabina, and thanks for your comment.

    The fact that the advice from dermatologists now slowly is changing towards the use of broad-spectrum sunscreens, does not dilute the fact that they have been wrong in their advice during more than 30 years.

    And, that is why I put the question, why should we trust them now?

    You should also know that the sun-fear actually was meant to cover also (and maybe mainly) UVA. Here is a quote from an article about that …

    In 1982, Recherché L’Oréal patented Mexoryl SX, “an ultra-powerful anti-UVA, that revolutionises sun protection.”
    ……..
    It is interesting to note that L’Oréal’s scientists seemingly already knew in 1982 (taking into account their patent as described above) that exposure to the UVA component in sunlight was more damaging than exposure to UVB. It was, however, UVB (the rays that gives us Vitamin D), that was to be presented as the main threat in the sun-scare campaign.
    And why was that so?
    It was probably because no natural occurrence could be found that might be used as a motivation for an increased threat from UVA. There was, however, a very useful event coinciding with the start of sun-scare, namely the public warnings about a thinning ozone layer.
    The ozone layer filters only UVB, while it has hardly any influence on UVA. A supposedly thinning ozone layer was therefore heavily used in the very successful inauguration of sun-scare in Australia. Sunshine suddenly became much more dangerous in the minds of the Australian public.

    Read more: http://www.tannersrights.com/the-creation-of-the-sun-scare/#ixzz2Ql69l6Co

    Actually, I might now add that since L’Oréal became the largest owner in Sanofi, one of the largest producers of cancer-treatments, maybe it also became more important to keep us away from the UVB which can give us vitamin D and maybe even us healthy enough to reduce their profit?

    Whatever anyone is trying to prove in order to scare us away from the sun, the fact is that the sun has not become more dangerous than it has been during thousands of years of human development. Just think about it, if sunshine would be as dangerous as we now are being told, how come we are still here to debate this issue? How did our parents , grandparents, great grandparents and so on cope before sunprotection cosmetics were invented? Don’t forget that they spent most of their time outdoors.

  47. This is actually not true of most sunscreens today, which DO protect against UVA as well as UVB, provided they are “broad spectrum” (meaning they must contain either zinc or titanium dioxide, and/or avobenzone (Parsol 1789 or otherwise known as butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane).

    It’s true that, for many years, sunscreens only provided UVB protection, and it’s speculated that most of the issues were with people staying in the sun too long (since they didn’t burn) while still incurring massive UVA damage. In recent years, however, many sunscreen formulas have caught up and improved. Consumers must still read labels to ensure they getting a broad-spectrum product, but every drugstore has them now. It’s misleading to infer that NO sunscreen is adequately protective, and that all sunscreen is problematic.

    BTW, I have no vested interest either way, and enjoy learning about ways in which UV exposure can be beneficial, but it’s important to stick to facts and not refer to outdated information, or you risk losing credibility.

    Thanks for providing the opportunity to comment.

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