A day at the beach got you looking like a lobster?
Combatting sunburn with high dose vitamin D may leave you feeling cool as a cucumber, according to a new doubleblind placebo-controlled trial. Twenty study participants received 50,000, 100,000 or 200,000 IU of vitamin D or placebo one hour after their inner arm was ‘sunburnt’ by a UV lamp.
When examined 24, 48, 72 hours and 1 week later; those who consumed the highest doses showed less skin inflammation 48 hours post-burn. Participants with the highest blood levels of vitamin D (equivalent to 100 nmol/L) had less skin redness and a spike in gene activity relating to skin repair. This early stage research doesn’t mean we should stop holding onto our hats, but is a pertinent reminder that all the cool kids have healthy vitamin D levels!
Reference: Scott JF, Das LM, Ahsanuddin S, Qiu Y, Binko AM, Traylor ZP, et al. Oral vitamin D rapidly attenuates inflammation from sunburn: an interventional study. J Invest Dermatol. 2017 May 30. DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2017.04.040.
