Sunbeds are this year's most dangerous wellness trend, but can they ever have benefits?
But according to recent stats from Melanoma Focus, the artificial tanning devices appear to be increasing in popularity with Gen Z, with 43% of 18 to 25-year-olds admitting to using sunbeds in a survey.
One possible explanation for their resurgence? A TikTok trend that's seen the UV light-loaded beds rebranded as a 'healthy' part of everyday wellness routines, with some tanning shops using the platform to market dubious claims about their benefits.
Some videos on the platform state that using sun beds regularly can increase your intake of vitamin D, support immunity, help you to regulate a healthy sleep wake cycle and naturally increase mood-boosting endorphins.
But is there any truth to these statements? We asked a dermatologist to weigh in on the matter, explaining if sunbeds can ever spell good news for your health.
Given that sunlight helps our bodies manufacture the majority of our vitamin D, it sounds plausible to suggest that tanning beds, which mimic the suns rays, could give us a mood-boosting dose of the sunshine vitamin.
However, this theory appears to be largely a myth. A 2019 overview of the claims, published by the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, concluded that while the UV light from sun beds can temporarily increase vitamin D levels in the blood, this boost is typically short-lived.
The researchers say that the reason is because there's a marked difference between the UV you soak up on holiday and the rays you get from a tanning bed.
Sunlight emits UVB radiation, a type of invisible ray that interacts with a protein called 7-DHC in the skin, converting it into vitamin D3. Sunbeds, meanwhile, contain concentrated UVA radiation, which does not effectively trigger vitamin D synthesis.
"Getting enough vitamin D from tanning beds just isn't possible," stresses Dr Ross Perry, medical director of Cosmedics Skin Clinics. "Tanning beds use bulbs that emit mostly UVA light, while your body needs UVB light to produce vitamin D.
"To safely get enough vitamin D, simple exposure of 15 mins to arms and legs during the warmer months and a diet naturally rich in Vitamin D is all that is needed," he adds. The NHS also recommend everyone should consider taking a daily supplement vitamin D during the autumn and winter months.
If you're someone who tosses and turns until the early hours, the idea that a short session on a sunbed could 'reset' your body clock sounds appealing.
Some TikTok videos claim that controlled UV exposure from sunbeds can help regulate melatonin levels, which are crucial for sleep-wake cycles.
But while one 2015 study found that participants with SAD tended to naturally increase the frequency of their indoor tanning during the winter, there's currently no scientific evidence to suggest that sun beds can regulate melatonin production in a similar way to natural daylight.
"Despite claims that sunbeds might offer a 'safer' tanning method, they do not provide a safer alternative to natural sun exposure," says Dr Unnati Desai, national lead of GP Services at Nuffield Health. "In fact, the high intensity of UVA radiation makes them more dangerous than traditional sun exposure.
"Safe vitamin D synthesis occurs from normal daytime sunlight exposure, and vitamin D supplements or fortified foods are a safer option when necessary."
Ultimately, science tells us that there is no safe way to use sunbeds. Studies have found that the device's high intensity UV radiation can damage the DNA in your skin cells, leading to premature ageing and skin cancer, including melanoma, which is the most serious type of skin cancer.
Scientists reckon even one sunbed session can increase your risk of developing squamous cell skin cancer by 67% and basal cell skin cancer by 29%. People who start using sunbeds before the age of 35 also have a 75% increased risk of malignant melanoma.
"To be clear, there is no safe sunbeds use, and a deep tan is never 'healthy'," says Dr Sasha Dhoat, consultant dermatologist at Stratum Clinics. "Melanoma rates, the most dangerous and potentially fatal type of skin cancer are on the rise in the UK and it is thought around 100 deaths per year are linked with sunbed use."
If you like having a golden glow during the warmer months, cosmetic dermatologist Laura Geige says that applying a fake tan is a far safer way to achieve a bronzed look.
"I find the rise in sunbed use deeply concerning, especially under the guise of 'wellness'," she notes."We know that sunbeds are a direct carcinogen, classified by the World Health Organisation at the same risk level as tobacco and asbestos. So the idea that they offer meaningful benefits is not only misleading but also a dangerous distortion of science.
"In reality, I believe sunbeds offer accelerated skin aging, DNA mutations, and a significantly heightened risk of melanoma. Even a few sessions can cause irreversible genetic damage to skin cells."
Read more about tanning:
'I've battled skin cancer for 15 years after using sunbeds as a teenager' (Yahoo Life UK, 4-min read)
I loved suntanning, until I got skin cancer (Yahoo Life UK, 8-min read)
Should sun beds be banned? Doing so could prevent deadliest form of skin cancer (Yahoo Life UK, 5-min read)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
4 hours ago
- Forbes
Weighted Vests Are Now A Fitness Trend. Here's What You Need To Know
Should you get this on your chest as opposed to off it? You may have seen people wearing what are called 'weighted vests' while walking on hiking trails, treadmills or TikTok for that matter. These weighted vests kind of look like space-age versions of sweater vests but instead of ridicule they hold weights. The argument is that wearing such a vest can help build muscle and bone strength and endurance as well as help you burn more calories. In fact, some social media influencers have acted as if wearing weighted vests while walking is 'rucking' amazing. But before I weighed in on the matter, I decided to try a weighted vest workout myself. How Weighted Vests Are Being Incorporated Into Workouts I went to an Equinox Club in New York City to experience their 'Fully Vested' workout. You may have heard of the term 'rucking,' which as I indicated in Forbes a couple years ago has become quite popular on social media. If you are wondering where the ruck this term came from, it originated from a 'ruck march,' which is military term for a very brisk walk over rough terrain while wearing a rucksack. A rucksack is a backpack but larger with more compartments. Well, people have been using the word 'rucking' to represent any type of walk while wearing any type of weights. David Silk, who is the program and content director of Precision Running at Equinox and the author of the Ultimate Treadmill Workout, has developed a treadmill workouts with a weighted vest that fulfills this popular definition of rucking but is hesitant to use this term to describe this workout. He told me that he wants to respect the original military term. Instead, he calls his program 'Fully Vested' in part because it involves you wearing a weighted vest fully on your chest while walking on a treadmill. He told me that, 'Wearing the vest can result in a 10 to 15 percent increase in calories burned.' The first step was to put on what's called a Precision Vest, precisely because it can be adjusted to match your size, shape and desired weight. To adjust the last thing, the vest included a number of weight pockets. Each weight pocket allowed you to insert a 2.5 pound weight brick (a Micro Kettle Bell) and thus control how heavy you want to make the vest. Each pocket had a magnet that could keep the pocket closed so that you wouldn't throwing your weights around, so to speak. The vest also was comprised partly of memory foam for comfort and adjustable for different body sizes and shapes. Silk walked me through—or rather I walked through while he explained—a 25-minute segment of the workout on a treadmill. This included changes in the speed of my walking and the incline that I faced. He said that the workout could also include 'Fly segments,' where you'd strip off the vest and then start running, more like what you would do in his standard Precision Run class. Silk talked about how, 'You then feel very light and fast. It decompresses your body after it's been loaded.' I sort of went fly bye for this particular workout and stuck with wearing the weighted vest throughout. The Fly segment doesn't have to be part of the Fully Vested workout for anyone. In fact, the speeds and inclines that you go through and the weights that you carry or don't carry can be tailored to your needs, hence the concept of a precision workout. Silk described how the Fully Vested workout was being soft-launched at certain Equinox clubs to gather info to then adjust the program before a full launch. He said then regarding weighted vest use in general, 'I am seeing more posts and stories of people sharing their experience.' He said, 'What has been an emerging trend is now an accelerating trend.' Weighted Vests Could Help You Burn More Calories And Build Endurance One of the potential benefits of wearing a weighted vest while walking or doing other activities is what Silk mentioned, burning more calories. In theory, if you are increasing the effort needed, your body will need to expend more energy. Of course, the calories you burn will depend on the activity that you are doing, your own metabolism, the amount of weight you are carrying and other conditions. So, fittingly, there can't be a one-size-fits-all expectation when it comes to weighted vests and calorie burning. A similar situation applies to endurance. Since carrying more weight could make your walking or workouts harder, it could also help further build the endurance that you are trying to build. Again, how much more endurance you build depends on a many different factors. Weighted Vests Could Potential Help Build More Muscle Strength When you think lifting and carrying weight, you must think muscles as well. A weighted vest in theory should increase the work that your muscles do when walking. This should include the muscles that help you walk, including all those in your lower extremities, and the ones that keep you upright, such as you abs and glutes. If you are still harboring hopes of winning those Mr. or Ms. Olympia body-building contest, keep in mind that you start progressively losing muscle mass in your 30s, which means you have to progressively work harder at keeping up your muscles. Your muscles also play important roles in protecting your joints and in the case of your core muscles your spine from injury. To date, there have'n't been enough good quality scientific studies to tell exactly how much muscle strength a weighted vest will help build. Plus, the impact of the weighted vest likely depends on a number of factors such as your current muscle mass, the size and shape of your body, the type and intensity of the workout, the weight of the vest and the surrounding conditions like whether they are playing the Karate Kid movie song 'You're the Best' in the background. So, it is difficult to tell how a weighted vest workout might compare to other muscle building workouts. The answer may be different for different people, hence the 'p' word, meaning precision. Weighted Vests Could Potentially Help With Bone Health Then there are the skele-ton of other possibilities, that using weighted vests could help strengthen your bones or at least keep them strong. The evidence, though, for this is not yet super strong. But more on that later. To understand how weight-bearing could help your bones, you have to understand how your bones work. They aren't just static entities but instead are continuously undergoing bone formation and bone breakdown. In the earlier part of your life up to your mid-20s, the rate of bone formation typically exceeds the rate of bone breakdown, so that your bone density continues to increase over time. All of this changes around the age that you are finally able to join the Pony Club in the U.K., meaning when you are 25 years of age. After then, the rates of bone formation and breakdown tend to stay relatively equal so that your bone density remains relatively the same for a couple decades. Things change again around age 50, though, when the rate bone breakdown usually begins to exceed that of bone formation. This can mean a progressive loss in bone density over time. When your bone density drops below what's considered normal for your age, it's classified as osteopenia. Consider this a step before having osteoporosis. The lower your bone density in general, the more at risk you are for fractures throughout your body. If you start off with smaller and less dense bones, you may have less reserve when you start to lose bone density. Plus, going through menopause and the corresponding drop in estrogen levels can further accelerate bone loss as estrogen has a protective effect on your bones. All of this is why many training programs encourage weight-bearing and resistance exercises at any age. Such exercises can put appropriate amounts of stress on the bones—tolerable stress that will lead to some bone material breakdown that's followed by the bone material being built back up so that it's stronger and not intolerable stress that leads to fractures or your bones curling up in the corner and saying, 'I'm not worthy.' Therefore, in theory, a weighted vest could provide such 'good stress' to your bones like those comprising your spine, hips and lower extremities. A number of studies have supported the use of weight-bearing and resistance training in general to prevent bone loss and promote bone health. However, one may have a bone to pick about the studies on weighted vests specifically. For example, one study published in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy and another published in the The Journals of Gerontology: Series A did show promising results among post-menopausal women, suggesting that incorporating weighted vests into exercise programs was associated with less bone loss. However, these studies had relatively small numbers of participants. Another relatively small study of women from 30 to 60 years of age published in the Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand found no difference among those who wore weighted vests while walking versus those who didn't. The Risks Of Weighted Vests Ultimately, your choice of workouts should be a balance between what the potential benefits may be, whether you will actually do the workout and hwo risky the workout may be specifically for you. A weighted vest isn't the type of thing that will get others to say, 'OMG, how brave of you to try that.' You should be careful if you do have some kind of injury in any part of your body that may be affected by the vest, particularly your neck, shoulders or back. It's also better to play it safe and check with your doctor first if you lower bone density or some kind of muscle problem. Of course, the risks can depend heavily on the type of weighted vest that you are using. You don't want to just strap a bunch of barbells to a cashmere sweater vest and call it a weighted vest. Stick to a vest that's been specifically designed and tested for the workout that you will be engaging in and make sure that the vest truly fits you. Make sure that the weight in the vest is properly balanced as well. You shouldn't feel like the Leaning Tower of Pisa while walking. Should you want to try the weighted vest thing, think of the Eagles song and take it easy from the start. Be conservative about how much weight you want to carry. Remember what may seem like no big deal at the beginning of a workout may not be that way in the middle of or even later in the workout. You can always gradually up your weight over the next bunch of workouts if you are aiming to weighted vest trash talk at your next cocktail party. Stick to activities that are already part of an established and recommended weighted vest workout program. That certainly includes walking and walking on a treadmill. But you may not want to be playing weighted vest basketball or dancing weighted vest Oppan Gangnam Style just yet without proper guidance from a health professional. Keep in mind that while a properly fitting weighted should give you a fair amount of freedom of movement, you can't just do anything that you would do without wearing a weighted vest. Be particularly mindful of maintain balance of your body. Be very careful when bending or leaning over. Use the same precautions that would if you were carrying something such as bending your knees and firing your abs. Weighted vests do give you an other way to vary and enhance your workout. They certainly seem increasing in popualrity right now. One market report estimated the size of weighted vest market to be $205 Million in 2024 and expects this to grow to $350 million by 2033. However, when deciding how you should work out, remember to 'p'— meaning use precision. You've got to do what works for you specifically. That includes choosing a workouts that you are more likely to complete, ones that your are fully-vested-in to continue. And that may or may not include a weighted vest.
New York Post
8 hours ago
- New York Post
Mom and health nut-approved: This $13 ‘candy-like' multivitamin is my top pick for kids
New York Post may be compensated and/or receive an affiliate commission if you click or buy through our links. Featured pricing is subject to change. Taking care of your health is one thing. Making sure your kiddo is getting the best-of-the-best is a whole other ball game, and most parents agree — you shouldn't have to make any sacrifices. That's why I like SmartyPants Kids Multi & Omegas Gummies. As a toddler-mom and health and wellness writer, I've become extra particular when it comes to ingredients, testing, and labeling. SmartyPants is one of the few supplement brands that meet nearly all my requirements for a well-rounded, third-party tested kids' multivitamin — and now, ahead of Labor Day, a 60-pack supply is marked down to just $13 on Amazon. Reviewers rave about the 'adequate vitamin content,' sweet 'candy-like' taste, and mention notable improvements in their children's daily health after consistent use. 'I feel so much better knowing he's getting all these essential nutrients in just one serving,' one shopper explained. 'The ingredients are high quality, and I appreciate that it's made for kids 4 and up — no artificial colors or weird aftertaste. His energy and focus have improved, and even his pediatrician was happy with the choice.' Kids prefer the taste, parents say it works, and pediatricians approve. Really, what more could you ask for in a kids' multivitamin? Stock up on SmartyPants now, and save over 30% before Labor Day. Always consult your physician before starting a new supplement. Smarty Pants SmartyPants' clean-certified formula combines essential nutrients like vitamins B12, A, E, K1, iodine, and Omega-3s (DHA & EPA) to deliver the benefits of a multivitamin and omegas in one easy dose. The soft, tasty gummies are made with bioavailable, high-quality ingredients for better absorption. With nearly 30,000 purchases in the past month, many parents call them a 'game-changer' for supporting kids' bones, immunity, eye health, and everyday wellness. This article was written by Miska Salemann, New York Post Commerce Journalist. As a Gen Z first-time mother of one, Miska tests baby, maternity and postpartum products ranging from stylish new kids clothes to long-trusted diaper brands with her daughter. She evaluates baby- and mom-approved products for practicality and quality, and consults medical and parenting experts to weigh in on safe ingredients, usage and more. Before arriving at the Post, she covered the lifestyle and consumer verticals for the U.S. Sun.
Newsweek
9 hours ago
- Newsweek
Dog Manages to Show Dad She's Happy He's Home Without Losing Spot on Couch
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A golden retriever was delighted to see her dad had come home, but she really didn't want to get off the couch to show him that. Dev Erlich, an attorney based in New Jersey, adores her dog Skylar. "I've wanted a golden retriever ever since I was a little girl, so getting Skylar was a dream come true," she told Newsweek. Making that dream a reality was far from straightforward, though. It started with the search to find a responsible breeder. "There is a big issue where too many dogs end up in shelters. A contributing factor to that is backyard breeders who use poor breeding practices and bring dogs into this world with health and temperament issues that can be avoided had they bred responsibly," Erlich said. "Many of those dogs end up in shelters, being rehomed or causing unnecessary stress and heartache to their families," she added. Erlich spent countless hours learning how to find a responsible breeder and ultimately drove eight hours to pick up the dog she would come to know as Skylar. To this day, she considers that careful process the "best decision I ever made." "Skylar is that perfect golden retriever everyone dreams of," Erlich said. "She loves to train, play ball, swim, hike, chew a bone and, of course, cuddle—honestly, she's always really down to do just about anything." But, while Skylar is happy to do "just about anything," she is also conscious of prioritizing her own needs when it comes to all things self-care. Skylar's sleep is a good example of that. Research published in the journal Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews found that dogs require anywhere between 7.7 and 16 hours of sleep a day, depending on size and breed. Erlich said she isn't sure how much Skylar sleeps, but she knows that, come 8:30 p.m. most nights, her golden retriever "doesn't want to get up." "After a certain time of night, she gets extra lazy and doesn't want to move," Erlich said. "The girl needs her beauty sleep." That left Skylar facing something of a dilemma when her dad came home from work. It was a dilemma Erlich captured on camera, with the resulting footage shared to her TikTok @ Skylar loves her dad, though she doesn't necessarily show it in the way some more excitable dogs might. "Thankfully, Skylar doesn't get separation anxiety, so I wouldn't say she actively misses her dad when he's not home," Erlich said. "But, if I say his name, she definitely perks up and looks for him, especially when she knows he's due to come home soon." That day was a little different, though. Dad had come home late from work and, try as she might, Skylar couldn't muster the energy to go and greet him as he came through the front door. In her defense, Skylar had a great spot on the couch and looked supremely comfortable. She did find a way of letting him know she cared, though, by excitedly wagging her tail as he came into the room. Skylar's response did the trick, raising a laugh and smile between mom and dad while letting them know she had no plans to move. "It was a funny moment," Erlich said. "I just hope it makes people smile and see Skylar's sweet personality." Mission accomplished on both fronts.
