Why You Shouldn’t Take Sunscreen Pills

Protecting ourselves from UV rays would be a lot easier if we could just pop a pill that would keep our skin safe from sunburns. This is apparently what a handful of skincare companies thought when they started marketing a digestible supplement that claimed to prevent sunburn, early skin aging, and skin cancer.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued warning letters to Advanced Skin Brightening Formula, Sunsafe Rx, Solaricare, and Sunergetic for marketing and selling so-called sun protection pills that are not deemed “safe and effective.”

“We’ve found products purporting to provide protection from the sun that aren’t delivering the advertised benefits. Instead they’re misleading consumers, and putting people at risk,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, in a statement. “Today we sent warning letters to companies illegally marketing pills and capsules labeled as dietary supplements that make unproven drug claims about protecting consumers from the harms that come from sun exposure without meeting the FDA’s standards for safety and effectiveness.”

According to dermatologist Jeanine Downie, MD, for the Huffington Post, sun protection pills are not completely bogus. They do, in fact, help diminish inflammation and cellular damage. However, they do not shield the skin from radiation or UV rays. If people are interested in additional protection from the sun in the form of a dietary supplement, Dr. Downie recommends Heliocare, a capsule made from Polypodium leucotomos extract, an ingredient derived from a Latin America fern that can lessen the effects of sun damage.