More than 61,000 individuals die from melanoma each year in the United States alone. The disease is largely associated with exposure to the harmful rays of the sun. Health experts have been advocating for limited exposure to sunlight to reduce risks for skin cancer. If exposure is unavoidable, wearing of protective clothing and accessories as well as application of sunscreen is recommended.
The use of sunscreen, however, has apparently gone to a whole new level with the advent of a drinkable sunscreen. The product called UV Neutralizer Harmonized H20 is purported to be the first ever drinkable sunscreen that can protect users from the cancer-causing rays of the sun.
The UV Neutralizer Harmonized H20, which was developed by Osmosis Skincare founder Ben Johnson, supposedly works by making the water molecules under the skin surface to vibrate and emit frequencies that would neutralize the harmful frequencies generated by UVA and UVB radiation.
The product, which is available in 100-ml bottles and costs $30 each, claims to provide sun protection equivalent to that provided by an SPF 30 lotion for up to 3 hours. Health experts, however, are skeptical to product's claims.
For one, the supposed ability of the product to provide protection from the sun lacks support from scientific data and although the product was tested before it was launched, Johnson said the test only involved about 50 individuals.
Certain fruits and vegetables including walnuts, broccoli and grapes contain nutrients that can provide some levels of sun protection. Jason Rivers, from the University of British Columbia, also said that clinical studies show that a fern called polypodium leucotomos can increase resistance against sunburn but while it is possible that an oral product can provide a degree of UV protection, he said he is skeptical of the water that can provide SPF 30 protection.
Dermatologists are also concerned that drinking a product that claims to provide sun protection without scientific proof of effectiveness is dangerous. The American Academy of Dermatology has already warned consumers about using the UV Neutralizer Harmonized Water in place of sunscreen.
"I'm concerned that you're going to get a burn, you're going to have this false sense of security and actually it's going to increase your risk of melanoma," said Shirley Chi, a dermatologist at the Center for Advanced Dermatology, Inc. "This is something that you want to be very careful of. You don't want to use this in place of sunscreen."
