Are there any benefits to tanning?

Author: Jamey VonRueden  |  Last update: Sunday, June 29, 2025

Health Benefits Several health benefit claims such as improved appearance, enhanced mood, and increased vitamin D levels have been attributed to tanning. Furthermore, the Indoor Tanning Association claims that “catching some rays may lengthen your life” [5].

What are the benefits of tanning?

Provides relief from certain skin conditions

UV radiation was shown to provide a variety of advantages for various skin disorders. Indoor tanning using measured levels of UV radiation will help heal acne, psoriasis, and eczema. UV light reduces excessive oil production and maintains a healthy equilibrium.

What is 10 minutes in a tanning bed equal to?

Ten minutes in a sunbed can be roughly equivalent to 1-2 hours in natural sunlight, depending on factors like sunbed intensity and skin type. However, this varies widely based on geographical location, time of day, and weather conditions. Always adhere to recommended exposure times to minimise skin damage risks.

What are the benefits of body tanning?

More so, de-tanning treatments keep your skin hydrated and healthy, treat your fine lines, minimize your pores, and remove the dead skin cells, revealing a soft and smooth skin texture.

Does tanning improve skin?

Tanning — indoors or with the sun — makes your skin age more quickly. Wrinkles, age spots, and loss of skin firmness tend to appear years earlier in people who tan. Anyone who tans can also develop leathery skin, which people who never tan don't get.

Are Tanning Beds Safe? | How to Tan Safely | with Dr. Sandra Lee

Is there a healthy way to tan?

Is there a way to tan safely? Can I tan in moderation? The only way to safely “tan” your skin without UV exposure is with self-tanners. There is no way to safely tan your skin under UV exposure from tanning beds or the sun.

Why is tan skin prettier?

The glow provided by a tan can make a face look more vibrant and therefore youthful. A tan can also help make muscles look more toned and more well defined. Today, having a tan is associated with people that have an active, outdoor lifestyle. A tan therefore makes people look healthier and fit.

How fast does tanning age your skin?

Indoor tanning speeds up skin aging

Indoor tanning is known to cause wrinkles, brown spots and thick leathery skin. Indoor tanning ages your skin 3 times faster than sunlight: indoor tanning can emit up to 15 times more UV radiation than sunlight.

Why does tanning make me feel so good?

Exposure to sunlight has been linked to improve your energy and elevate your mood! Light actually boosts your serotonin levels, which is the happy hormone. When you've had a bad week, spending 10 to 15 minutes in a sunbed can help more than just your tan – it's the endorphins you get that make you feel better!

How does tanning help you lose weight?

UV radiation lowers hunger hormones but increases norepinephrine, a stress hormone that breaks down fat and converts white fat, which stores energy, into brown fat, which burns energy.

Do you get vitamin D from tanning beds?

no! A tanning bed will never provide you with the vitamin D that you need, nor is it safer than tanning outdoors. Not understanding the facts can literally mean the difference between life and death. Both ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation cause cell damage that can lead to skin cancer.

Will 3 minutes in a tanning bed do anything?

Recommended Frequency of Tanning Bed Use

Each session should be brief, around 3-10 minutes, depending on your skin type. After the initial week, if your skin is responding well (no burns or excessive redness), you can gradually increase your sessions to three to four times per week.

What foods make you more tanned?

Papaya: Like carrots, orange fruits and vegetables, such as papaya, help to enhance your tan naturally thanks to its high beta-carotene levels. Melon: This refreshing fruit, rich in antioxidants and beta-carotenes will help you to keep your golden skin tone.

What are the golden rules of tanning?

Never Rush a Tan

Don't rush it, and make sure to involve a Tanning Expert® in your routine. Never tan more than once in a 24 hour period. Tanning 1-3 times a week is ideal for maintaining your color, depending on what bed you're using. Shake things up every now and then with a Cocktail Tan.

Why do tanning beds feel good?

Indoor tanning is more addictive than you might think. The allure lies in the release of endorphins, the body's natural feel-good chemicals triggered by exposure to UV rays. When you're basking under those warm lights, your brain gets a surge of these mood-enhancing chemicals, creating a euphoric sensation.

Does tanning help acne?

Because you might feel like you have some inital reduction in oil, you may think tanning + sun exposure helps your acne and breakouts, but it's actually a vicious circle with only short-term benefits. In the longer term, you're only going deeper into the problem, making it harder to get rid of.

Why do I look slimmer with a tan?

So how does a tan make you look thinner? Not only does it cover any signs of cellulite or skin creases, but it also gives definition to areas that usually look slightly less defined. Now that we've decided that a tan can help us look thinner, how should we go about getting this tan?

Why do I look whiter after tanning?

Looking whiter or paler after sun exposure can be a reaction to intense sunlight, especially if you have a fair complexion. This phenomenon can be due to the skin redirecting blood away from the surface to reduce the impact of heat and UV radiation.

Why do I feel happier after tanning?

Mood-Enhancing Endorphins

Sun exposure triggers the release of endorphins, the body's natural mood lifters. Endorphins are neurotransmitters that promote feelings of happiness and reduce stress.

Does the sun age you faster?

Ultraviolet (UV) light and exposure to sunlight age your skin more quickly than it would age naturally. The result is called photoaging, and it's responsible for 90% of visible changes to your skin.

Can you tan without damaging your skin?

There is no such thing as a safe tan. The increase in skin pigment, called melanin, which causes the tan color change in your skin is a sign of damage. Why it happens: Once skin is exposed to UV radiation, it increases the production of melanin in an attempt to protect the skin from further damage.

Which skin tone is most attractive?

According to a study called “Shades of beauty,” light brown skin tones are often the most physically attractive skin color (Frisby et al., 2006). They used four models for that study. They did not change the skin tone, but they imaged each model to three different skin tones: light, medium, and dark.

Why don't I tan like I did when I was younger?

This happens because “Each of us produces a different quantity and quality of melanin. Melanin is a pigment produced by our cells found in the basal layer of the skin,” explains Dr Puig. The cells that produce melanin are called melanocytes.

Is tanning permanent?

Is sun tan permanent? No. Sun tans are not permanent since the skin goes through natural exfoliation. However, this can take time and does not help the other forms of sun damage, which may be more permanent.

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