You eat fruits to whiten your skin, but end up getting darker?

Audit expert: Wang Guoyi

Postdoctoral fellow in Nutrition and Food Safety, China Agricultural University

In the hot summer, green grass and trees are everywhere, which makes people feel relaxed and happy. Not to mention that you can go to the beach to play, eat delicious and refreshing watermelon, and use super cool air conditioning... However, in the hot summer, your skin will easily become dark or even sunburned! It really makes people "love and hate".

In order to avoid getting darker, many people have begun to study various whitening methods, such as eating fruits.

Source: Baidu Encyclopedia

It is said that eating fruits containing vitamin C such as oranges, kiwis and lemons can help whiten your skin. Is this true? Some people also say that these fruits are actually photosensitive fruits, and they can easily turn your skin darker if you are not careful. Which statement is correct? Today, the editor will give you a detailed introduction.

Can food really “whiten” your skin?

Let me first say the conclusion. Currently, there is no scientific research to show which foods can effectively make people whiter . For example, foods rich in vitamin C such as lemons and oranges do not have a "whitening effect".

Theoretically, vitamin C can indeed inhibit the activity of tyrosinase in the human body, thereby reducing the production of melanin in the skin and causing the skin to become whiter.

However, the vitamin C supplemented by eating foods such as oranges, after being digested and absorbed by the human body, the amount that can ultimately act on the skin is very small and cannot have a significant whitening effect.

Secondly, foods such as lemons and oranges are photosensitive foods. Eating large amounts of these photosensitive foods can easily lead to adverse consequences, such as "solar dermatitis."

Source: Baidu Encyclopedia

In addition, eating too many oranges will also cause the body to intake too much beta-carotene, causing skin epidermal pigmentation and causing yellowing of the skin.

So, what are photosensitive foods? And what are the symptoms of photodermatitis?

What are photosensitive foods?

Photosensitivity does not mean being allergic to light, but refers to a phototoxic reaction.

Photosensitive foods contain photosensitive substances. There are many types of photosensitive substances, such as chlorophyll, limonene, furanocoumarins, etc.

These photosensitive substances have a strong ability to absorb ultraviolet rays. When exposed to sunlight, they will absorb the light energy in the ultraviolet rays, produce an activation reaction, and release inflammatory mediators such as histamine and histamine-like substances and kinin-like substances, leading to functional disorders and structural damage of tissue cells, and producing solar dermatitis (Phytophotodermatitis).

The most obvious manifestation of solar dermatitis is skin pigmentation, darkening and spots. Severe cases can also cause blisters, redness, swelling, itching, burning sensation and other symptoms.

Source: Zhu Wenyuan. Three cases of phytophotodermatitis caused by Chinese herbal medicine decoction and literature review. Journal of Clinical Dermatology, 2010

In nature, there are many animals and plants that contain photosensitive substances, and the plants mainly include vegetables and fruits of the Rutaceae and Umbelliferae families. The Rutaceae family includes lemons, oranges, peppers, bergamots, etc., and the Umbelliferae family includes carrots, celery, fennel, coriander, angelica, etc.

In addition to fruits and vegetables, many seafood are also photosensitive foods, such as crabs, scallops, mud snails, etc.

Source: pixabay

Some people will develop a rash after eating seafood. In addition to photosensitive dermatitis, it may also be caused by allergies . If the symptoms are severe, it is recommended to go to the hospital for examination to identify the specific cause so that the right medicine can be prescribed.

Seeing this, some friends may ask, photosensitive foods not only cannot whiten the skin, but may also make people turn yellow and even cause the risk of dermatitis. So, do we not eat these photosensitive foods in summer?

In fact, as long as you master the correct method, photosensitive foods can be eaten with confidence.

How to eat photosensitive foods?

There are two major conditions for photosensitive foods to cause dermatitis: one is the amount of food consumed, and the other is strong light .

A study once tested the consumption of photosensitive foods. After the subjects ingested 300 grams of celery, no skin reaction was observed under ultraviolet light. Secondly, the level of photosensitizing substances in their blood was also lower than the detection value and could be ignored.

The fruits and vegetables mentioned in the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents" include many types, but there is currently no evidence that mixing multiple photosensitive foods will increase the risk of dermatitis , so there is no need to worry too much.

In daily life, as long as we eat photosensitive foods in normal amounts, it generally does not cause solar dermatitis.

Secondly, if you want to avoid getting darker after eating photosensitive foods, you must do a good job of "sun protection"! After all, photosensitive substances cannot work without the influence of light.

When going out in the summer, if conditions permit, you can use "chemical + physical sun protection", that is, apply sunscreen, hold an umbrella, wear sun-protective clothing, wear a sun hat, etc., to reduce UVA and visible light radiation.

Source: Baidu Encyclopedia

If we accidentally develop a photosensitivity reaction and dermatitis symptoms, what can we do?

When photosensitive dermatitis occurs, the first thing to do is to stay away from sunlight immediately and stop eating photosensitive foods. At the same time, remember not to scratch the itchy, red and swollen areas of the skin to avoid skin damage and infection.

If the symptoms are mild, you can take some antihistamines orally, and you will generally recover in about a week. But if the symptoms are severe, and dermatitis is accompanied by vomiting, palpitations and other discomfort, it is recommended to go to the hospital immediately to avoid missing the opportunity for treatment.

In general, the "whitening effect" and pathogenic harm of photosensitive foods are not as great as we imagined. With this knowledge, we only need to pay more attention in our daily lives to avoid a lot of harm~