Drink Sunscreen? Company Says You Can, Experts, Not So Much

Can you drink sunscreen?  Would you believe some marketers think you can?

 Or, at least, they want you to.

According to newswise.com, there has been media coverage about “drinkable sunscreen” that claims to provide sun protection through the ingestion of water that allegedly has been infused with electromagnetic waves. 

The American Academy of Dermatology (Academy) wants to alert consumers that this drink should not be used as a replacement for sunscreen or sun-protective clothing. There is currently no scientific evidence that this “drinkable sunscreen” product provides any protection from the sun’s damaging UV rays.  

 There is currently no scientific evidence that this “drinkable sunscreen” product provides any protection from the sun’s damaging UV rays, says the American Academy of Dermatology (Academy) and warns consumers not to abandon the ritual of slathering on sunscreen when you go outdoors in the summer (or just about any other time).

Broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15 has been scientifically proven to prevent sunburn and reduce the risk of skin cancer and early skin aging caused by the sun. Seek shade, wear sun-protective clothing and a wide-brimmed hat, and apply a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher.  And drink water.  It's much better for you.

Harmonized H2O — labeled as a "UV neutralizer" — is attracting international attention for its claim that it will protect against ultraviolet rays up to sun protection factor (SPF) 30 for three hours, Caitlyn Hendee at Colorado Business Journal reports.
 
Most experts disagree.  But she writes that Dr. Ben Johnson — founder of Evergreen-based Osmosis Skincare, the product's producer — said that yes, it most definitely can.

He said the product is made by manipulating radio waves that naturally occur in water to give them UV-cancelling properties, then duplicating that process hundreds of thousands of times, and bottling that water up, Hendee notes.

Once people drink the solution, he said, it shares those solar-ray-cancelling characteristics with the water already in their body and repels sunlight at the skin level.

“They neutralize the sun before it hits you,” Johnson told Hendee. “So we are radiating sun-protecting waves at a 97 percent level.”

Make sense to you?  I'll wait till the ice cream version comes out.  


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