New Australian research has found that daily sunscreen use could increase the risk of Vitamin D deficiency.
On Tuesday afternoon’s episode of The Briefing, we speak with study author Professor Rachel Neale about what the findings mean, and why sunscreen remains essential.
Neale said the findings confirmed a long-held assumption.
“One of the ways that we get vitamin D is by exposing our skin to the sun…and sunscreen is designed to block those wavelengths,” Neale said.
“So it stands to reason that if we’re stopping sunburn and skin cancer, we would also affect vitamin D production. But that hadn’t actually been shown in humans in real life settings,” she said.
The year-long trial found people who applied sunscreen daily were about 30 per cent more likely to be Vitamin D deficient at the end of winter.
“I was a little bit surprised that the sunscreen had done such a good job of blocking vitamin D,” she added.
Despite this, she urged Australians to continue using sunscreen.
“I would absolutely be encouraging people to still be making sunscreen a core part of their skin cancer prevention routine.”
Subscribe to The Briefing, Australia’s fastest-growing news podcast on LiSTNR today. The Briefing serves up the latest news headlines and a deep dive into a topic affecting you. All in under 20 minutes.