Tanning Really Is Addictive
When I first moved to San Diego many years ago I was struck by two superlatives: at the time, at least, it had more gyms and more tanning salons per capita than any other major city in the United States. I would have thought everyone preferred to be outdoors since it's sunny and in the 70s almost yearround.
But after reading a New York Times report on how tanning may be addictive, the second stat may finally be explained. It turns out “people who frequently use tanning beds experience changes in brain activity during their tanning sessions that mimic the patterns of drug addiction, new research shows.”
This conclusion comes after doing actual brain tests while people were all aglow. They even tricked some tanning booth clients by blocking UV rays, and their brains (and bodies) instinctively knew the difference and demanded more.
Sun damage and particularly skin cancers are a real concern for runners and other outdoor athletes. And I’ve written before about testing sunscreen products to find one that’s both effective and absorbent. No one likes to be racing with smelly sunscreen stinging their eyes. But no one also likes to look prematurely old or have to undergo painful treatments to remove cancerous cells.
Read more about the research findings: How Tanning Changes the Brain
But after reading a New York Times report on how tanning may be addictive, the second stat may finally be explained. It turns out “people who frequently use tanning beds experience changes in brain activity during their tanning sessions that mimic the patterns of drug addiction, new research shows.”
This conclusion comes after doing actual brain tests while people were all aglow. They even tricked some tanning booth clients by blocking UV rays, and their brains (and bodies) instinctively knew the difference and demanded more.
Sun damage and particularly skin cancers are a real concern for runners and other outdoor athletes. And I’ve written before about testing sunscreen products to find one that’s both effective and absorbent. No one likes to be racing with smelly sunscreen stinging their eyes. But no one also likes to look prematurely old or have to undergo painful treatments to remove cancerous cells.
Read more about the research findings: How Tanning Changes the Brain
