Can you really get a tan from tanning pills?

Sun tans, indoor tans, spray tans—vita-tans? Is there really such a thing? Well, yes and no. Some tanning pills are known to promote a healthy tan. However, quantity, quality, combination and formulation are all key in order for any supplement to achieve the desired effect.

Let’s start from the beginning—how do our bodies tan?

The sun's rays tan our body. The sun contains two types of ultraviolet radiation that reach our skin: UVA and UVB. UVB radiation burns the upper layers of skin (the epidermis), causing sunburns. UVA radiation is what makes people tan. UVA rays penetrate to the lower layers of the epidermis, where they trigger cells called melanocytes to produce melanin. Melanin is the brown pigment that causes tanning and protects the skin from burning.

Taking supplements to promote a healthy tan

There are many vitamins, minerals, and amino acids known to protect our skin and promote tanning. Let’s focus on L-tyrosine, an amino acid that’s critical to the body’s natural process that creates a tan.

L-tyrosine is a nonessential amino acid that the body produces on its own. It’s also found in some of the common foods we eat like chicken, fish, almonds, avocados, bananas, lima beans, and sesame seeds. When exposed to the sun, L-tyrosine promotes and stimulates the production of melanin in the skin. The melanin is transported through the top layer of the skin, the epidermis, then a chemical reaction is caused when it comes in contact with UV rays and the skin either tans or burns.

So you would think that taking L-tyrosine pills would promote the production of more melanin, making it easier for us to tan. But our body’s chemistry just isn’t that simple. L-tyrosine needs the help of other nutrients to be converted into melanin. These tanning vitamins include vitamin B6, vitamin C and copper.

Vitamin B6

Not only taken as a supplement, vitamin B6 is also found in foods like fish, beef, potatoes and non-citrus fruits. It plays an important role in tanning in that it promotes the conversion of L-tyrosine into melanin and also supports the body’s natural defenses against negative skin conditions.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C has many benefits to the skin and is a popular skincare ingredient in many creams and serums. While it helps convert L-tyrosine into melanin, it also builds collagen, helps after a burn and helps remove free radicals produced by sun exposure. Many fruits and vegetables are high in vitamin C like citrus fruits, strawberries, broccoli and brussel sprouts.

Copper

Copper also helps L-tyrosine promote a tan. Copper is a mineral found in many foods, particularly in organ meats like beef liver, dark chocolate, lentils, almonds, asparagus, and sunflower seeds. Copper helps promote melanin production, supports normal skin pigmentation and has anti-aging effects.

L-tyrosine on its own, without the help of other nutrients, cannot be as effective in helping the production of melanin to promote a tan. The right combination of amino acids, vitamins and minerals is essential when trying to promote a natural tan. And, while there are tanning pills available that only use L-tyrosine or only vitamin C or even just copper, they may not be effective, since all of these ingredients are dependent on each other to create the desired chemical reaction in our body to help protect our skin and quickly produce a tan.

Precise Quantities

Quantity is important too. Getting a tan is a series of precise chemical reactions. It’s essential to know exactly how much L-tyrosine and other vitamins and minerals to combine in order to promote the conversion of melanin to produce a tan. Just taking a handful of supplements is not likely to help promote your tan, even if they all have tanning properties. That’s why the formulation of a tanning supplement is so important.

Quality Control

The quality of ingredients is just as important. There are so many tanning supplements available, especially on the internet. Most are not FDA approved or even made in the United States, so quality control can be a concern. Some tanning pills can be made with fillers that do nothing to promote a tan. Others can be made from cheap, even expired ingredients—even if they are in the right combination, expired ingredients can lose their potency and effectiveness.

It takes optimal doses of the right amino acids, vitamins and minerals combined synergistically in order to promote a tan. So what tanning supplements can we take? There certainly are hundreds to choose from. But again, because precision is so important, it’s imperative to look for products with quality ingredients, quality control and scientific proof.

Melatropin™ Tanning Pills

Of course, there is one that hits on all three—Melatropin™ tanning pills. Melatropin™ is an all-natural blend of vitamins, amino acids, minerals and antioxidants. The all-natural ingredient list includes L-Tyrosine along with vitamins B6 and copper to enhance its performance. The formula also includes other active ingredients like vitamin A, antioxidants Lutein and Lycopene. All of these ingredients have been shown to possess tanning properties.

But, as we know, it’s not just about the ingredients—the right quantity and combination are what really counts for results. That’s another reason we love Melatropin™. Its unique formulation was developed after years of clinical research. In fact, in a clinical study, Melatropin™ was proven to effectively improve skin tone by more than 300%.

Melatropin™ is made in the United States, so it adheres to strict quality control. Each raw component of Melatropin™ is tested and validated with a Certificate of Analysis (CoA), confirming its purity and potency. There are just not any other tanning supplements out there that are backed with that kind of science.

L-tyrosine and More

It’s a fact that vitamins, minerals, and amino acids can all assist the body and aid in producing a healthy tan. But a tan is produced by a chain of specific chemical reactions in the body. We know that the amino acid L-tyrosine can promote and stimulate the production of melanin in the skin. But L-tyrosine also needs catalysts like vitamin B6 or the mineral copper, and most importantly, exposure to UV rays or the sun, to produce the desired effect of a tan. And while there are all sorts of tanning supplements out there, it’s important to consider the quality, quantity, combination and effectiveness of their “active” ingredients.