Eating too much celery will make your skin more susceptible to tanning!

【gossip】

Celery contains photosensitive substances, and it is easy to get tanned if you eat celery and then sunbathe. Friends who want to get a tan finally don’t have to travel thousands of miles to the beach. Just eat some celery and go out to sunbathe! [This is fake!] 】

【the truth】

Celery contains the photosensitive substance furanocoumarin. Exposure to sunlight after consumption may cause phytophotodermatitis, symptoms of which include erythema and blisters on the skin. Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation can last from a few weeks to a few months. It is not equivalent to tanning in the general sense.

【Argument】

The photosensitizing substances contained in celery are furanocoumarins, including psoralen, isopsoralen, and imperatorin [1]. In addition to celery, furanocoumarins are also found in other Umbelliferae (carrots, parsley, parsnips, etc.), Rutaceae (lemon, citrus, bergamot, etc.), Moraceae (figs), and Leguminosae (various beans). These compounds are produced by the plants themselves to defend against fungi[2], but some people who eat these plants and then are exposed to long-wave ultraviolet rays in sunlight may develop phytophotodermatitis[3]. Symptoms usually appear within 24 hours of sun exposure and peak 48 to 72 hours later.

Symptoms of phytophotodermatitis include red spots and blisters on the skin. Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation can last from a few weeks to a few months.