Can Your Diet Cause Sunburn? The Truth About Seed Oils and UV Damage

We’ve been taught to fear the sun: to hide from it, cover up, and slather ourselves in chemical sunscreen.

But let’s be real, the sun is very, very good for us. It’s healing, energizing, and essential to life.

Sunlight provides a wide range of life-giving rays: UV light (UVB is essential for Vitamin D synthesis in the skin), red and blue light, and infrared light.

Adequate sun exposure supports vitamin D production, uplifts mood, regulates circadian rhythm, boost immune function, enhances metabolic health, and promotes healing at the cellular level.

Did you know that hospitals used to take healing outside? In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, hospitals often placed patients in sunlit, outdoor beds because fresh air and sunlight were believed to accelerate healing. This practice was called heliotherapy or open-air treatment. (A practice called heliotherapy)

Still, constantly getting sunburned isn’t doing us any favors and can certainly cause skin damage over time, especially at the start of summer when our skin hasn’t built up much of a tan yet.

But what many people don’t realize: your diet can play a powerful role in how your skin responds to sun exposure and how easily you burn.

In other words: sunburns start in the kitchen.

So in this blog post, let’s break down practical, science-backed tips to support your skin’s natural resilience to the sun, from the inside out.

How sunburn happens

Sunburn is caused primarily by UVB rays, which are most intense around midday. UVB doesn’t penetrate deeply but can damage the outer skin layer, triggering an immune response that results in redness, inflammation, pain, and peeling - that’s your sunburn!

But this doesn’t mean we should fear the sun. Instead, understanding how sunburn happens helps us learn how to protect ourselves more effectively.

Take melanin, for example: the more tan you are, the more natural protection you have against sun damage. That’s because melanin, the pigment your skin produces in response to UV exposure (your ‘tan’), acts like an internal sunscreen.

Melanin absorbs and scatters UV radiation, especially UVB, helping to shield your DNA from damage and reducing your risk of burning.

But melanin isn’t your only line of defense…

Sunlight + PUFAs = Higher Risk for Damage

Your skin is composed of layers rich in lipids (fats), and the types of fat you eat can shape the fatty acid composition of your skin. (ref)

When sunlight hits your skin, it interacts with these surface fats. If your skin is higher in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), such as linoleic acid an Omega 6 PUFA, that sunlight can trigger a destructive process known as lipid peroxidation, especially when the PUFA content is higher than normal.

Why does this happen?

PUFAs contain multiple double bonds, which make them chemically unstable and highly reactive with oxygen and free radicals. UV radiation from the sun generates reactive oxygen species (ROS), including singlet oxygen, superoxide, and hydroxyl radicals, that can attack these double bonds. This kicks off a damaging chain reaction.

The oxidation of PUFAs leads to the formation of toxic byproducts like malondialdehyde (MDA) and 4-HNE, which can trigger inflammation, damage DNA and proteins,, compromise your skin barrier, increase redness and sensitivity, accelerate aging, and make your skin even more vulnerable to future UV exposure.

The more double bonds a fat has, the more fuel it adds to the fire under the sun.

Dietary Tips to Support Better Sun Resilience

1.  Pay attention to your dietary fat choices

Your skin’s fatty acid profile is shaped by your diet, and that profile determines how your skin responds to sunlight.

PUFA-rich skin = more oxidation = higher sunburn risk.

Your skin will always contain some amount of unsaturated fats, that’s normal. But trouble starts when your diet floods your body with high levels of PUFAs, shifting your skin’s balance toward instability.

And it’s important to remember that different dietary fats contain varying fatty acid compositions. For example, margarine? Loaded with PUFAs. Butter? Rich in saturated fats and significantly lower in PUFAs.

So while one tablespoon of margarine and one tablespoon of butter contain similar amounts of fat, the fatty acid composition between the two is drastically different which impacts metabolic and oxidative outcomes.

Whether from diet, skincare, or both, PUFAs make your skin more reactive to UV. Your cells use what you feed them, so a high-PUFA diet literally builds a body that burns.

The science is loud & clear: PUFA consumption increases UV damage:

• More Linoleic Acid (an Omega 6 PUFA) in the body (which comes from dietary consumption) = increased rates of melanoma. (ref) “The percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids was found to be higher in the melanoma patients than in the controls.”
• A higher Linoleic Acid intake leads to an increased risk of developing different types of skin cancer: squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and melanoma. (ref)
• Removing seed oils (high in linoleic acid) dramatically reduces UV-induced sunburn risk. (ref)
• The more linoleic acid in the diet, the more UV damage the skin experiences. (ref, ref)
• PUFA-rich diets (corn/safflower oil) led to more tumors and UV damage than diets higher in saturated fat in mice studies. (ref)
• More PUFAs in skin cells on the outer layer of skin increases lipid peroxidation when exposed to UVA radiation. (ref)

Sunlight is essential for life and health, but how your body handles it is impacted by what you’re made of. Which is impacted by your diet.

What this means in the kitchen:

• Use butter, ghee, tallow, or coconut oil for cooking.
• Limit consumption of industrial seed oils like canola, ‘vegetable’, corn, soybean, sunflower, safflower, and rapeseed oil.
• Keep nuts and seeds in moderation, since they are rich in PUFAs. Choose coconut oil or chocolate (rich in saturated fat), instead
• Prioritize ruminant fats (like beef, lamb, and dairy), which are naturally low in PUFAs and metabolically supportive.
• Limit high-PUFA meats like conventional pork and chicken (especially fatty cuts like bacon and wings).
• Choose pasture-raised, corn- and soy-free pork, eggs, and poultry whenever possible.

1.  Consume dietary polyphenols

It’s almost like nature provides us with the tools we need throughout the seasons, as polyphenols are rich in summer fruits and herbs!

Plants produce many secondary metabolites (like polyphenols) to protect themselves from UV radiation, and they can do the same for your skin. (ref) 

A substantial body of research indicates that dietary polyphenols can enhance skin resilience through biological modulation of skin responses and repair mechanisms. They help block UVB-triggered oxidative pathways, reduce inflammation, and protect and repair collagen and skin structure. (ref, ref, ref, ref, ref, ref)

Examples of foods that are very rich in polyphenols that can help boost your skin’s natural resilience from the inside out:

• Cacao powder (rich in flavanols like epicatechin and catechin)
• Grapes (rich in flavanols, anthocyanins, stilbenes and phenolic acids)
• Onions, shallots, capers (rich in Quercetin)
• Herbs like cloves, peppermint, sage, oregano, rosemary, & thyme (rich in a wide variety of polyphenols)

One researcher noted: “We saw a significant photoprotective effect with grape consumption and we were able to identify molecular pathways by which that benefit occurs — through repair of DNA damage and downregulation of proinflammatory pathways. Grapes may act as an edible sunscreen.”

Kitchen tips to boost polyphenol consumption:

• Include fruit in your diet
• Toss herbs into everything: soups, roasted meats, eggs, bone broth & more!
• Add a whole onion (with skin on) in your bone broth batches, since onion skins contain significantly more quercetin
• Sprinkle red onions to your summer salsa
• Use shallots to your stir fries or sautés
• Garnish with capers: on seafood, eggs or sauces
• Use cacao powder in your smoothies, yogurt or ice cream batches

What about Sun Screen?

The PUFA discussion also applies to what you put ON your skin. Many skincare products are made with PUFA rich oils, which readily oxidize in the heat and sunlight, contributing to inflammation, oxidative stress, and long-term skin damage.

And that’s a big problem.

Applying creams or skin products rich in linoleic acid on the skin has been shown to increase inflammation in the skin and amplify sunburn risk. (ref) What you put on your skin matters!

So what can you do instead?

If you are going to be in the sun for long periods of time, skip the chemical sunscreens and choose a high-quality mineral-based sunscreen instead (ex: the brand Pipette). Chemical sunscreens often contain ingredients like oxybenzone, octinoxate, and octocrylene, which are absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream and have been flagged as potential endocrine disruptors. (ref)

Smart Sun Exposure

Let’s be clear: this isn’t about ditching sun safety. But instead of fear-based avoidance, what if we focused on building resilience? Your body is designed to interact with the sun—it just needs the right support.

Here are some smart sun exposure tips to help you soak up the benefits without getting burned:

✅ Expose your skin without sunscreen for periods of time to allow for natural vitamin D synthesis, just be mindful to minimize burning. Shoot for minimum 20-30 minutes per day.

✅ Build sun tolerance gradually, especially at the beginning of summer when your skin is fair and melanin levels are low. Aim for morning and evening sun, which is rich in red and near-infrared (NIR) light and supports regeneration. Avoid long, unprotected exposure around midday when UVB rays are strongest.

✅ Be cautious with midday sun, when UVB rays are strongest. If you’ll be outside for extended periods, wear a hat, lightweight clothing, or use a high-quality mineral sunscreen.

Bottom line: your skin is made from what you eat.

And one of the most powerful, overlooked strategies to reduce sunburn risk and skin damage is simply this: change your diet.

By minimizing PUFAs, boosting protective nutrients like polyphenols, and practicing smart sun habits, you can build skin with resilience, without the use of chemical sunscreens.

Eat to build skin that protects you from the inside out.

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