← All resources

Heliocare: An Oral Supplement to Protect Against Sun Exposure

Did you know an oral supplement could help protect your skin from the harmful and unwanted effects of sun exposure? Heliocare is a dietary supplement that contains Polypodium leucotomos, a natural extract derived from a fern native to Central and South America. Studies have shown that taking the supplement can help skin  protect itself from the aging effects of the sun by guarding against free radicals in the skin released by sun exposure.

Once ingested, Heliocare provides four hours of sun protection factor (SPF) 3 to 7, meaning it would take three to seven times longer to sunburn when compared to no protection.Additionally, Heliocare provides protection from the sun’s effect of darkening the pigment of the skin, which is helpful in fighting conditions such as melasma that cause disfiguring dark patches on the face. Advanced Heliocare contains an additional active ingredient, nicotinamide, also known as vitamin B3 . Each capsule of Advanced Heliocare contains 500 mg of nicotinamide. Ingesting 500 mg of nicotinamide twice daily has been shown to cut the formation of new squamous and basal cell skin cancers by 23 percent compared with placebo at the end of one year among patients at high risk for these skin cancers. Nicotinamide also reduced the risk for developing an actinic keratosis, a common precancer of the skin that may evolve into squamous cell skin cancer.

A patient who wants to protect their skin from the harmful effects of the sun, including unwanted pigmentation, laxity, precancers and basal and squamous cell skin cancers, should consider taking Heliocare or Advanced Heliocare twice daily during daylight hours. These supplements should be used in addition to regular use of a micronized zinc or titanium based sunscreen and sun protective clothing.

Want to try Advanced Heliocare? It is available for purchase at our Southpark office on the 6th floor in our Dermatology division.