Are you at risk for skin cancer? Too much citrus may lead to melanoma

Natural compounds found in some fruit causes the skin to become more vulnerable.

Consuming large amounts of orange juice or grapefruit may increase the risk of the most dangerous type of skin cancer, melanoma, according to recent studies.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - Dr. Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health, who worked on the study, pointed out that there is a credible mechanism for grapefruit and oranges to increase the risk of skin cancer. The fruits have compounds, like furocoumarins, that cause the skin to become more vulnerable to sunlight. They also contain psoralen, which was incorporated in suntan lotions until 1996, as tanning activators.

"Just because something is natural doesn't mean that it can't contain lots of very toxic substances," Willet told NBC News.

For the study, Dr. Willett and his colleagues looked at more than 100,000 Americans. They discovered that the risk of melanoma was generally low. Less than 2 percent of their participants had melanoma in the 25 years they studied them. However, there was a 36 percent more risk in people who ate or drank at least 1.6 six-ounce servings of citrus fruit or juice daily, compared to those who consumed the fruit less than twice per week.

According to Shaowei Wu, a researcher at Brown University who led the research, "At this time, we don't advise that people cut back on citrus -- but those who consume a lot of grapefruit and/or orange juice should be particularly careful to avoid prolonged sun exposure."

Experts agree that the bottom line remains to be that it is highly recommended to use sunscreen when exposing the skin to the sun.

This is not the first study to ever suggest that organic or natural material could increase cancer risk. In 1996, a huge study was conducted and showed that smokers who took beta-carotene, which turns into vitamin A when absorbed into the body, actually had a higher risk of lung cancer than smokers who did not take beta-carotene.

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