“You don’t even really need a place. But you feel like you’re doing something. This is what coffee is. And that is one of the geniuses of the new coffee culture.” – Jerry Seinfeld.

THE pendulum swings back and forth regarding the good and bad effects of caffeine taken by mouth. What has been quite fascinating is the amazing benefits that topical caffeine is having on anti-cancer, sun protection regimens.

Skin cancer is a devastating and avoidable disease. More details are emerging about how to prevent it and how to keep skin as healthy and beautiful as we can. Caffeine is relatively new to the skin health industry.

Caffeine has the proven ability to reduce the production of sunburn cells because it absorbs UVB radiation. Whether we put caffeine on the skin or drink it, studies have shown that free radicals caused by sun exposure are dramatically reduced.

Even more exciting is caffeine’s contribution to ridding the skin of damaged cells. We develop damaged cells every day, some of them cancerous. We have a very complex system, however, which recognises damaged cells and causes them to be removed. This process involves a cell called the killer T-cells. Caffeine increases these cells, and studies have shown, unequivocally, that more damaged cells are purged before they have the chance to develop into a tumour.

As it pertains to the skin, its all about prevention; so, look for caffeine in your

sun-protective product. It adds a new line of defence against ultraviolet exposure, and hence against skin cancers.

Remember, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and that beholder is you.

Dr Simone Van-Horne is a consultant in Internal Medicine. Currently, she is a hospitalist where she does inpatient-hospital medicine in Florida, and sees patients in a medical spa setting at Metamorphosis Medispa Wellness Center Inc in Hollywood, Florida, and at The Face Place JA at 3 Carvalho Rd, Kingston, and The Skin Bar, #16 Freeport Shopping Centre, Montego Bay. Contact info@spamorph.com and www.spamorph.com for questions.