Tom Brady, the star football New England Patriots quarterback married to supermodel Gisele Bundchen, saw fit to share his wellness tips in a freshly released book called The TB12 Method: How to Achieve a Lifetime of Sustained Peak Performance on Tuesday. The man is largely considered a perfect specimen of physical fitness. Problem is, some of these tips don’t really consider medical expertise.
Take his claim that drinking water prevents sunburn. Here’s an excerpt on the matter, published in Sports Illustrated:
"When I was growing up, and playing outside in the sun, I got sunburned a lot. I was a fair-skinned Irish boy, after all. These days, even if I get an adequate amount of sun, I won't get a sunburn, which I credit to the amount of water I drink. I always hydrate afterward, too, to keep my skin from peeling. When I once told that to my sister, she said, 'You mean I don't have to use all those moisturizers and facial products to keep my skin looking good? I should just drink as much water as you do? I think you should market your TB12 Electrolytes as a beauty product.' I just laughed."
Now let’s debunk this non-truth, step-by-step.
Fair-skinned people do tend to burn more easily than darker-skinned people. That’s because they have less melanin, a protein produced by skin cells that gives skin its color. Melanin protects the skin from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays the sun radiates, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. Melanin also builds over time, through daily exposure to the sun. This is why, when you get a “base tan,” your skin might be less likely to burn than it did initially. What’s likely happening with Tom is that — football being an outdoor sport and all — he’s always playing outside and thus his fair, Irish skin has grown a little more resistant to sunburn through constant exposure, or his “base tan.”