Derm-It Trotter! Don't Swear About Skincare.
Feeling frustrated or overwhelmed with everything skin? Does the skinformation overload make you want to swear about skincare? Join Dr. Shannon C. Trotter, board certified dermatologist, as she talks with fellow dermatologists and colleagues in skincare to help separate fact from fiction and simplify the world of skin. After listening, you won’t swear about skincare anymore!
Derm-It Trotter! Don't Swear About Skincare.
Eating Your Suncscreen? The Polypodium Secret
Could we take our sunscreen in pill form? In this chat with Dr. Noreen Galaria, board-certified dermatologist and founder of Inner Glow Vitamins, we dive into how antioxidants protect skin from sun damage.
Dr. Galaria highlights polypodium, a fern used by indigenous communities for centuries as internal sun protection. Its compounds prevent sunburn, slow photoaging, and support tumor suppression. Polypodium starts working within an hour and lasts 4-6 hours, providing extra protection alongside sunscreen.
Her company combines polypodium with other antioxidants like green tea and cacao to protect skin from immediate and long-term sun damage. With rising global temperatures, these natural compounds are key to enhancing sun safety.
Tune in to learn how polypodium can boost your sun protection routine!
doesn't only have to be sun damage, right, like it could be damage from pollution or smoking, or just age and time. They would actually take those fern leaves and brew them as a tea and drink them, you know, to get internal sun protection. And when it comes to cancer, it seems to actually help with tumor suppression. And so you know, scientifically, these antioxidants actually are reversing the damage that the sun is causing. But then it's got other antioxidants that we know are really good for skin repair, things like green tea, blueberries, cacao extract. It's got some probiotics in it.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Dermot Trotter. Don't swear about skin care. Don't Swear About Skin Care where host Dr Shannon C Trotter, a board-certified dermatologist, sits down with fellow dermatologists and skincare experts to separate fact from fiction and simplify skincare. Let's get started.
Speaker 3:Welcome to the Dermot Trotter. Don't Swear About Skin Care. I have Dr Noreen Galleria. She's a board-certified dermatologist with a laser and cosmetic fellowship and has been practicing for over 20 years. After spending time in an academic setting, she was training residents and doing research in that area and also publishing. She then transitioned into private practice 13 years ago in the DC area. She's also the CEO and founder of Interglow Vitamins and it's an actual dermatologist as well as plastic surgeon developed brand of nutraceuticals. So welcome to the podcast, noreen. It's great to have you here. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 3:Of course, we're going to touch on something I think people have been wanting this concept sunscreens. We talk about how do we protect ourself from the sun. I think everyone just thinks, oh, sunscreen right, or oh, I'm going to wear longer sleeves or I'm going to put on a hat or my sunglasses. But kind of what we want to talk about today, this concept can we really develop, you know, sunscreen or sun protection in a pill? And specifically, you know, as we get into that a little bit more, we want to talk about the concept of antioxidants, because I know people out there know about this. They've said, oh, take your antioxidants in a pill form or take a handful of blueberries in the morning. But I want to get a little bit more into detail about what that can mean for our audience out there and some protection. So I'm going to have you kick it off with just what are antioxidants and can you explain kind of what they are and how they're helpful for us in the skin.
Speaker 1:Yeah, sure.
Speaker 1:So antioxidants are basically these ingredients that can help us to either slow down damage in our skin or even maybe reverse damage, and the damage doesn't only have to be sun damage, right, like it could be damage from pollution or smoking or just age and time.
Speaker 1:And I think a lot of people at least a lot of my patients when I talk about antioxidants, it's kind of this nebulous thing and maybe it sounds like chemicals, and so I really want to take a second to really talk about what antioxidants are, and I guess you know where they come from, because really, what an antioxidant is is something that usually comes from a fruit or a vegetable, so it's generally a plant product.
Speaker 1:And what's amazing is, if you imagine like a plant that's growing outside and it's growing like in the sun and it's got little pests that are, you know, trying to eat it, a plant really has to, you know, literally bloom where it's planted, and so over eons, plants have kind of figured out how to make these defense mechanisms against things like sun and pests and, you know, maybe poor soil, and those defense mechanisms that a plant uses to protect itself in nature are actually antioxidants, and those antioxidants are the very thing in plants that we then harness to give ourselves benefit. And so I guess I really want to start by saying that you know the majority of antioxidants come from plant, or you know fruit and vegetable sources, and they are things that have been developed through time for a plant to really take care of itself.
Speaker 3:So it's pretty cool. We can really capture. You know what nature is doing to help ourselves. You know, when you talk about antioxidants them being, you know, plant derived and protecting, you know the plant how it, you know, uses them in that way. What exactly is an antioxidant doing, then? For maybe, like in the skin, with our skin cells, that we would maybe want to take it and have it be helpful for us as well?
Speaker 1:So, you know, if we take a look, for example, at the antioxidant polypodium, which is one of the ones we're going to talk about, again, I think the scientific name sometimes, you know, make people feel like it's a chemical, polypodium is actually a fern, and it's a fern that grows near the equator, in Central and even South America, and what we realized from looking at tribes who used to live near the equator is that they would actually take those fern leaves and brew them as a tea and drink them, you know, to get internal sun protection, and it's been happening for hundreds of years. And so, probably in the 1970s, dermatologists and other researchers started looking at polypodium and saying, okay, well, clearly these people are getting some benefit from drinking these fern leaves. What is it actually that this fern does? And what they realized was, you know, in general, the sun does three things that we are really trying to prevent from happening. The first is, of course, it causes sunburn. The second is, you know, it causes a lot of our photoaging, the aging that comes from the sun. And the third big thing is, of course, it causes skin cancer.
Speaker 1:And what researchers realized was that polypodium, the fern, has ingredients in it that actually prevent all three of these things that the sun can do. And you know, I guess really what we're looking at is, if you're looking at sunburn, it's got these antioxidants that are called phenols and the phenols will basically stop the damage, the free radical damage that causes the redness in the skin. And when we're looking at aging, the fern will actually help to prevent the breakdown of collagen. I mean, all of us are always trying to protect our collagen and, you know, polypodium has been shown to not only protect your collagen but also your elastin, which is kind of what gives our skin its bounce, um, and when it comes to cancer, it seems to actually, um, help with tumor suppression. And so you know, uh, scientifically, these antioxidants actually are reversing the damage that the sun is causing.
Speaker 3:That's kind of fascinating again that we're really looking at a plant that's already sort of figured it out and now we can use it, you know, in our own way to help our skin. So you know people that want to use it or take it. Is it something that they typically would take in a pill form? You mentioned like brewing it like a tea? Is there one way that if people were interested in adding this into their routine that you would actually recommend, or you think there's evidence for that might work the best to see the benefits that we would want?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, I think, the way that it was harvested in nature to be brewed as a tea, that's something that most of us, unless we're living in Central America, just don't have access to. And so and you know it's uncertain what dose you're really getting right? So, probably since I would say the early 1980s, people have figured out how to take the polypodium, and you have to be careful if you're going to take polypodium, because it's really the leaves that have all the protection. So if you take polypodium and you're taking the stem or the root, well, you're not going to get the same protection, because obviously it's the leaves that really, at the equator, need to protect themselves from the sun that's beating down. And so you're looking for a source that you know uses the leaf of the polypodium fern, and you're looking for a dose around 280 milligrams, which is a pretty readily available dose. There don't seem to be any side effects to it, but I will say the benefits are seen around 280. So don't take a thousand milligrams and don't take 2000.
Speaker 1:Like, you know everything is out there, right, and, and you know, when it comes to the body, more is not always really better, like you can actually repeat this. So we have a lot of studies in kids where you know, after two or three hours they can take our gummies, which are like polypodium gummies. They can take them, you know. The same way they reapply sunscreen like they can kind of top off, and that I think works very well, but a huge dose at one time is not as effective. As you know works very well, but a huge dose at one time is not as effective. As you know, small doses similar to if you think about the concept of using sunscreen and reapplying it through the day, you can't just put on enough sunscreen at 8am to last you all day and polypodium is actually a bit similar to that.
Speaker 3:You've probably disappointed some people because I think everyone looks easy fixer. I just take it and be good all day, because that I mean, that is a complaint, obviously with using sunscreen. Can I just take it and be good all day? Because that I mean that is a complaint, obviously with using sunscreen. It's just the burden, right, the time it takes. Oh gosh, I got to reapply, and so same concept.
Speaker 3:It's interesting to see that would apply for something like the polypodium. So the people are like sitting there like okay, this sounds interesting. We've you know. Maybe you know a supplement might be right for me. I think the question a lot of people might be asking and I think it's helpful not to obviously go too deep into this information. But you know, compared to maybe other supplements, I think a lot of people out there think, oh, supplements, like you know, they're regulated differently. But do we really have data to suggest that this is useful and is there really merit to it? And I think that's what's unique about polypodium. Maybe it's just what we have available. Do you mind just commenting on that a little bit to kind of help alleviate some of the concerns? People might think there just isn't any justification scientifically.
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah. So you know, the nice thing about polypodium is that, unlike a supplement like I don't know, even like vitamin D, let's say that you have to take for a while or you have to do a blood test to see, am I at the right level there are a lot of studies that show that polypodium works within an hour, and so you don't actually have to wait a long time. And I will have a lot of my patients say to me you know, my little ones always burn, or I rock climb and I golf, and I never reapply, and when I take this supplement I find I can be in the sun comfortably a lot longer. And you know our own studies on inner glow when we look at the gummy.
Speaker 1:We have done a lot of studies, you know, through independent labs and other doctors, that show like, for example, if you sunburn the inside of somebody's arm and then you give them two gummies, which is the full dose, you wait one hour and sunburn their other arm, there is a noticeable difference in how much they sunburn. And so you know we have studies that have been, you know, presented at our you know the academy meetings, which is our dermatology meeting, and they've been published in a lot of our dermatology journals meeting and they've been published in a lot of our dermatology journals and they do show fairly immediate effect. And so I think, if you know somebody is wondering if it works, I will say there are dozens and dozens of studies on polypodium. Even personally, I know we've done a lot of studies on our polypodium. But people can also almost notice the difference themselves. You know which is nice. Like unlike other vitamins, you will likely see a difference.
Speaker 3:I think that's. You know. The proof is in the pudding right on some of that, and it's nice too. I mean. You know we often all buy things out there, right? We're probably not even sure what the studies are. You know, for those that you know, we have listeners out there that you know they live and breathe dermatology or they're in medicine. They're like you know, is this something I could actually look up and see how it's been validated or proven to work? I think that's what's also wonderful about this as an opportunity, you know, for a patient to use it. Now would you, you know, if you have somebody come in they're like, okay, I've kind of followed you along. I think there's value here. You know I want to do this. Is it something that you think is appropriate for just about anyone to take, or is there somebody you wouldn't recommend that would be beneficial for?
Speaker 1:no-transcript. Um, so you know, I guess, from a safety perspective, we do have safety studies we're working on now that show, um, that anyone over the age of two can take it. So, um, moms love this for their kids, you know they apply sunscreen once, and even with their mom being a dermatologist they'll take two gummies, because it's like eating candy almost, you know but they will not reapply their sunscreen.
Speaker 1:So you know, from a safety perspective it seems like not just with our gummies, but there's a lot of studies out there for children with eczema, because polypodium actually seems to help with eczema, and large studies of hundreds of patients that show that it seems to be safe in doses double R's in children over the age of two, and she seems to show some improvement in barrier repair for kids who you know are taking this. But you know, as far as a patient coming in, I kind of describe this to patients as an additional tool in your toolbox, in your sun protection toolbox. So the nice thing about polypodium is you don't have to take it daily. So I'm not telling my patients, hey, take this vitamin from now until you know, whatever the end of your life to protect you from the sun. It can just be like a Memorial Day to summer, you know, labor Day type of vitamin, or it can be I'm going to the beach for a week, I'm going to do it then, and the rest of the time maybe sunscreen alone is enough or, you know, a sun shirt or sunglasses.
Speaker 1:So I really describe it as an additional tool. So I know my patients, for example, don't wear a sun protection shirt every day, or maybe a hat every day, but they pull it out when they know they're going to be in the sun. So for a lot of patients, they can pull out this supplement in a very similar manner when you know you're going to be in the sun, you take it an hour before going outside. And then there's some patients, you know, maybe skin cancer patients or patients who are especially fair, who just find they want to take it, you know, on a more prolonged basis.
Speaker 3:You mentioned too before, like how eventually it's sort of you know wears off or wears down. Just like you know sunscreen, how often do you have to retake it throughout the day. Is there a recommendation that you typically make, based on how long we think it may work to help protect the skin?
Speaker 1:So, you know, it seems like our studies and other studies show somewhere between four to six hours, and it's not like an on-off switch, right. So it's like the protection starts to wane. And so I tell my patients listen, when you think about starting to reapply sunscreen, that's a great time to maybe pop an additional gummy.
Speaker 3:Okay, that's kind of good because it can get you on that same rhythm of doing all this non-protection at once. And I think I really want to highlight what you mentioned. This isn't a replacement, because you know a lot of people are like, hey, I want something that's going to basically, you know, replace sunscreen for me. And I try to explain to people and you probably do this too. You know we're not really there yet. Like you highlight, this is just an additional tool to provide that protection, so you're more completely protected if you will, but it's not something that we're saying, hey, do this in place of sunscreen. This is a nice add into everything else that you're doing to protect yourself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I wish you know, but definitely not. Would it be nice Like sunscreen and a pill? Yes, yes, you know the concept. I know people use the term internal sunscreen, but you know it's different because one we have no SPF measurement really for these internal sunscreens or internal protection because it protects you. But you know the nice thing. I guess the one additional benefit is it does actually repair, which sunscreen doesn't really do right. So when you take in polypodium you get this repair mechanism, but you definitely do not get the same amount of SPF that you would get from applying something on the outside.
Speaker 3:So we talked about it, you know, being helpful kind of you know where people can protect themselves and maybe stay out a little bit longer, where it gives that sort of durability, maybe to the skin you mentioned also, kind of from the anti-aging benefit. Does that come from really, the antioxidant power that you feel behind? You know that's behind polypodium. Is that where we think that rests as well?
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's. You know, there's something in our skin called a matrix metalloproteinase, right, and what it does is it seems to block this, and that's one of the things that really breaks down our collagen and elastin, and so I think that there's several specific antioxidants. The beauty of polyponium is it's not just one antioxidant, it's actually multiple antioxidants.
Speaker 3:And so each antioxidant is kind of targeting a different part of our sun damage. And so with the multi-myosin antioxidants or with the phenols, so is there one that tends to be more important or more valuable? Is it really collectively how we think they may work together? Is that kind of the thought behind it?
Speaker 1:I think it's kind of collective. You know, I think if you, you know, took out some of these antioxidants that are, you know, readily found in other fruits, like, for example, blueberries or green tea, which are amazing antioxidants, I think it's the fact that it has multiple ones of these all together mixed in that make it a little more potent for sun protection.
Speaker 3:So one of the things I wanted to talk with you more about. You know we keep talking about polypodium, but what really makes it so special, you know, is it sort of this cocktail antioxidants or what's actually like. What makes up polypodium?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so polypodium, actually, as a fern, is a little antioxidant powerhouse actually. So if we look at some of the antioxidants that are in it, you know kind of the top three that come to mind. There's something called flavonoids that polypodium has, and those are antioxidants that we usually find in things we know are helpful, like berries and dark chocolate. So you know, yeah, the good stuff, and so you know it's got a similar type of antioxidant to that, but then it's also got something called a polyphenol, which is the type of antioxidant you might find in green tea or you might find in grapes and red wine. And then it's also got something called glycosides in it, which is what we find in things like soybeans and you know the skin of apples and pears. And so I think really the benefit of polypodium comes from the fact that this one fern packs such an antioxidant punch, which is why it can really affect so many steps of the sun damage in our skin.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's impressive to think, like how mother nature, you know, helps itself, you know, when you just think about this plant and kind of its evolution and trying to survive on land and deal with sun exposure, and it's kind of what we're all trying to do, right, Live our lives, be active in our sports, or if we love to go out on a walk, you know. Or we work outdoors, you know, just thinking how we kind of, you know, deal with the sun in our own way. It's nice that we can really, you know, capture what nature's doing to help us too. And and kind of with polypodium, is there other antioxidants besides that one that you would recommend that would be helpful for some protection as well? Or just, you know, repair of skin that's been damaged by the sun.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I think as far as immediate sun protection like protection like we're talking about when you're outside I think polypodium is great. In our gummy we combine it with a little bit of niacinamide, which is a B vitamin, which is also known to do a lot of cellular repair. But you know, we did a lot of research on what antioxidants really benefit the skin and one of the you know we have what we call our defense line and in that the second vitamin is something called age defense, which we describe more as if the gummy is more protection from acute sun damage. The age defense is really acute and chronic, and so it's still got polypodium because we feel like that's a big player. But then it's got other antioxidants that we know are really good for skin repair, things like green tea, blueberries, cacao extract. It's got some probiotics in it, some resveratrol. It's got ginger, turmeric, so the antioxidants that we know help to repair sun damage. We've kind of combined, you know, the 14 most potent ones and put them into the Age Defense tablet.
Speaker 1:And you know, the one thing I will say is you know people ask and this is a question that comes up a lot well, my grandma never had sunscreen and my great-grandma never used polypodium, and why do we need it now? And I will say that what's interesting is, you know, the skin cancer unfortunately, we know is on the rise, even though our ozone is repairing itself a little bit, and one of the things that is happening is that, year after year, we seem to be having the hottest year on record, and so, since 2020, every year has been hotter than the last, and 2025 is projected to be the hottest year ever on the planet. And so I think, when people get frustrated and think about why is it that I get sunburned so easily and my great grandma didn't, or she didn't need sunscreen, I will also just say it's not your fault. You know the sun is different and the heat is different now, and so we do need more tools in our toolbox than we used to have.
Speaker 3:Well, we've kind of alluded to this a little bit. We've talked a little bit about, you know, your company and some of the supplements you have with Inner Glow. Do you mind talking a little bit about what makes some of your supplements so special and a little bit more about the company, just in general?
Speaker 1:Sure, thank you. So we're a company that is really developed and researched by myself, a dermatologist and a plastic surgeon, and the reason that we really created this was because we, at the time when this kind of was an idea in our minds, we were practicing at the University of Utah and a lot of people don't know, but Utah actually has the highest rate of skin cancer in America. Know, but Utah actually has the highest rate of skin cancer in America, and so we were seeing a lot of patients come in and they were looking for just something additional that they could do, because they were getting frustrated and I was looking for things that would be, I'm going to say, developed the same way we develop our medicines. Right, like in the supplement industry, there's no FDA regulation of supplements. They can be made anywhere. You don't really have to vet what's put in them, and so we really set out to make supplements that would be made in an FDA registered facility. You know they're not regulated, but at least we can make them in places where they you know could make medications, for example.
Speaker 1:We want something that's third-party verified. I source everything by hand. Every ingredient has research and scientific backing, and then, once we combine them into our supplements. We actually do do clinical studies on them to prove that they work, and currently we don't have a huge line. We have three things that I think really work well. We have our hair supplement, which has all 21 ingredients that I think you know we need for good hair growth, and then we have this defense line, which is the gummy for sun protection, and then, if you want protection and repair, the age defense vitamin.
Speaker 3:Well, it's just exciting, you know, I I hate to say that we look to mother nature for these answers, but it's amazing that she often provides them on multiple fronts. Right, we see that across the spectrum in healthcare. And now, I think, for our listeners out there, they'll think you know sun protection, you know no different in the value of polypodium and what it can give. You know patients that are out there, so we can just, you know, live smarter in the sun. You know, I think that's obviously our goal for everyone.
Speaker 1:Yes, no, I always say enjoy, enjoy your time outdoors, right? Just do it with a little bit of protection on board.
Speaker 3:I think people are sometimes shocked to hear dermatologists, you know, say that, but I always tease my patients, you know. We we have conferences and meetings in the craziest, sunniest places. We're not against the sun, I said. We're just against, you know, being out in the sun where you know you might get too much of it or not protect yourself. It's just like anything else, just doing things in moderation, doing it smarter, you know. So we're just here to help give you the tools and I think you've definitely given people some ideas and tools now to add to that toolbox to really help them have effective sun protection and really enjoy life. So for our listeners out there, if they want to find you, noreen, where can they locate you online or get more information about Interglow?
Speaker 1:So our website is interglowvitaminscom, and then our handles are all easy, whether it's Instagram or Facebook. It's all at Interglovitamins.
Speaker 3:Perfect. Well, thank you again for coming on the podcast. This has been great. I think a lot of people are going to be researching this and tempted to protect themselves in ways they'd never imagined, even if we don't have the sunscreen pill yet. So thank you for coming on and sharing your expertise. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. I appreciate it too, and stay tuned for the next episode of Dermot Trotter. Don't swear about skincare.
Speaker 2:Thanks for listening to Dermot Trotter. For more about skincare, visit DermotTrottercom. Don't forget to subscribe, leave a review and share this podcast with anyone who needs a little skincare sanity. Until next time, stay skin smart.
