# Thinking of cooking myself... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 5, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-cooking-myself/248863 "2004-06-05T22:05:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bryn2kay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/db5fbb/32.png) [@bryn2kay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bryn2kay)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-cooking-myself/248863/1 "2004-06-05T22:05:25Z")
Technically, you could call it that (I think.) Basically, I’m expecting a day of pretty nice sunshine tomorrow. I don’t have much time for sunbathing but tomorrow I can commit to lazily soaking up some rays. I don’t really wanna be out there for ages as I get bored pretty quickly, so how successful would a coating of vegetable oil be in aiding the burn? Would it be more inherently damaging than two or three days of natural tanning, and more importantly will it speed up the whole browning process. I’m not too worried about a day or two of pink-burn if I end up nicely browned (this year seems the exeption since I have lots to do over summer, most years I can safely bathe over a period of days.) Any opinions, informed or not, appreciated.) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-cooking-myself/248863/2 "2004-06-05T22:45:19Z")
> [@bryn2kay](#): > > …, so how successful would a coating of vegetable oil be in aiding the burn? > Would it be more inherently damaging than two or three days of natural tanning, and more importantly will it speed up the whole browning process. > > I’m not too worried about a day or two of pink-burn if I end up nicely browned (this year seems the exeption since I have lots to do over summer, most years I can safely bathe over a period of days.) > > Any opinions, informed or not, appreciated.) 🙂 OHHHHHHHH! Look, I 'll admit this is not a very Gen Q quality answer, and if my evil old computer will only co-operate, I’ll find cites and be back. But, all I am thinking at the moment is “EEK” I recall way back when Celyn was a young Celyn,. mother used to think that applying olive oil would help to produce a nice tan. Now, in later years, whatever I read did convince me that this is entirely a silly thing to do. Actually, I _think_ you would burn first, then it would settle into a tan, but for goodness sake don’t trust me on that, will you. In any case, not sure you really do want the sunburn bit.) Caveat - it happens that Celyn is a fair skinned freckly Scottish-type person, and therefore burns instead of tans, and I imagine you have the good luck to be a person who _can_ get a tan, or you would NOT be finding it OK to have sunburn for a couple of days. (Celyn rather bitterly wishes that Celyn could ever tan, but, really, I have had aenough hassle with painful sunburn in my life, I am not even going to try! Fearsome notions like “melanoma”, “skin cancer” and so on do rather spring to mind. Methinks I’ll look for cites, but I do think you should have a quck bit of Googling about this. There’s a lot of stuff about the ifferent tyes of UV light that I would not presume to pretend to recall to post about without checking. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-cooking-myself/248863/3 "2004-06-06T01:20:53Z")
Coconut oil would smell nicer. However, just think about that disgusting wrinkly, leathery, cancer ridden skin you may end up with if you make a habbit of this. ---
**Author:** ![bryn2kay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/db5fbb/32.png) [@bryn2kay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bryn2kay)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-cooking-myself/248863/4 "2004-06-06T01:49:36Z")
Well, cheers for the advice! I will give it a go tomorrow, weather permitting. It will not become habitual, especially if I end up in pain hehe. Regards, your soon to be bronzed god 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-cooking-myself/248863/5 "2004-06-06T02:03:16Z")
Be very careful. Most people now days are slipping on a shirt, slopping on sunscreen and slapping on a hat. I was badly burnt on my legs once, I ended up with huge plate sized blisters filled with fluid over my thighs. The pain was excrutiating, sleep was impossible. Standing, walking, sitting, all caused severe discomfort. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-cooking-myself/248863/6 "2004-06-06T03:37:40Z")
Just dropping in to say that this thread title really needs to appear directly below the one asking if there are any reports on what people taste like… ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-cooking-myself/248863/7 "2004-06-06T05:28:52Z")
A suntan is your skin’s response to injury. If you’re baking yourself every summer, you’re greatly increasing your risk of skin cancer. My suggestion is to find a good self-tanning product and skip the overexposure to sun. As for the oil question, I’d venture a guess that it’s not going to have much effect one way or the other on the amount of damage you do to yourself. Just a few facts: from [The Better Health Channel](http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Skin_cancer_risk_factors_and_early_signs?open): > [@](#): > > Severe sunburn increases your risk of developing melanoma. In fact, five doses of sunburn while you are young can double your risk of developing this deadly disease later in life. Mild sunburn or tanning is also not acceptable. There is no safe way to expose yourself to the sun without increasing your risk of skin cancer. and [MyWedMD](http://my.webmd.com/content/article/65/72793.htm?z=4209_00000_8003_to_05) > [@](#): > > Cumulative sun exposure causes mainly basal cell and squamous cell skin cancer, while episodes of severe sunburns, usually before age 18, can cause melanoma later in life. Also, if you’re still young enough to think you’re immune from cancer, here’s a little information (from the same source) about the other effects of sun exposure on your skin: > [@](#): > > Sun exposure causes most of the skin changes that we think of as a normal part of aging. Over time, the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) light damages the fibers in the skin called elastin. When these fibers breakdown, the skin begins to sag, stretch, and lose its ability to go back into place after stretching. The skin also bruises and tears more easily – taking longer to heal. So while sun damage to the skin may not be apparent when you’re young, it will definitely show later in life.