Health benefits of darker skin

Most humans have similar melanocyte numbers, but those with darker skin tones have higher, larger, and more pigmented melanosomes.

Simply put, the more melanin a person has, the darker their skin.

Here are some health benefits dark-skinned people have:

1. Dark-skinned people rarely don’t get sunburnt

Darker skin is adapted to sunlight and contains more melanin.

Light-skinned people, especially Caucasians, are more likely to have sunburns because they frequently develop blisters—painful, inflamed sunburns that need intensive medical care when they spend long hours under the sun.

Darker-skinned people, on the other hand, can stay on longer in the sun and perhaps never get blisters from the sun; this is perhaps an adaptive mechanism since the sun is hot in these regions.

Benefits of dark complexion [NPR] Pulse Nigeria

ALSO READ: Why people living near the Equator have darker skin

2. Dark-skinned people do not age on time

Black don’t crack is a popular saying that highlights how dark-skinned people age slower than their counterparts.

Light-skinned people often experience photoaging, which is wrinkles, broken blood vessels, freckles, age spots, and keratosis that comes from exposure to the sun.

However, when it comes to dark skin, melanin protects them from short-term damage from the sun.

ALSO READ: 6 countries with darkest skins and why

3. Dark-skin people are less likely to get skin cancer.

White skin is less melanin-containing and has a translucent layer that lets UV rays damage DNA and may cause skin cancer by penetrating lower layers. Natural skin, on the other hand, efficiently blocks UV rays, minimising harm to cells across multiple layers.

However, dark-skinned people have one disadvantage: excess melanin in African-Americans and other people of colour leads to increased skin reactivity, triggering the production of dark marks or patches due to various stimuli such as rash, scratch, pimple, or inflammation.