NATIONAL (NBC) - Most of us know the best way to protect yourself against skin cancer is to cover up and wear sunscreen. But you may be able to drink your way to safer skin.

To protect yourself from sun damage and skin cancer, dermatologist Doctor Bryan Chen says there’s steps you should take. “The use of sunscreens to cover up the best that you can from the sun, the use of hats during the day, and try to avoid the sun during the hours of 10 in the morning to two in the afternoon when the sun intensity is the greatest outdoors - that in combination with drinking tea - I think would be useful.”

Drinking just one cup of tea a day will lower your risk of getting the two most common types of skin cancer - squamous and basal cell carcinoma. That’s according to a report from the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Dr. Chen says, “Teas have long been known to contain antioxidants in them - and also chemicals called polyphenals.”

In the first human study of more than 2,000 people - tea’s antioxidants were found to limit the effects of the sun’s ultraviolet rays.

But, Doctor Chen says, tea isn’t the cure-all for skin cancer. “Just because you drink tea doesn’t mean it’s a 100% protection against the development of skin cancer. You really do need to do it in combination with other protective measures protect yourself from the sun.”

Scientists found the more tea you drink each day and over the years, the better the skin protection. It doesn’t matter if the tea is hot or cold. And all types of tea offered protection, including green, black and herbal tea.

Source from WIS - Columbia, SC, USA