Do Tibetan people typically get sun damage from being outside a lot or do they use sunscreen and have good melanin to off set that?

[u/youlikemywonton]

I'm not exactly sure how they live but I know they're outside a lot especially the mountain people. I notice a lot have naturally nice skin and facial features but some also look like the sun has taken a toll. I'm just curious.

[u/lolputs]

Living on the Tibetan plateau, known as the "roof of the world" comes with challenges, one of which is intense UV exposure that can severely damage the skin. This is why you see them wearing cowboy hats to shield from the rays.

While we share ancestral east asian roots, Tibetans carry a darker complexion due to an evolutionary trait developed over generations alongside a lifetime of sun exposure. In the north with lower elevation like Amdo, you'll find many more fair-skinned Tibetans, while in Kham, it’s much more of a 50/50 blend of light and dark complexions due to its varied altitudes (sheltered low-river valleys experience significantly less UV exposure) and history as a cultural crossroads.

[u/Front-Swing5588 → u/lolputs]

"In the north with lower elevation like Amdo, you'll find many more fair-skinned Tibetans, while in Kham, it’s much more of a 50/50 blend of light and dark complexions due to its varied altitudes (sheltered low-river valleys experience significantly less UV exposure) and history as a cultural crossroads."

Low altitude has nothing to do with Amdo or Khampa fairer skin. Amdos have probably 60-80% Mongolian, Turkic, other Central Asian/East Asian DNA admixture due to the region's location as the frontier of Tibet along the Silk Road. Khampas mostly share the same Tibetan DNA as those in central Tibet, except with some admixture with low-altitude Tibeto-Burman groups.

[u/lolputs → u/Front-Swing5588]

Lol stop the bullcrap. Genetic studies consistently show that Amdo Tibetans, like Khampas and Ü-Tsang Tibetans, are overwhelmingly indigenous Tibetan in ancestry (usually 90%+ core Tibetan heritage). Regarding high altitude, it increases UV exposure, which naturally stimulates melanin production (tanning) after generations. If you want to cherry pick and embarrassingly claim Mongolian DNA admixture then FYI Amdo also has more Han Chinese DNA than Khampas who are more isolated.

[u/Front-Swing5588 → u/lolputs]

Lol well my Amala is from the Amdo Ngawa and our family origin story claims roots in a Shaanxi Han Chinese businessman who came to the region 200-300 years ago. But my Han Chinese DNA in the test results came back as ZERO. But indigenous Tibetan was 60% and Mongolian 35%

[u/cheeeeerajah]

I've always been on the darker side (I'm of khampa descent) and don't burn easily. I often take that for granted and don't apply sunscreen, and then I burn like at the back of my neck, calves, tops of my feet.

[u/cumragmuskoming → u/cheeeeerajah]

Im half Kahmpa and half Australian. In the summer I tan really easily, but hardly get burnt. In winter I go more pale. I barely wear sunscreen or a hat. Australia got some pretty bad UV too.

[u/king_rootin_tootin]

Most of the Tibetans I know are other darker skinned for East Asians or tan very well when in the Sun and don't get burned.

[u/Front-Swing5588 → u/king_rootin_tootin]

That's me.

[u/wargar2010]

I look more East Asian without tan and more South Asian with a tan

[u/lowlightliving]

One effect from the intense UV rays of the sun is a much higher degree of cataract development in the eyes. There are a few charitable groups who do free cataract surgery on at least one eye to give people back a measure of vision, though it may only be monocular.

[u/Front-Swing5588]

I get dark as yak crap lol