Protect Yourself from the Sun

As our planet continues to heat up and the rays grow stronger and stronger with each passing moment, we are faced with a challenge. How do we both get the necessary Vitamin D we need from the sun yet protect our largest organ, our skin. Your skin needs to be exposed to the sun daily for about 15 minutes in order to get the Vitamin D that is required. In order to keep your skin protected it is best practice to wear mineral sunscreen and eat whole foods. Now, we could go into a thousand page debate regarding how your food choices affect your body’s ability to protect itself naturally and mineral sunscreen vs. chemical sunscreen. Let’s touch on just a couple of the key components and I’ll leave you to research the rest on your own. Mineral sunscreen has two ingredients only, zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. These minerals sit on your skin like tiny guards and protect you from the harmful UV rays. Chemical sunscreens, on the other hand, allow the UV light into your skin then combat it with its plethora of chemicals such as; avobenzone, octisalate, homosalate and so on. Although FDA regulations haven’t put warning labels on anything or made the effort to educate the public better, it is widely believed that mineral sunscreen is safer and better to use. Putting chemicals into your body will inevitably cause hormonal reactions amongst many other issues. In conclusion, check the label of the sunscreen you put on your body and face. Be sure you are using mineral sunscreen, even if it costs a couple dollars more. Finally, this brings us to our second recommendation of eating whole foods in order to allow our body to protect itself naturally. Our ancestors were in the sun quite frequently without sunscreen and they didn’t all perish from skin cancer. Eating foods such as fatty meats, antioxidant rich fruits, full fat yogurt, raw honey and fatty fish are all examples of whole foods. Stay away from highly processed foods and sugar which will break down your body’s natural defenses. Get out there, take in the rays and enjoy nature! Have a wonderful rest of the summer!