Nothing beats the feeling of pure, warm sunlight on your skin, especially after a cold and dreary winter. We often take for granted the life-giving power of the sun and completely ignore its many health benefits. On one hand, sun helps us to produce vitamin D, a hormone necessary for bone health and optimal immune function; on the other, too much sunlight can also cause deleterious effects on skin elasticity and function, aggressively facilitating the early signs of aging. Having these extreme oppositions means we need to find a balance between getting enough and avoiding damage resulting from overexposure. And, regardless of what you may have heard in the past, this doesn’t always have to require the use of sunscreen.
How to Protect Against Sun Damage from the Inside Out
The sun has been vilified for decades thanks to a number of past studies indicating sun exposure increases the risk for skin cancer. While it is certainly true that subjecting your skin to too much sunlight can elevate cancer risk, a stable approach to exposure can actually decrease mortality from all causes. [1] In response to sunlight, our body produces a hormone commonly referred to as vitamin D, creating the starting material for the initiation of a complex metabolic process that supports immune health. Sunscreen can actually decrease our body’s ability to make this incredible “vitamin.” On top of that, many of the chemicals found in conventional sunscreens can actually increase the risk for a number of diseases. [2]
Sun Protection Starts with Your Diet (continue reading)