Sunlight, Sunscreen and Cancer

Sunlight, Sunscreen and Cancer

The Number 1 cause of wrinkles and damage to the skin is sun damage, more than damage from pollutants and wind. Having said that, it is important to note that the worst and most obvious damage is found in later years in sun bathers referred to as "sun worshippers".

The recommended "dosage" of sunlight is usually about an hour per day, and never during the hours of 10:00 to 2:00. While this is excellent advice, the fact is that it isn't realistic for many of us.

If you are like me, I love to be outside as much as I can, winter or summer. And in my present job as Address Canvasser for the U.S. Census Bureau, most days I am outside almost all day.

I do wear a hat with a brim, and I do my best to work up gradually to the full-time exposure. But I tend to be more natural and avoid things like sunscreen, mostly because I am aware of how much our bodies require sunlight and how little we get in this geographic area, but also because of the cancer-causing agents in most of the sunscreens available, including the name brands.

Skin cancer (melanoma) is on the rise, and the sun is solely being blamed for it. Yes, burning the skin can cause melanoma, but we are led to believe that using a sunscreen or sunblock will prevent us from getting cancer.

There are two things wrong with that mindset:

1. It encourages people to think that they can stay out in the sun as long as they want, as long as they have sunscreen on. Wrong!
2. The only thing that can prevent disease is our diet and our lifestyle. Please see my article, Health is a Matter of Choice! for more information.

So, limit your exposure to direct sun as much as you can and wear protective clothing when you can't, but don't neglect to get at least 1/2 an hour of sunshine every day that you possibly can.

When you can't reasonably limit your exposure to the sun, and honestly most of us probably can't, use a safe but effective sunscreen on your body.

For more information on that, see Our Body's Need for Sunshine for more information on the life-giving benefits of the sun.

Links to Health Articles

Hopefully this alphabetical index of Health Articles will make it easier for you to find what you are looking for. If you have suggestions for any particular subject you'd like to see here, please let me know!

This section is constantly being added to, so please check back frequently.

Appetite versus Hunger
Benefits and Blessings of Good Health
Caffeine, a Legal Drug
Carob versus Raw Cacao
Do We Need Salt – or Sodium?
Exercise – It Does a Body Good! Part 1
Exercise – It Does a Body Good! Part 2
“Green” or just Goofy?
Green Smoothies!
Green Smoothies vs Juicing
Harmful and Healthy Sugars – Part 1
Health is a Matter of Choice!
Is Decaffeinated Coffee Better Than Regular?
It's Time for Your Flu Shot – Or Is It? Part 1
It's Time for Your Flu Shot – Or Is It? Part 2
More Effects of Cooked Foods
The Problem With Cooked Foods
What is Natural Skin Care? Part 1
What is Natural Skin Care? Part 2
More Dangers of Salt
More Tips for Getting a Good Night's Sleep
Not By Diet Alone...
Our Body's Need for Water – Part 1
Our Body's Need for Water – Part 2
Our Incredible, Self-Healing Bodies
Our Environment – Indoor Concerns
Our Need for Sunshine
pH in the Body – What's That?
Sleep, Sweet Sleep
Spring is Here!
Still More Dangers of Salt
The “Healthy” Oils Controversy
The Swine Flu Scare
Trouble Sleeping? Here are Some Tips
Variety, the Spice of... Gluttony?
What Exactly is a Healthy Diet?
What is a Tan?
Why Not Wash with Soap and Water?
Will a Good Diet Alone Make You Healthy?

Sunscreen

Natural Aloe Sunscreen

With SPF 26

For all Skin Types

This advanced Sunscreen Protectant SPF 26 lotion is your essential defence against the sun's burning UVA/UVB rays and is recommended for daily use.

We all need sunshine as part of a good health regime, but it's easy to overdo. That's where a superior quality, natural Sunscreen comes in.

Benefits include:

• Aloe Barbadensis Miller gel and Vitamin E moisturize, while Comfrey, Calendula, and Chamomile, well known healing herbs, nourish and soothe the skin.
• Vitamin E and Green Tea Extract fight free radical damage and soften the skin.
• Formulated with Avobenzone, which provides broad range UVA protection. Also known under the trademark Parsol 1789, which is on the FDA's category 1 sunscreen list.
• Contains Octinoxate, a popular sunscreen ingredient which is an excellent UVB ray absorber.
• Contains Octisalate, a time-tested, effective sunscreen ingredient which augments UVB protection.
• Contains Oxybenzone, a highly effective, oil-soluble UVA and UVB absorber used to enhance the SPF in sunscreens.
• Fragrance free.
• Free of artificial FD&C dyes.
• Not tested on animals.

How to use:

Apply generously and evenly on all exposed areas 20 minutes prior to lengthy sun exposure and as needed. Reapply after towel drying, swimming, or perspiring.

You may also be interested in L'Bri's Oil Free Moisturizer with SPF 16.

Oil Free Moisturizer
$22




Body Sunscreen
$13.50

If you have any questions, please contact your Consultant.

Ready to place an order? Click here.

Not By Diet Alone....

In yesterday's article, Will a Good Diet Alone Make You Healthy? we concluded that the answer was "No".

The individual components of Exercise, Diet, Sunshine, Fresh Air, Rest/Sleep, a good Attitude - are all necessary to achieve true Health.

We like to work on the parts we are strong in, where we are comfortable, rather than the part that needs strengthening. Sort of like with a piece of music - it's much more fun to play the parts we know, than to go back and break apart the difficult passages to get them up to speed.

It takes work, but the results and the satisfaction that comes with it always make it worthwhile.

Rev. George A. Malkmus, founder of Hallelujah Acres, teaches a "Get Healthy, Stay Balanced" program, where "balanced" means that all these components are necessary.

Dr. Douglas Graham, author of the 80/10/10 Diet and a 30 year living example and teacher of the raw food diet and lifestyle, says we are only as strong as our weakest link. How true that is!

He also says that if we have one spoke in the wheel that is either too short or too long, the ride will be very bumpy. I like that analogy because it is an accurate description of what happens when we either ignore one facet, or over-emphasize another.

A lot of people in the raw food movement have found such wonderful results from radically changing their diets from the SAD (Standard American Diet) to a raw or mostly raw fruits and vegetable diet, that they tend to stay there for a really long time.

I did, too, for a few years. Then I started adding in exercise, which wasn't hard for me because I have always loved being physically active, and since my health improved so dramatically with the diet change it was even easier.

After a few more years, when my diet wasn't something I had to work so hard at anymore, I started to take seriously the importance of getting enough fresh air and sunshine. Lately I've really been paying attention to my attitude, rest and sleep.

It's an exciting journey!

We are not fragmented creatures. God created each of us with a physical body, a spirit, and emotions that encompass one very unique and special person, of infinite value.

We should treat ourselves as such.

Phyllis Towse

Our Body's Need for Sunshine

Sunshine is usually talked about from the viewpoint of how to protect ourselves from it.

People seem to forget that our bodies actually require a certain amount of sunshine, daily.

How much? Maybe 15 minutes to start, until you get used to it. Then you can work up to half an hour or more, once you get used to it.

And never in the hottest part of the day!

Worried about skin cancer? Recent research from Baylor College of Medicine has shown that a diet high in cooked fats (free radicals) and chemicals, and low in leafy greens greatly increases the risk of skin cancer.

This is because free radicals and toxins in the unprotected skin are baked and mutated by the sun's rays.

But, a living foods diet can protect us from skin cancer.

So why exactly do we need the sunlight's exposure on our skin?

Sunshine:

• Balances our hormone production (including metabolization of Vitamin D)
• Reduces our resting heart rate
• Lowers cholesterol
• Lowers blood pressure
• Destroys fungus and candida
• Triggers an increase in the chemical serotonin. (Serotonin is the feel-good chemical that controls sleep patterns, body temperature and your sex drive, and also lifts your mood and alleviates depression and fatigue.)
• Helps to offset weakening of melatonin production.

Depression is a serious problem in areas where they see little sunlight - during the long winter nights of Alaska, for example. Washington state used to have the highest suicide rate in the country, quite possibly due to the amount of rain there and lack of sunshine.

Some people recommend special lamps in the wintertime to help alleviate this very real problem. It would be much better if we could make a trip to a warm climate for at least a week or two during the winter, but of course that is not possible for everyone.

Skiing and snow shoeing are good for getting sunlight, as well as fresh air and exercise.

But for now, in mid-October with the beautiful fall colors in the leaves all around us here in upstate New York, enjoy every bit of the warm sunshine that we get from now on!