Getting Some Sun is Not All Bad
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There is a rampant amount of skin cancer in this country from people who over sun themselves and use tanning beds to extreme measures, this has caused a general panic and “Avoid the sun at all costs” attitude across the nation. The problem is that if you wear sunblock all the time and avoid the sun you will be preventing the absorption of the necessary UVB radiation which also helps the body create and metabolize vitamin D.
Vitamin D is found in very few organic foods and the chemical version is not nearly as potent and effective, vitamin D is crucial to protecting the heart, blood stream and helps prevent organ cancers. The only main source of vitamin D is through natural sunlight or drinking milk, which is hard to do for people who are lactose intolerant. It is also proven the sun helps against fatigue, malaise, depression and other symptoms.
In moderation it is imperative you allow some sunlight to penetrate and be absorbed by the body, the best time to get some sun would be prior to 10am and after 4pm in the afternoon where you run a much lower risk of skin cancer. It is still appropriate to do short five to ten minutes of getting some sunlight mid day without any sunblock just to make sure your body gets a healthy absorption of vitamin D.
The biggest risks for skin cancer are children and sunburns, sunburns in children greatly increase their likelihood to get skin cancer as adults, though adults who burn can still get skin cancer, it is the DNA damage to young and growing skin cells and DNA that pose the greater risk for mutation in the cells.
Children should wear sunblock for the majority of the day, but should also get a small amount of time each day without sunblock to absorb the Vitamin D, again these should be limited to early morning or late evening hours, or very short amounts of time mid day. All other times they should wear sunblock of SPF 50+ or more.
- In Summary:
Remember to be wary of direct sunlight and use sunblock, especially on children during peak UV Index hours. Don’t however prevent the body from absorbing natural sunlight completely and make sure that at least some exposure to sunlight without “sunblock” or with very low SPF (15) is attained in order for the body to absorb essential nutrients and gain the benefits.
And remember, everything in life should be done in moderation. If you go to extreme on anything you will end up potentially causing more harm than you are trying to prevent.
-Justin Germino
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Tags: Bad Sunlight, Good Sunlight, is sun good for you, Sun benefits, Sun risks, sun vitamin D, sunblock or no sunblock, which SPF
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Klaus @ TechPatio (4)
MinnieRunner (3)
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Karen & Gerar... (2)
Such good, solid advice Justin. And it applies to everyone no matter whether you live in the sunny south or the cooler north. My mother loved to bake in the sun. She’s now in her early 70’s and she is dealing with skin cancer on her hands and forehead. And her skin is very thick and wrinkled. Moderation is the key.
Prestons last blog post..Mom and Me Diaper Cakes Take Diaper Cakes to a Whole New Level
Thank you, there are just constant articles in the news and papers about both skin cancer and sun being bad, and how the sun and vitamin D is essential for lowering risks of cancer and heart disease, so SUN is good for internal organs, but bad for skin
Very timely, my husband and I were just discussing this the other day when he said we needed to get some suntan lotion. I told him about the sun and Vitamin D.
Karen, author of “My Funny Dad, Harry”s last blog post..Lucky Lady In The Lead–All Alone!
Yep, moderation is key, I try to make sure my kids get some sun without sunblock every morning before the UV index becomes dangerous.
Its probably much easier to take a daily vitamin D pill as milk can cause an upset stomach and too much sun puts your skin at risk. Either way vitamin is an important nutrient; a deficiency of it could cause rickets or other equally unpleasant ailments
Science has shown that vitamin D does not metabolize well unless taken with calcium, all vitamins taken orally are only a fraction as effective as derived from natural resources as well. Sorry, but a Vitamin D supplement does not substitute sunlight or milk, you don’t get nearly as much benefit.