Saving Your Skin (Naturally!)Who DO you believe about sun exposure?...is it healthy or not?  Current thinking is that about 15 minutes per day of unaltered sun exposure...meaning without sunscreens is healthy....it helps your body to produce vitamin D into a viable form helping to protect your bones and even protect you from certain forms of cancer. Exposure beyond this point causes skin cancer and premature aging, and therefore requires protection unless you become a nocturnal being.  I almost died last summer from exposure to a mislabeled sunscreen, as many of you will recall and am still recovering from that debacle, over a YEAR Later,  so this article is particularly near and dear to my heart.  I am not going to go into the gory details of that here but I am going to help you save your skin.

There are different ways to protect your skin from sun exposure.  The absolute best way is to protect it from sun exposure entirely....Avoid 10AM to 2PM exposure when the sun's rays are strongest. Wear a wetsuit when swimming, and use a hat and sunglasses to shield you from the UVA/UVB rays.  Next choose a sunscreen.  There are two types: physical and chemical.

Physical sunscreens, such as: Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide provide good physical barriers as sunscreens.  They sit on the surface of the skin and reflect the sun's rays, off.  Be cautious of nano- particle containing sunscreens which can cause these ingrediants to penetrate the surface of the skin and cause poisoning, and even cancer. Based on the research I have seen these products are NOT safe for anyone's use.

Chemical Sunscreens: penetrate the skin's surface and attempt to prevent damage by breaking down the rays.  Recently in National Geographic, most of the chemical sunscreens used by swimmers were found to harm the coral reef.  I am not a fan of chemical sunscreens at all.  Please visit the Environmental Working Group an environmental activism agency which rates sunscreens according to their profiles and ability to chemically harm us.

Lastly: avoid Dr. Hauschka and Aveeno products if you are allergic to wheat or oats, I would also not use these products on infants as they are not safe in young children due to their immature immune systems.  Hauschka products list all ingrediants on their label Aveeno products do not. 

Antioxidants, in fruits, vegetables, green tea and dark chocolate help repair damage to skin.  Shea Butter and Vitamin E can serve as non-chemical sunscreens for short periods, by changing the penetration of the rays but I would prefer a physical block or physical sunscreen for total protection.   Taking a good antioxidant formula like our ProACES, is always a good idea to help skin repair itself.

If you have sun damaged skin please schedule a consultation to discuss skin rejuvenation, naturally  you will not believe the results we've seen here. Best of Health!

Dr. Taryn DeCicco

Apple-A-Day-Clinic.COM

5/27/2008