'Apply sunscreen after 10 mins in the sun without it'.
Sunscreens prevent the body from making vitamin D by blocking the UVB rays.
SPF8 reduces ability to make vitamin D by 90%
SPF15 " " " " " " 99%
Unfortunately most sunscreens block the UVB rays that produce vitamin D.
So using a sunscreen that gives protection only to UVB rays and little or no protection to UVA rays is counter productive,
as UVA are the very rays that penetrate deep into the skin and are also linked to cancer and melanomas.
Statistics have shown that skin cancer rates have risen since the sunscreen campaigns began 30 years ago.
4 out of 5 sunscreens do not adequately protect consumers and often contain harmful chemicals.
Suppliers and manufacturers of sunscreens advice to the public: 'to protect our skin from the sun at all times'
has cost us dearly in terms of our health.
We need to expose our skins to UVB rays to make vitamin D.
The time needed for exposure is very short.
From 10-30 mins a day is all that is required, or just until the skin begins to turn pink.
Use common sense to judge how long is long enough! Do not allow the skin to go beyond pink to red.
As the skin tans, you are building up resistance to burning.
This is the reason dark skinned people need more exposure than fair skinned people.
The pigment in the skin acts like a sunscreen.
After this time cover up, go in the shade, or use a safe sunscreen.
WHAT IS A SAFE SUNSCREEN?
There are a few safe sun screens now entering the market place and I am sure there will be many more,
once people begin to see the chemical contents of the popular brands.
See Dr Mercolas sunscreens for an in depth look at what we are putting on our skin.
Mercola says of the contents of sunscreens: 'if you wouldn't put this in your mouth, then don't put it on your skin,
as it is rapidly absorbed directly into the bloodstream'.
Dr. Mercola's Comment:How many people know that not getting enough sun KILLS 50,000 people from cancer deaths every year in the US alone?
The myth that the sun is detrimental to your health, and that sunscreen is a necessity to guard against cancer
is one of the most pervasive hoaxes in our society today.
As this article points out, this myth can be traced back to the two industries that benefit the most:
the cancer industry and the sunscreen manufacturers.
These two giant profit-makers tag-team efforts which keep the unsuspecting public in a trance.
Not only do sunscreens promote cancer by blocking your vitamin D production,
they are also likely carcinogens all by themselves.
A study in the April 2004 Journal of Chromatography found that there is significant penetration
of all sunscreen agents they studied into the skin.
So when you use most sunscreens, your body is absorbing synthetic chemicals, and with experts'
recommendations to apply generous amounts of the product every few hours,
you will likely be absorbing a fair amount. Some of these chemicals are quite dangerous.
Octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC), which is present in 90 percent of sunscreen brands,
was found to kill mouse cells even at low doses.
For more on what is actually in most brands of sunscreen click below.
Many people work long hours in offices and look forward to their holidays,
perhaps 2 weeks in the sun. Since they have limited time to build up a tan,
which in itself acts like a sunscreen, they slather themselves in high SPF sunscreen,
and then spend all day on the beach.
During this time they are accumulating huge doses of UVA,
(the rays that are responsible for creating cancer and melanomas)
and very little vitamin D producing UVB because the sunscreen blocks most of the UVB.
People who work outside all year round (farmers, lifeguards and gardeners etc.)
get sun exposure over a longer period of time, and tend to have higher levels of vitamin D,
which has been shown to be protective against many diseases.
