You know how good it feels when you’re in a lawn chair or on the beach, soaking up the sun? Well, that’s not your imagination. Sunlight is known to boost your serotonin level, a neurotransmitter thought to play an important role in depression. The thing is, now that summer’s here for the northern hemisphere, health officials are already warning that spending too much time in the sun could give you cancer.

So, what should you do when those rays come calling?

First, be aware that, yes, skin cancer is on the rise. But also know that more sunscreen is not the answer.

If you think you’re protecting your family and yourself by slathering on sunscreen, you may want to pay attention to a new study that shows you could be causing more harm than good by doing that. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, hazardous chemicals in sunscreens don’t remain atop your skin until you wash or sweat them off — rather, they soak into your system and will show up in your bloodstream just hours after you apply them.  

The FDA study highlights concerns about the safety and effects of chemical sunscreens on endocrine, reproductive, developmental and cancer-related outcomes, as well as environmental harm. The chemicals used in a majority of sunscreens are linked to infertility, birth defects and hormone disruption in children.

Because they eventually end up in waterways when beachgoers go for a swim, they destroy coral reefs and some sea life, as well. For precisely this reason, Hawaii lawmakers banned the sale of sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate in 2018.

Worse, these chemicals also end up in waterways when they leach into the sewer system when you shower or bathe.

When it comes to your body, though, how much should you worry about how many of these chemicals leach inside you? Studies show a whopping 96 percent of Americans have oxybenzone in their bodies — and it’s been found in blood, urine and breast milk.

In addition to oxybenzone, octinoxate and similar endocrine-disrupting chemicals, the most toxic sunscreens also include synthetic fragrances and retinyl palmitate, which poses cancer concerns.

If this makes you feel like you’ll never be able to go out in the sun again, the good news is that sun avoidance is not the answer. Sensible sun exposure not only is important for vitamin D production and heart health, but it also may reduce your risk of certain kinds of cancer. The key word is “sensible.”

“Sensible” means getting just enough sun to turn slightly pink — about 20 minutes of UVB light from the sun over 40 percent of your body is all you need to produce Vitamin D. If you’re going to be in the sun for longer than 20 minutes, use precautions and safe sunscreen lotions, a list of which you can find on the Environmental Working Group’s website.

Then, when you are going to be in the sun for longer than 20 minutes, use those safe sunscreen sunscreens and protect yourself from sun damage with common sense by:

• Staying in the shade during peak sun hours and getting out of the sun or donning some light clothing the moment your skin starts to turn light pink
• Instead of a chemical sunscreen, use zinc oxide or titanium dioxide — the only two sunscreen ingredients deemed safe for human use by the FDA
• Wear hats, sunglasses and proper clothing
• Read the ingredients on those sunscreen bottles: Safer sunscreens for adults and childrentend to use zinc- and titanium-based mineral ingredients, which block rays, but don’t penetrate your skin
• Take the “internal sunscreen” astaxanthin, an antioxidant supplement that offers protection against radiation

So, grab your hat and sunglasses and catch some rays.

Sensibly, of course.

I am not advocating sunburn, but avoidance of the sun and/or putting toxic sunscreen on your skin can lead to some major health challenges!

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

One of the main changes today is that the diet we consume (not enough omega 3 fats, too many omega 6 fatsfruits/veggies, etc) does not adequately support our body in terms of protection (antioxidants to balance sun exposure).

I am NOT advocating sunburn, as this is a big problem – however – we need to get bare skin in the sun for 20 minutes or so every day.

Please make sure that you get enough omega 3 fats (fish oil, flax oil, chia seeds, etc) and limit omega 6 fats (vegetable oils, hydrogenated fats, etc). We also need quite a bit of whole food nutrition in the form of fruits and vegetables. If you aren’t eating enough daily – consider a whole food supplement like Juice Plus+.

Even better is to get bare feet on earth while doing it, as you then gain the benefits of earthing along with sunlight!

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

The energy of the sun helps our bodies produce a very powerful and beneficial hormone called Vitamin D (most of us are vastly deficient). You don’t want to get sunburned, but you DO need to get in the sun regularly.

Be careful with sunscreen as the skin is the body’s largest organ and will absorb what you put on it. Make sure the ingredients are beneficial for you. Check out the best recommendations at EWG.

“The recommendation to avoid sun exposure at all costs is inadvertently killing people while saving very few if any from deadly melanoma. Outside magazine likens it to the public health recommendation to trade saturated fat for trans fats — a public health policy that has since been found to have killed millions by causing the very problem it aimed to prevent.”

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

For decades, the concern over skin cancer, most of which are nonlethal, has taken the front seat. As a result, other far more serious chronic health conditions such as depression, heart disease and internal cancers that claim far more lives than melanoma have been allowed to proliferate. It’s high time we straighten our priorities.

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