I have recently come across some interesting information from multiple people and sites talking about how if you have all the nutrients you need (coming from whole foods) and you are healthy that you don't really need to wear sunscreen. At first I was shocked, because of course we are taught that the sun is evil and deadly and sunscreen is a must! I was raised by a sunscreen crazy mother and I do wear spf on my face daily and sunscreen if im going hiking/at the pool. But the more I looked into it and thought about it, it kind of makes sense for the other argument: Sunscreen is only recent in human history, we evolved thousands of years without it! Although our ozone layer is different now, the sun has not changed in billions of years. Now that we are sunscreen obsessed, skin cancer has skyrocketed compared to say the 1930s when almost everyone worked outside...without sunscreen! I found some studies that people with the lowest rates of skin cancer are lifeguards in AUSTRALIA and the highest rates were office workers in cloudy UK! There is a lot of info about vitamin D from the sun PREVENTING a wide range of cancers.
After I got past the shock, I realized that this may be similar to meat/protein myths. Sunscreen/cosmetics make billions of dollars scaring people away from the sun. Dermatologists are among the highest paid doctors. Even cancer organizations make billions from skin cancer. I remember reading something in Diet for a New America about how the cancer industry is thriving on money, but is not really looking in the right places to actually cure it because there is no money in that. Sad, but true. But what about all the organizations, govt, american skin cancer societies you say? Is it possible they are just biased sources, just like the government/ADA/FDA/USDA telling you that you need milk for strong bones and meat for protein? Other countries organizations seem to be more understanding of these issues, but not the greedy U.S.
Anyway....I am not suggesting baking in the sun nor going to a tanning salon. I know that sunburns can cause cancer and that melanoma is deadly. All I'm saying is do you think we shouldn't worry so much about covering every inch of our skin with sunscreen? I'm becoming more aware of what I'm putting on my skin and sunscreen is still just a bunch of chemicals, even the "natural kind" does not sound like stuff I want in my body. Yes, I said in. I am eating a whole foods plant based diet, and getting tons of antioxidants. But I do live in the pacific northwest and hardly get any sun...so even going out w/o sunscreen will not give me enough vitamin D (at least until summer).
Any thoughts on this controversial idea??
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