Using the right sunscreen

How to choose the right sunscreen and the importance of Vitamin D.

Are you getting enough Vitamin D?

With summer approaching comes more exposure to the sun. Choosing the right sunscreen is essential. It is important to get Vitamin D from the sun. The sun takes cholesterol from the skin and after a few conversions will manufacture Vitamin D.

Vitamin D is often called the sunshine Vitamin. It is actually not a vitamin but a steroid hormone that is obtained from either exposure to the sun, food, or supplementation. When levels are low it is usually easy to get them back up.

Almost every cell in the body has Vitamin D receptors meaning that almost every cell needs Vitamin D.  This includes your brain as well as your bone cells.

Unfortunately the so called “experts” fail to realize that Vitamin D deficiency raises your chance of skin cancer.   Low Vitamin D increases your chance of heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, prostate and breast cancer.

There are over 32,000 scientific studies showing the benefit of Vitamin D which shows the benefits of sun exposure.

The risk for skin cancer is not normal exposure of the sun to the skin but over exposure. It is always important to not sunburn but get sun slowly and build up your time in the sun.

The sunscreen that we recommend is from Beauty Counter. With all the things that are negative for a persons health in sunscreen and other skin products we recommend Beauty Counter for skin care and make up also. Their products are certified by the Environmental Working Group. (EWG.ORG) Always check what you are putting on your skin, your health depends on it.

What’s in your sunscreen?

The problem with sun screen is coming more to the forefront. Chemical sunscreen has been shown to increase the risk of cancer. Oxybenzone is present in approximately 70 percent of skin care. It has been shown to come off the skin of beachgoers and kill horseshoe crabs. It is toxic to humans. Some manufactures have changed from Oxybenzone to Avobenzone, but this does not appear to be a safer choice.

Some other chemicals that can get into you bloodstream through the skin are listed below. These chemicals can be found in other things that are put on the skin. This list is not all inclusive of all harmful chemicals.

• Octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC)

• Octyl salicyclate

• Octisalate

• Octocrylene

• Homosalate

• Parabens

• Cinoxate

• Octinoxate

• Dioxybenzone

• Phenylbenzimidazole

• Menthyl anthranilate as well as many others.

Parabens have been shown by a study in the UK to be present in in 95 percent of malignant breast tissue.

Spray on sunscreens can also cause problems. The FDA expresses concerns over inhaling these products, often these are with children. They issued a warning to parents to avoid spray on products.  Titanium dioxide and Zinc Oxide are considered to be the safest in sunscreen if applied to the skin. But if inhaled they this is a different story. They can irritate the lung tissue and the finer particles create worse effects. Additionally, Titanium Dioxide is classified as a carcinogen.