Sunscreen facts and choosing a safe sunscreen

Helpful Sunscreen Facts

Is it really necessary to use sunscreen every time you go out in the sun?

The real answer to that is… `it depends`!

How healthy are you?

Do you eat well?

Do you have a history of skin cancer in your family?

Have you had severe sunburns before or skin damage by cumulative overexposure?

Have you been exposed to a lot of radiation treatments?

If your response is negative to the above questions, then the answer may be `yes` for you and/or you should wear some good sun protective clothing.

One of the sunscreen facts you don't want to forget is that you’re depriving yourself of the sunshine Vitamin D and you definitely need to be getting it through eating the proper foods and/or supplementing with a good quality whole food vitamin D.

For the rest of you, if you are only exposing a small portion of your body, for instance, your face, neck, arms and hands and you spend a significant amount of time regularly and sometimes burn and tan darkly due to overexposure, then YES. Put on a good safe sunscreen.

If you are exposing a significant part of your body (sunbathing), then do not stay any longer than when your skin turns a very light shade of pink. After this point your body is not any longer receiving the beneficial vitamin D and your skin is being damaged. Your skin will age faster causing wrinkles and other damage that could eventually lead to skin cancer.

So at that point put on sunscreen and protective clothing. Doing otherwise is simply not worth it. See Dr. Mercola's video on this subject

Sunscreen Facts

Sunscreen acts just like a screen. It filters the sunlight so that less of it reaches the deeper layers of your skin.

The difference between sunscreen and sunblock is that sunblock actually reflects or scatters the sun light away so that it doesn’t reach the skin at all.

Sunscreens usually contain sunblocks as part of their active ingredients. The reflective particles in sunblock usually consist of zinc oxide or titanium oxide which is found in most sunscreens.

So sunscreen is filtering or blocking the UVA and UVB rays. UVA rays penetrate our skin deeply and can cause skin cancer and premature skin aging. UVB rays are involved in tanning and burning your skin. This can lead to a condition later on in life called actinic kerotosis which, in turn, can lead to squamous cell carcinoma.

What does SPF mean?

This simply means the degree to which a sunscreen protects the skin from the direct rays of the sun. If less protection is fine for you then choose a low SPF. If you need the highest protection then choose the highest SPF.

Sunscreen facts about sunscreen ingredients you don’t want on your body.

Here’s a list of questionable chemicals to avoid:.

• Para amino benzoic acid

• Oxtyl salicyclate

• Avobenzone

• Oxybenzone

• Cinoxate

• Padimate O

• Ciozybenzone

• Phenylbenzimidazole

• Homosalate

• Sulisobenzone

• Menthyl anthranilate

• Trolamone salicyclate

• Oxtocrylene

• Octinoxate

• Nano zinc oxide

• Octisilate

• Insulizole

• Methoryl SX

More sunscreen facts about the best ingredients for a safe sunscreen

• Sunflower oil

• Lecithin

• Coconut oil

• Glycerine

• Jojaba oil

• Tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E)

• Shea butter

Tips

Don’t think that you have to smother yourself with sunscreen whenever you go out. Remember that the sunshine vitamin D is beneficial to your overall health.

It’s always a good idea to use a safe sunscreen to prevent overexposure to the ultraviolet rays. Keep some with you for these times.

Educate your children and teach them to avoid sunburn and overexposure. The results of severe sunburn and overexposure may not show up until they are adults, even in their 40’s.

No need to put away the sunscreen during the winter. The UV rays go on year round… do remember to take some with you on that winter vacation in the sun. It may be more expensive where you’re going.

Eat well, definitely avoid overexposure to the sun, take advantage of sun protective clothing and be sun smart.

Return from Sunscreen Facts to Sun Safety
Home Page
Best Sunscreen
Safe Sunscreens