Sunscreen

So, yesterday I got into this rant about sunscreens and all the carcinogens and gender bending estrogenic compounds they contain. I talked about the fact that using them blocks your body's ability to produce vitamin d and how vitamin d deficiency is linked to osteoporosis and cancer. As I was writing I was careful not to make statements that I couldn't back up with facts and research. So in the meantime I did some more digging around and I came across this study.
This research paper was published in the British Journal of Cancer in 1992 by J. Moan and A. Dahlback. These researchers looked at the occurrence of skin cancers in Norway between 1957 and 1984. Here is what they found: during this time the occurrence of skin cancer went up 350% for men and for women it went up 440%. The Ozone Layer, however, did not suffer any depletion over Norway during this time period. Therefore they concluded that an increase in ultra violet radiation was not responsible for the increase in skin cancer occurrence. If you want to check out the study, here is the link for it:

http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v65/n6/pdf/bjc1992192a.pdf

Food for thought. Now here are some tips for avoiding both skin cancer and carcinogenic sunscreen:

- Ease into the summer. Slowly increase your exposure to sunlight so that you develop a natural tan without burning.

- Limit your exposure at the hight of the day, between 11 and 2 when the sun is highest in the sky and most intense.

- Cover up naturally. There are natural sunscreens as well as light long sleeve clothing options that can help protect you.

-Wear a hat.

All these measures go toward one goal: not allowing your skin to burn!

Getting sun is healthy, burning is not.

You can check out the Good Guide at www.goodguide.com to help you find sunscreen products that are rated according health, environment and society. The last two categories obviously have to do more with the company's practices than the product itself.

Alright, enjoy what's left of the summer and stay safe!


PS: You may have noticed that I changed the design of this blog a bit. I felt that the black background was a bit hard on the eyes. I have also started to add labels to my entries, which will allow readers to search for entries in certain categories such as recipes. Let me know what you think!