With the Summer Solstice approaching on the 21st, marking the longest day of the year, we have our official transition into summer. It's also the start of Cancer season and I don't just mean the Zodiac kind, but also when we are more susceptible to skin cancer and eye diseases.
Sunscreens
Many of us know to protect our skin from the damaging rays. UVA rays cause our skin to burn and break down collagen causing premature aging, and UVB rays are directly linked to skin cancer. The best defense is covering up or staying out of direct sunlight, but that's not always realistic or desired. The next best thing is wearing sunscreen. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently released their recommendations for the safest sunscreens to use. Their list takes into account not only which ones work, but which ones are non, or least, toxic on the body. They also recommend staying away from sunscreens that contain Vitamin A (Retinol products) or Oxybenzone, and aerosols and powders which can be damaging to the lungs if inhaled. The last thing you want is to do is get a hormone disorder or illness, because you’re protecting yourself from skin cancer!
Vitamin D
But there is also a downside to blocking UV rays and that’s blocking the body's Vitamin D production. People with darker skin need to have their skin fully exposed for at least a couple of hours to build their daily nutritional amount of the hormone Vitamin D from the sun. Lighter skinned people need 15 minutes and everyone else falls somewhere in the middle. It’s important for your body to get enough Vitamin D as it’s crucial to absorbing calcium and staving off osteoporosis. In the event, you can't spend time every day sunbathing, then supplementing is important. The dosage is different for everyone but should be 35 IU per pound of body weight - about 3000-5000 IU depending on your size.
Sunglasses
Sunglasses protect not just your eyes, but the delicate skin around the eyes from eye damage. But what you wear on your eyes matters. Stay away from cheap sunglasses often given away for free in promotions or sold in fast fashion stores as they can cause more bad than good for your eyes. Sunglasses without UV protection have been shown to cause damage to the eyes by opening up the pupil and allowing for corneal damage, cataracts, macular degeneration and even blindness over time. Prolonged use can also cause eye strain and fatigue.
The Sun and Our Body's Processes
When you put your sunglasses on also matters. There are receptors in your eyes that signal your pineal gland to start producing melanin to protect your skin. Those same receptors are important for triggering your natural diurnal rhythms and regulating your melatonin production which helps with good sleep hygiene. When we wear sunglasses, this fools the brain into thinking you are in the shade or it’s dark out. When you wear sunglasses all the time, your body starts to produce less melanin over time. The UV portion of the spectrum stimulates production of hormones critical to our circadian processes, particularly melatonin and dopamine. By wearing sunglasses, we block the sun's critical messages and our body can't effectively tell time. The result is mitochondrial inefficiency, hormonal imbalance, metabolic disorders and cognitive dysfunction.
Blocking UV rays is beneficial to protecting the skin and eyes from damage but can also be bad for our body's natural production of hormones, rhythms, and ability to develop safe production of protective pigmentation, but some UV exposure is good for our body's natural processes.
Sunscreen/no sunscreen, sunglasses/no sunglasses...so what's the best approach? A holistic approach!
Wait 15 minutes before putting your sunglasses on to give your brain time to adjust your circadian rhythms to the sunlight, start producing melanin to protect your skin, and keep your melatonin production suppressed until nightfall
When outside for extended periods of time for your skin tone, use a good quality, non toxic, non aerosol or powder sunscreen, stay in the shade, or wear protective clothing
Wear good quality sunglasses to protect your vision over the long term, and of course, never stare at the sun
Take 3000-5000 IU of Vitamin D3 unless you're fully exposed to sunlight for the required amount of time for your skin tone each day