Sunscreen 101

And some brands we love!

Are you trying to protect yourself from further sun damage? Or are you trying to undo sun damage from your earlier years? Maybe both? Either way, we have got you covered!

The sun sure gets a bad rap, considering how marvelous it is. It’s the number one provider of essential vitamin D and improves our health in many ways! But just like food and other keys to health, quantity and quality matter. Let’s start with all the benefits of the right amount of sun, and then we’ll dive into protection and damage control.

The right amount of sun can:

1. Improve our sleep

2. Reduce our stress

3. Help maintain healthy bones

4. Strengthen our immune system

5. Improve our mental health

Many of these health benefits are related to naturally improving our levels of essential vitamin D. The one that isn’t necessarily related is our sleep. The sun and melatonin go hand in hand. When we are able to get out in the morning sun for a little bit around noon, we can reset our circadian rhythm. The sun can be your best friend if you’re working on resetting your sleep.

I know you think you need ALL the healthy sunscreen recommendations, but first, I want you to understand the process inside your body so you can better understand how to protect yourself from the outside. Imagine that a great deal of what we put on our skin gets absorbed into our bodies and, in turn, our bloodstream. While the food we eat has to go through a lengthy process to get to our bloodstream, what is soaked up through our skin does not. Our body will still need to detox what isn’t biologically a match with it. This is something we need to remember when it comes to sunscreen. I don’t want to scare you, but not all sunscreens are even close to being created equal.

Remember that what you put into your body is just as important for UV protection as what you put on it. A diet high in medium-chain fatty acids and antioxidants works wonders against the sun, and guess what? You’re already doing that! A supplement I love to help protect against and undo some of the damage already done is ResveraCel.

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Here are some sunscreen ingredients you will want to avoid:

parabens, sulfates, fragrance, formaldehyde-releasing agents, retinyl palmitate, propylene glycol, and sodium benzoate.

Oxybenzone – proven to disrupt estrogen, androgen, and birth weight in human studies

Methylisothiazolinone – proven neurotoxin and eco-toxin

Octinoxate – proven to disrupt hormones, thyroid function, and behavior.

Cyclopentasiloxane – proven to accumulate in the tissues, causing reproductive and endocrine dysfunction.

Octocrylene – proven to accumulate in tissues, causing DNA damage, developmental abnormalities, and adverse reproductive effects.

Homosalate – proven to disrupt estrogen, androgen and progesterone

According to the EWG, chemical sunscreens “penetrate the skin and may disrupt the body’s endocrine system [your hormones] as their active ingredients mimic the body’s natural hormones and as such, can essentially confuse the body’s systems.”

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Better Options

Mineral sunscreens are generally safer. They use zinc oxide or titanium dioxide as the active ingredients to coat and protect your skin by reflecting UV rays. In the debate of chemical vs. mineral sunscreens, mineral generally wins from a health and safety perspective.

Active ingredients to look for in mineral sunscreen:

• Zinc oxide

• Titanium dioxide

Some safer sunscreens include:

• All Good

• Babo Botanicals

• Badger

• Supergoop

• Think Sport

• Kiss My Face

And the list continues to grow as the awareness grows! If this is brand new info for you, don’t let it overwhelm you. Think of it as knowledge and empowerment. Small changes make a big difference.

Lastly, if you’re ever curious about the safety of any of your products, my favorite reference place is Skin Deep by the EWG. Here, you can type in your favorite products and see their ratings.

Stay safe and healthy this Summer!