Sun BLOCK--MORE Like Sun EXPOSE

pick-the-right-sunblock-de-medium_newRemember how adamant your mother was that you didn’t get IN to the pool without sun block on. I used to think that was so ridiculous when we were just going to wash it off, eventually.  I never understood it until I had my own children, and I did the exact same thing.
We have been using sun screen for years and years, not thinking a thing about it. With skin cancer on the rise and thoughts of the Ozone Layer disappearing, people are more concerned now more than ever about making sure they and their children are protected. Until now.
More recent research has now been exposed that cites sunscreen as the real culprit. You may not see them this way and they don’t necessarily smell like it, but sun screens are chemicals which not only enter the bloodstream but accumulate in the body fat stores. When the chemicals are exposed to sunlight, that’s when the damage really begins—they become powerful free radical generators, making your chances for getting skin cancer and other kinds of cancer much higher.
Unfortunately, this information is not new! Anne Willis, CEO of De La Terre Skincare, said in a recent article in Dermascope thatHoward Maibach started the warning bell (in the 1970’s) that up to 35 percent of sunscreen applied to the skin could pass through the skin and enter the bloodstream, his whistle blowing had little effect on sunscreen promotion or safety testing. In fact, he found that the longer sunscreen chemicals are left on the skin, the greater the absorption into the body.”
“The use of sunscreen chemicals may be increasing the incidence of cancer and that sunlight exposure may actually decrease human cancer rates and improve your health.”
The Vitamin D Debate
According to Dr. Ahmed Abdullah, a board-certified plastic and cosmetic surgeon, in his article “Setting the Record Straight About Sun Protection” in Dermascope online magazine:  “Vitamin D is essential to the body not only because it encourages bone strength, but also because of its role in decreasing the risk of many chronic illnesses, including common cancers, autoimmune diseases, infection disease and cardiovascular diseases.12 It is no wonder, then, that much has been made of the current vitamin D crisis. Vitamin D inadequacy has been reporter in approximately 36 percent of otherwise healthy young adults and up to 57 percent of general medicine inpatients in the U.S.13 Among the suspected reasons for this widespread deficiency is improper diet and, you guessed it – sunscreen usage.

Sun exposure triggers the body’s synthesis of vitamin D. However, in blocking or filtering UV rays, it is believed that sunscreen inhibits the amount of vitamin D the body can produce. Is it reason enough to cease sunscreen use? Not at all. For one, the connection between sunscreen use and vitamin D deficiency has been called into question by more than one study. In one in particular, sunscreen users experienced just a minor decrease in vitamin D levels, but not enough to be labeled as a deficiency.14 And in another well-publicized study, it was demonstrated that vitamin D deficiencies occurred in 51 percent of a sample that received abundant exposure to sunlight.15 These studies, and others, leave open the possibility that other factors may be at work.”
Free Radical Generators
Ms. Willis, in her article “Sun Protection that Considers Your Overall Health”, stated that “organic chemists have been aware of the dangers of compounds in chemical sunscreens for years. Chemicals are widely used to start free radical reactions during chemical synthesis. For instance Benzophenone is activated by ultraviolet light energy that breaks benzophenone’s double bond to produce two free radical sites. The free radicals then react with other molecules and produce damage to the fats, proteins, and DNA of the cells – the types of damage that produce skin aging and the development of cancer. Currently, the FDA approves avobenzone as a safe and effective active ingredient and is one of the suggested UVA blockers. Avobenzone, which is a chemical easily absorbed through the epidermis absorbs ultraviolet radiation energy. Since it cannot destroy this energy, it has to convert the light energy into chemical energy, which is normally released as free radicals.”
Have you ever considered doing something different? Not many have. Instead we slather more on because we have been lead to believe it’s safer.  Now that you know the facts, maybe you’ll think twice before putting chemicals on your body and face.
What’s your take on sunscreen?