By Glenn Forrester of Ground Soap
There’s nothing quite like the feel of warm sunshine on your skin. That radiant glow through the lids of your eyes is an experience that we share with even our most primal ancestors and for those of us who live above 30 degrees latitude, its an experience that signals the long awaited arrival of summer. We need that warm glow for our health but just like all things that Mother Nature provides in abundance, too much of a good thing is, well… a bad thing.
There’s nothing quite like the feel of warm sunshine on your skin. That radiant glow through the lids of your eyes is an experience that we share with even our most primal ancestors and for those of us who live above 30 degrees latitude, its an experience that signals the long awaited arrival of summer. We need that warm glow for our health but just like all things that Mother Nature provides in abundance, too much of a good thing is, well… a bad thing.
Goldilocks zone
Essentially the sun is nothing more than an unimaginably
massive ball of fiery nuclear fusion in space, contained by only the gravity
that its massive fuel supply creates. Needless to say, it’s a good thing that
we keep our distance. Here on Earth we’re in what’s commonly referred to as the
goldilocks zone, an area in orbit around a sun where conditions are just right
for life to exist. These conditions are incredibly rare in our universe and the
short of it is, we humans should really count ourselves as lucky to have found
such a warm and cozy spot to set up camp. The sun provides us with good health
and good spirits as well as being responsible for providing, either directly or
indirectly, 100% of the food we eat and the energy we use. It’s what makes the
wind blow and the rain fall. It is the main source of energy for the chemical
reaction that makes plants grow and is solely responsible for the entire base
level of the food chain.
So if we evolved hand in hand with the sun in just the right
proportion why is it harmful to us? Well,
for the same reason that walking into a den of lions is probably not the best
idea. While we live in the same sandbox as they do, venturing too far into
their corner of it makes us look like dinner.
We actually have developed good defenses against the sun’s harmful rays.
If your race evolved close to the equator your skin was made to easily handle
longer exposure to direct sun whereas someone living in temperate climates
evolved skin that can respond to varying amounts of sun and still manage to
absorb its vital benefits. But these defenses were built to suit only our basic
survival needs and at least in this case, evolution doesn’t reward vanity.
You have natural
sunscreen
Have you ever wondered why your skin turns darker when you
tan? It’s because of a pigment produced by the skin called melanin. Your skin’s
outer layer makes more of it as sun exposure increases to try and prevent damage
to the deeper layers. It acts to block ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which over
time damages the fibrous elastin in your skin causing it to blemish, wrinkle
and sag. Cumulative exposure to UV can also cause basal and squamous cell
cancers, which while serious, rarely spread to other parts of the body. More
severe damage in the form of recurring sunburn, especially under the age of 18,
is said to cause melanoma, a cancer that is known to spread to other areas of
the body more readily.
The sun makes you
happy
In the past couple of decades the sun has been demonized for
these very real health risks but many healthcare professionals are now starting
to question the wisdom of covering up entirely.
There is growing evidence that restricting our exposure to full strength
sun disrupts the body’s production of the “feel good” hormone serotonin causing
mental health issues like seasonal depression. We also know that upwards of 90%
of the body’s vitamin D supply is produced by the skin during full sun exposure
and without it we see increases in bone diseases like osteoporosis and rickets.
Vitamin D also plays a key role in signaling immune system responses and is
known to slow growth rates in some cancers. Further, there is growing evidence
that sunlight plays a big role in the body’s ability to regulate sleep and is
key in the development of proper eyesight in growing children. So if you take
away our regular exposure to the sun that we evolved in step with we may be preventing
more than just a sunburn.
How much is too much?
This is truly the million-dollar question and while common
sense is probably the best guide, there are several important factors to
consider. The darker your skin is the more natural sunscreen you have, meaning
that you can safely spend more time in the sun and also that you need longer
exposures to enjoy the sun’s health benefits. Inversely, people with very fair
skin should obviously take great care when judging when enough is enough. The intensity of the sun changes from season
to season, place to place and with time of day and cloud-cover. Considering all
that, the ideal personal exposure time for maximum vitamin D synthesis is
roughly one quarter of the time it takes you to burn, twice a week.
Sunscreen
Basically there are only two types of sunscreen, ones that
absorb UV and ones that reflect it. Products that absorb UV use a chemical such
as oxybenzone to filter
UV. Such chemicals, while highly effective sunscreens, are readily absorbed by
the skin and may present some health concerns. Oxybenzone is thought to be an
endocrine disruptor, which means that it may interfere with normal hormonal
function in the body leading to possible cancers and birth defects. The safer
option is to use cremes that present a physical barrier to reflect UV light
from the skin. Zinc cremes are the most common and are considered safe for use
by all ages. Check out Badger Balm if
you’re looking for a safe sunscreen option this summer.
