Have any summer plans? We, like so many others, have had to alter our travel plans. And while the freedoms of summers past are limited this year, one beautiful thing remains the same - the sun, in all of its glory, is still ours to enjoy.
That fiery star often gets a bad wrap. Admittedly, I have experienced my fair share of prickly-hot skin after endless days at the beach - not some of my shining moments. But, in appropriate doses, the sun is just the medicine many of us may be needing to enhance our health.
Most of us are familiar with the sun’s ability to enhance the body’s vitamin D supply - and it is this vitamin that governs just about every tissue in the body. What is less known, are some of the other benefits of sun exposure.
Too much sun exposure can lead to skin cancer, but other cancers such as Hodgkin lymphoma, breast, colon, ovarian, pancreatic and prostate may result from too little. There are studies indicating that adequate sun exposure also decreases the chances of developing multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
The list goes on. Sun exposure may protect against rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and infectious diseases. May combat bacterial and viral infections including the flu, bronchitis, tuberculosis and septicemia. Sunlight governs our circadian rhythms, helping us sleep at night and wards off depression.
Bottomline - get some sun on your skin - but don’t get burned.
How to do this? Expose your skin and eyes to sunshine in the early morning hours for about 20 minutes, sunscreen free. At other times when you may get burned, get sun while wearing a natural sunscreen free of toxic chemicals. Of course, you already knew this…but did you also know that you can increase your skin’s resilience to getting burned by eating certain foods? A sunburn is basically a type of inflammation and eating an anti-inflammatory diet largely influences natural sun protection.
EXAMPLES:
Tomatoes. Lycopene, found in high concentrations in tomatoes, is a free-radical neutralizing anti-oxidant. It works to minimize the body’s inflammatory response to overexposure to UV rays.
Foods rich in beta-carotenes. Carrots, sweet potatoes, butternut squash and spinach are rich in beta-carotenes and help protect the skin from free-radical damage.
Chocolate. The flavonoids in chocolate, especially dark chocolate, act as anti-oxidants and are anti-inflammatory.
Matcha. The polyphenols in matcha and green tea are protective against UV radiation.
Quercitin rich foods. Almonds, apples, grapes, and berries reduce the effects of free radical damage. Almonds in particular, are also high in vitamin E, a skin protector.
Astaxanthin rich foods. Salmon, lobster, crab, shrimp, and algae are rich in astaxanthin, a naturally occurring carotenoid which is one of nature’s most powerful antioxidants.
So this weekend, how about a lobster salad, with tomatoes and spinach, and crushed toasted almonds overtop, with some dark chocolate and berries for dessert before heading out to the beach!
References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2290997/?fbclid=IwAR1N2Xjx46tflGuifXkfxJ4CWjRO658B0Z2Im7mYxxn-u2GWSAYwp_zKjq0