It is only mid-June and I am already really tan from spending time in the sun. I started earlier this year, with just a few minutes daily until I can now spend a couple of hours in the sun without burning. I’m chocolate brown and have that healthy “outdoorsy” look.
Some of you are probably gasping for air right now, thinking of all the admonishments from health care professionals to stay out of the sun. “Sun is bad for you,” we’re told. “Sun exposure causes skin cancer.” “You should not go outside without sunscreen.” All common messages, many of them brought to you by the makers of ….sunscreen!
The truth is that there is little evidence to support the idea that simple sun exposure promotes the development of skin cancer, although burning of the skin is definitely a health hazard!
The human body relies on sun exposure in order to make Vitamin D. There are articles in the Health Briefs Online Library with scientific references concerning the benefits of sun exposure, the inadvisability of supplementing with Vitamin D as a substitute, the risks of using sunscreen, etc. I won’t duplicate that information here. Instead, since this forum is more an opportunity for me to express my personal opinions and points of view, I’ll share another perspective. if sunlight was “bad” for us, I am fairly certain that humans would not have been designed to produce Vitamin D in response to sunlight, and it would be readily available in foods.
One last thing – I’ve been doing this for many years, I’m in my early 50’s, and my skin looks great. Another myth is that sun exposure causes premature wrinkling, and dry and leathery skin. It does not when you are properly hydrated, and practice dietary excellence.
So, I’ll end here and get out and enjoy some sun on this lovely weekend afternoon!
