Sunshine, Natural Immunity & Real Food

I have just finished my sisters’ website for her business (yes in addition to my interest in health issues, I also create websites).

You can visit it at http://www.solarbody.com.au

Because my sisters’ salon does offer solarium tanning, I put up an article on her site that gives a great, in depth explanation on tanning, sunshine & vitamin D.

You can read the article “Indoor Tanning:Smart Tan” either on her site: http://www.solarbody.com.au/, or you can visit the site that I originally got the article from: http://www.tanningtruth.com

Helena

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Over the last few months, I’ve been more aware of what’s been in the media about skin cancer & sun exposure. The majority of what I am seeing on TV and magazine advertisements, seems to be mega scare tactics about getting skin cancer & that you should avoid the sun altogether. This is contrary to what I wrote a few posts ago regarding an article in the Age newspaper here in Melbourne where doctors & researchers are highlighting the negative impacts of insufficient sunlight & Vitamin D.

So I was very heartened when reading a magazine recently announcing that the Cancer Council of Australia has issued new guidelines on the amount of sun exposure Australians need to stay healthy.

The Cancer council admits that the sun provides Vitamin D which they say is essential for strong, healthy bones - unfortunately they don’t really expand on the true benefits of vitamin D obtained from the sun, such as an elevated mood (good for treating depression) and a major boost to your immune system, which consequently can reduce the incidence of cancer. Ironic that the very sunshine that people are afraid will cause skin cancers, can actually lower the incidence of major cancers such as breast cancer & colon cancer.

The notification continues with the obligatory warnings that too much sun can increase the risk of skin cancer. According to the Council, fair-skinned people can maintain adequate levels of vitamin D in summer from a few minutes of sun exposure around the peak UV periods (10am-2pm) on most days of the week. In winter, in southern Australia, where UV rays are less intense, you need 2-3 hours of sunlight over a week.

Really it comes down to some common sense - I think that just like we need to eat good food every day, some sun exposure every day is also essential - without sunscreen. A few minutes if your skin reddens quickly, a few minutes more if you tan easily. You know what your skin does so take the guidelines and tailor them to you.

And if you plan to be in the sun for longer that a few minutes (up to about 10 minutes), then at least use a sunscreen that doesn’t contain harmful ingredients - I’ll talk about that in another post.

Read the rest of Confused on how much sun is enough?

In The Age newspaper on Sunday (9th Dec 2007) there was a great article about the dangers of insufficient sun exposure.

Read the full article here.

In our beautiful sun-drenched Australia, we’ve been given the one-sided view of how dangerous it is to go outside without sunscreen on every single part of our bodies.

So after being told to “Slip Slop Slap” for around 25 years now, the news is out that without sufficient sun exposure (no sunscreen please), a large proportion of the population is suffering from vitamin D deficiencies.

Big deal you might say - can’t I just take vitamin pill or eat food that has vitamin D in it?
Well, you can do both of those things, but they come in as a poor second compared to exposing your skin (at least 40% of your body) to the life-giving and nourishing rays of the sun. A little bit every day is all you need - everything in moderation my grandmother used to say.

In the article it mentions vitamin D deficiencies causing fractures, bone disease and deadly illnesses. Interestingly, the article doesn’t elaborate on what these “deadly diseases” might be.

I came across the following quote from from a research study done at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego. You can read the full article here

“600,000 cases of breast and colorectal cancer could be avoided each year by an adequate intake of vitamin D”  

That’s a pretty bold claim - one that the specialists interviewed by “The Age” have not mentioned. Instead the article suggests emerging evidence linking vitamin D deficiencies to colon, breast and prostate cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and other diseases in it’s closing paragraph.

Even without such amazing statistics on cancer, links between low levels of vitamin D and massive increases in the number of people being treated in hospitals with osteoporosis-related broken bones is costing our health system $1.9 billion a year in treatments.

You might read this and think about the excessive burden currently weighing down our health care system in Australia and wonder why our public health authorities aren’t recommending cautious and sensible sun exposure - as little as 10-15 minutes per day on 40% of your body (outside of the peak sunlight hours of 10am-2pm).

Sounds pretty logical to me.

Helena

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