Dear Beauty Conscious Reader,
The media and “experts” from the medical community would have you believe wearing sunscreen all day, every day is the best thing you can do to protect yourself from the sun’s harmful rays.
They tell you it’s a vital part of your daily routine and you should apply it before you leave your house each time you go out. But this could be very dangerous to your health.
Standard sunscreens you find on the shelves at your local drug store work by absorbing the sun’s rays … preventing them from burning your skin.
And many doctors and manufacturers will tell you this absorption is good because it prevents the rays from damaging your skin.
It may keep your skin from burning. But anything that gets absorbed into your skin goes directly into your blood stream.
And the majority of sunscreens contain harmful ingredients that can cause some serious damage to your body that far outweigh the risks of burning.
The worst culprit in sunscreens is benzophenone.1 This free radical attacks your fat cells, protein cells and your DNA, which can cause hormone imbalances, premature aging and certain types of cancer – like breast cancer.
I tell my patients it’s OK to go out in the sun at least 10-15 minutes daily without sunscreen (or as long as they can without burning their skin). This way you’re stimulating your skin to produce melanin, which causes a tan. And a tan is your body’s natural way of protecting itself from sunburn.
But if you’re going to be spending a longer amount of time in the sun, you’ll want to protect your skin as naturally as possible. The most effective natural sunscreen is zinc oxide.
This works by blocking both types of the sun’s rays, UVA and UVB. All you have to do is apply zinc oxide generously on exposed skin at least 30 minutes before prolonged sun exposure and you’re all set.
My research team is in the process of developing a natural sunscreen with zinc oxide that beats the rest. I’ll let you know right here as soon as it’s ready to go…
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears MD
1. Hanson, K.M., Gratton, E., Bardeen, C.J. “Sunscreen enhancement of UV-induced reactive oxygen species in the skin,” Free Radic. Biol. Med 2006; 41 (8): 1205–12