More information about sun, Vitamin D and sunscreen

Remember, "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good?" I reference that again because after researching the many vitamins I wasn't happy with the information regarding D3, sun, sunscreen, etc.. A lot of information pointed to the fact that we need natural sunlight for vitamin D3, yet we need to protect our skin from the UVA and UVB rays, and worse, sunscreens may be a contributor to skin cancer. Well, that's just too confusing, especially for us fair skinned folks who understand the damage the sun can perpetrate on our skin.

I attended a luncheon this week and the guest speaker was Dr. Jodi Ganz with Olansky Dermatology. Her presentation was on skin cancer(s), tanning beds, sunscreen, vitamin D - all those topics. Her presentation was great and answered most of my questions and those that she didn't cover I stayed behind to ask! The word serendipitous comes to mind!

Here's what I learned and I'm sticking with it!

First of all, understand sun rays are radiation. Even those die hard sun bathers would probably agree that they limit or avoid if at all possible medical radiation. So let's be smart about our exposure to the sun. Yes, we need a little sun. But the amount of sun you need to get adequate D3 is 10 minutes over the span of space equivalent to the back of your hands. In other words, a small amount of space for only 10 minutes. And it's true the typical diet does not give us adequate D so supplementation and LIMITED sun is in order.

Protect your skin with a sunscreen that has protection from both UVA and UVB rays and understand that it's only good for 2 hours. So reapply, wear hats and clothing that have UPF ratings. No problem finding T's, hats and other clothing with UPF ratings at LL Bean, REI, Costco.

Even though we keep hearing about sunscreens contributing to skin cancers, according to Dr. Ganz there is NO scientific evidence to support this claim.

Learn to love your "natural glow" or if your natural glow is blindingly white, use self tanners. She also likes the "mystic" spray-on tans but while having your mystic tan sprayed on don't be tempted to jump in a TANNING BED as the science is in on those bad boys. Their UVA rays are the culprits in aging and skin cancers and are considered to be a class I carcinogen.

Lastly, products to reverse damage and keep that moist and youthful glow:

Retin A - if you don't have a prescription use products with high retinol (at night)
Moisterizers with Vitamin C, Green Tea, and Coffee Bean.



I'm back from an awesome trip to California. The ocean, mountains, wine country - what's not to love. The nights that we didn't eat out we popped into whole foods with iphone in hand and my favorite blog preparedbypaige It was a snap to scroll through her recipes, choose an item and shop right then and there. Life is good.