Alternatives to commercial sunscreens do exist. Tomato paste (lycopene), frankincense essential oil, olive oil, and resveratrol from grape skins have all demonstrated in studies to protect from, and even reverse, melanoma and photoaging of the skin. I’ve written about foods, herbs and essential oils for protection from UV damage often and just a few days ago presented the information at the Premiere DAYSPA expo in Orlando, Florida.
Thing is, we need sun. We evolved in the sun and it is a part of us. We manufacture Vitamin D using sunlight. We evolved with an abundant supply of available foods and plants that we eat and use as medicines, and also help us manage the harmful UV rays from the sun. So be sure your diet contains high quality antioxidants from foods and plants that provide the protection – or balance – from the potential photoaging, sunburn and melanoma caused by UVR .
So here’s a quick list of what you can do now to begin your inside and out protection from sun damage.
Eat a “Rainbow Diet.” Fresh and organic greens, yellows, reds, oranges, blues and purples. And lots of them. Forget the new plate thing the government released. Quality of food and it’s composition (it’s nutritional value) is as important as quantity and category.
These are just a handful of foods that are good for you and provide protection from UV and free radical damage
- Kale
- Cabbage
- Broccoli
- Mustard greens
- Collard greens
- Yams
- Salmon
- Tomatoes
- Blueberries, blackberries, goji berries
- Grapes
- Yellow, red or green peppers
Supplement with
- supercritical extracts (New Chapter vitamins has a good assortment)
- Resveratrol
- Alpha lipoic acid
- and other concentrated or isolated antioxidants.
Topically apply high antioxidant value, whole ingredient type skin care – Spirit of Beauty, including the powerhouse skin rejuvenator Intensive Healthy Aging Complex, is what I use for sun protection. Your skin care should have color to it. White has no protection. My formula has astaxanthin, a bright red/orange carotenoid extracted (a “super extract”) from the red algae and well researched for it’s protection from cancers and aging due to exposure to the sun.
Use a daily body moisturizing lotion made from olive oil, safflower and/or sunflower seed oil. You can make this yourself and add some essential oils documented for protection from, and reversal of, sun damage, like
- Frankincense
- Geranium
- Lavender
- Cape chamomile
- Hydrodistilled vetiver
- Clove
- Thyme (thymol or carvacrol type),
Let me give you a heads up. There is a body serum level that needs to be reached before you will be fully protected. This takes about 8 – 12 weeks of every day application and supplementation. If your plan was to eat a can of tomato paste today and go out in the sun tomorrow, well, go for it, but don’t expect full protection. Do expect the botanical based plan you start today to be effective in a couple of months or so. Yes, I know, if you live in any places that don’t have all year sunshine and beach, then there won’t be much summer left in a couple of months.
The sun is a good thing. Sun Phobia causes Vitamin D deficiency and cancer. Go out in the sun. Eat your antioxidants, supplement with antioxidants and apply topically your antioxidants. This is how nature intended to protect us from the harmful rays of the sun.
Essential oils….just what I have been looking for!….because I take coumadin, I cannot eat many of the suggested green vegetables……….but applying the oils to my skin will do what needs to be done.
I’ve been juicing now for 6 months. Half greens such as cilantro, parsley, and basil, and half fruit and vegetables such as apples, oranges, carrots, and celery. I live in cloudy Seattle, and rarely spend time in the sun. Last week, I spent a week, mostly outside, in Germany with scorching sunny weather. Normally, my freckles would get very dark and I would have a sunburn on my face, but this time, neither happened. My skin turned a slight shade of tan (darker than my usual white), and my freckles stayed light.