Meghan Liebetrau is a South African living in London. She’s a former dancer with a background in health and skincare. She currently work as an account manager for a recruitment company specializing in luxury brands. She’s written for ‘The South African,’ a London based newspaper, and worked in the publishing sector.

Why Sun Lotion is Damaging Your Skin As Well as Your Health – And What to Do About It

The reason behind our belief that sunscreen protects against skin cancer is simple.  The FDA and the corporate organizations who market sunscreen products have purposefully kept the truth from consumers.  I am here to shed a little light on the subject of sunscreen and how it can do more harm than good. These are the things that conventional medicine and sunscreen companies will never tell you.

Scientific evidence shows that sunscreen products have more ability to promote cancer than to prevent it.  The use of SPF blocks the body’s absorption of UV which is essential to the body for the production of Vitamin D – an underestimated, powerful antioxidant that, when deficient in the body, causes all types of diseases and disorders like depression, osteoporosis, hormonal imbalances, even obesity.  However, if the body as an adequate supply, Vitamin D can prevent up to 80% of ALL cancers.

There is an endless list of toxic, carcinogenic ingredients in sunscreen that have the ability to be absorbed into the bloodstream and do serious damage to DNA.  If you are spending a lot of time in the sun and you insist on wearing a sunscreen, finding the most natural one is of utmost importance.  However, not all ‘natural’ sunscreens are in fact ‘natural.’  A non-profit organization called the Environmental Working Group has established an informative website that lists over 700 sunscreens on the market and the toxic chemicals they contain.  They provide advice on which sunscreens are safer than others and which ones to avoid. You can view this list at www.ewg.org/sunscreen/.

Using sunscreen is only a temporary solution in protecting your skin from burning.  The problem is that the majority of sunscreens only protect against UVB rays – these rays cause the burning effect in the skin.  They do not adequately protect from the harmful UVA rays which are responsible for premature ageing and cancer due to their ability to penetrate deep into the dermal layers.  The only way to truly protect your skin from burning, pre-mature ageing and cancer is to understand how your body is designed to produce its own ‘internal sunscreen.’

The body is a profound working machine that was made to defend itself against its environment without any help from chemicals.  It has the ability to produce its own immunity to the sun but there is one key secret for it to be able to do this and that is correct nutrition.

A diet of refined carbohydrates, chemical additives, sugary drinks and processed foods alters your body chemistry, allowing it to become highly vulnerable to sunburn.  By changing your diet to include fresh produce, superfoods and nutritional supplements, you can cause your body to become nearly 100% immune to sunburn by blocking excess UV rays naturally.  People with paler skins will also find that they are able to be in the sun for longer periods without getting burned and without the increased risk of skin cancer.   Include foods such as berries (Goji and Acai berries are extremely effective), spirulina and chlorella into your daily eating as well as fresh fruit and vegetables which are all high in antioxidants.

Once a certain amount of natural immunity is produced in the body, you will be able to gain a healthy tan without burning or running the risk of skin cancer.  To have a healthy tan that is produced from the body’s own natural immunity (not by forced sun exposure with tanning oils and low SPF’S) is a sign of excellent Vitamin D production which means that there is enough in the body to protect against harmful diseases.

Sunlight is vital to our body, yet we spend so much time applying sunscreen and covering up because of the negative impression we have of the sun.  This is not to say that we need to go into the sun for hours and get burned to smithereens.  Our bodies require a certain amount of sunlight per day and as long as this is not exceeded, we will not burn or run the risk of developing cancer.  For a pale skin, 15 minutes per day is enough and for darker skins, 2 hours per day is perfectly acceptable.

It is a universal misapprehension that UV exposure alone causes cancer.   The truth is that skin cancer is often caused when UV exposure is combined with unremitting nutritional deficiencies and lack of antioxidants that cause the skin to become vulnerable.  The foods we eat and the chemicals we put on our skin both play an immense part in determining our skin’s reaction to UV exposure.  The old saying ‘you are what you eat’ truly gives sun protection a whole new meaning!