We've all been inundated with information from the media (and our own doctors) about the vital importance and benefits of sunscreen but I really have to wonder whether it is as necessary as we've been led on to believe. While I'll admit that SOME brands offer a bit of protection against the sun's harmful burning UVA/UVB rays when exposed for prolonged periods of time, it's also apparent that people are becoming increasingly Vitamin D deficient. More than ever! And of course many things can be attributed to this...Being stuck indoors and not getting enough natural light for one. But it seems counter productive to me to tell people to slather on SPF (all the time) when what it's doing is creating a barrier on your skin that prevents any sunlight from getting in, resulting in zero Vitamin D penetration. Secondly, keep in mind that our skin is the body's largest organ and anything you apply topically to it goes directly into your bloodstream. This includes all of the chemicals in sunscreens. How can that be a good thing? And finally, the sunscreen industry continues to generate BILLIONS of dollars in revenue each year and so MAYBE there's more to this than meets the eye. After all, the media is essentially instilling a degree of fear into us, suggesting that if we don't use sunscreen then we are at risk and will surely get some form of cancer. And when we are scared we listen!
I personally rarely ever wear sunscreen. A year ago I found out that my Vitamin D levels were very low, which is one of the reasons why I choose not to wear it. Thankfully Vitamin D3 supplementation balanced everything out. Also it's important to say that I don't "bake" in the sun, however will apply some SPF if I'm going to be shooting outside in open sunlight for a few hours. Ironically I find that those times when it's applied and even reapplied, I almost always burn. Interesting...
In closing, the jury's still out for me on this subject. It does make sense to me to put it on if you are going to be in direct sun exposure for a long time but I'm not convinced that one needs to wear it constantly. Seems a little excessive and unnecessary. Anyhow, just wanted to share my thoughts with you. Always great to look at things from a different perspective.
