Antioxidants as Sunscreen

Its that time of year when everyone is going out to lake and the pool to have some fun and soak up some rays. When I was but a lass I used to have tanning competitions with my girlfriends. We would slather on the baby oil, OR, if you were really hard core, you'd use baby oil with iodine in it. I don't really know why the iodine. It probably just stained our skin a tan color. But, hey! We were fourteen so don't judge. One particularly pale, red headed friend of mine decided to use one of the first "sunless self tanners".......remember QT? :)

I like to think of her now as a renegade!

Back then we just thought of her as the paleface (orange face after the QT, and we spent weeks not letting her forget her unwashed hands faux pas!!!! Her skin, including the palms of her hands, were the same color as her hair!!! Much fun for teen friends! ) who only freckled!!

In my twenties, I taught countless aerobics classes and lived in the gym. The gyms back then, even some now, were well equipped with state of the art tanning beds. My favorite thing to do was teach a class, hits the weights, then tan. The warmth felt wonderful on my just worked, sweaty muscles. Heaven...........

Except then I learned that sun tanning, even artificially in beds, causes cancer. Well, I have to tell you that cancer scared the crap out of me!! And I'll tell you my rationale. Everybody who gets cancer thinks it won't happen to them. Well, I thought it wouldn't happen to me so therefore, I was sure I was going to get cancer!!!!!!

Stupid reasoning in math class!!!! See? That's what it does. Its not really good for anything else. But, anyway, I digress.

I stopped tanning. period.

I became a fan of sunscreen and hats.

Then I read that sunscreen is worse than sun. Toxic chemicals and all. CRAP!!!!!!!

REALLY????

ARE YOU KIDDING ME????

Man, you try and be healthy and then some other study comes along and pulls the rug right out from under you!!!

But, heres what I've gotten from it all: You know I'm a granola girl so I'm into the no sunscreen other than actual, you know, shade. An umbrella is effective sunscreen.

The other thing I've learned is that use of constant sunscreen decreases the vitamin D in our bodies. Our bodies actually make vitamin D from sunlight. Lack of it is linked to auto-immune diseases. And don't think you can just go pop a vitamin and still avoid the sun and be all pasty white like the Cullens and still be all vitamined up and healthy! You can't. In fact, the vitamins sans the sun is actually not even good for you.

But here's some really interesting news! Highly antioxidant food not only helps repair free radical damage, it helps PREVENT it, including our skin. Tans and burns are essentially skin damage.

You know we own a pool service, Pearson Pools your one stop pool shop! And Im sure you understand that Im in the sun A LOT! I do have quite a nice tan but I never burn and I dont look all old and leathery. Well.....I dont think I look leathery anyway. My husband tells me Im hot all the time and I still even get a whistle or honk every now and then! (When I was younger I got honks and whistles all the time. It really embarassed me and made me uncomfortable. I would avoid any eye contact and pretend not to notice. And think 'what a jerk, go away! Now when it happens, now Im a little "mature" I give a wave and say "hey thanks!!" :)

I eat lots of organic fruits and veggies, drink lots of tea and Monavie and THAT is my sunscreen! No toxic chemicals or avoidance of the sun required. If it works for me it will work for you too. Science even backs it up.

Still dont believe me? I even went and had the black light thingy on face looking for uv damage and theres hardly any at all. The facialists were preaching that I should absolutely be using sunscreen. I explained to them what I just told you. They just stared at me like Im from anoher planet. Then I said "Look! You know I work outside all day. Ive spent years searching for that ever elusive perfect tan. And my skin looks great! Why do I want to introduce toxic chemicals into the mix when I know for a fact the chemicals are going to cause free radical damage too?" No thanks. I'd rather my antioxidants be available to eradicate the free radicals I get from the sun.

Dont get me wrong! Im not stupid about it! I would never lay out or tan in a bed ever again. Why push it? But what I AM going to do is put on a tank top and go outside and work in the garden. Then, Im going to lay in my hammock in the shade..... :)

No toxic chemicals required.