Why I Stopped Using Sunscreen

For as long as I can remember, I was told to be careful of the sun.

Whether because it could burn me, dehydrate me, or, in the worst case, cause "skin cancer."

And that's how it went for most of my life, until I started learning about the subject, after years of simply accepting the conclusions handed to me.

It's been almost a decade since I last put on sunscreen. I spend time in the sun and I don't burn.

That doesn't mean I've never burned, and it doesn't mean I don't respect the sun's power.

I just learned how to work with it, in my favor.

And beyond that, and before anything else, when I'm outside on a sunny day I'm usually wearing a hat and a shirt, even when I surf.

So how did I stop using sunscreen?

A decade ago I was somewhere with a strong surf culture and got exposed to the conversation about how sunscreen kills coral and harms the fish in the sea, which is why the locals there don't use it. When you go into the water covered in sunscreen, it washes off into the ocean.

When I realized sunscreen harms coral, I started wondering: what is it doing to my body?

I began researching, and I realized that sunscreen doesn't entirely stay on your skin. It's absorbed into the bloodstream, and most sun "protection" products are saturated with substances harmful to health, ones classified as toxic.

One of the chemicals found in world-famous brands of skincare and sunscreen is benzene.

But that's not even the exciting part, considering that most of the ingredients in a standard sunscreen are carcinogens and hormone disruptors that are listed right there on the package: oxybenzone, octinoxate, homosalate, octocrylene.

Beyond the fact that sunscreen is toxic, is it even effective at protecting against the sun?

The sun's rays are divided into two types:

UVA, which are actually 95% of the rays that reach the earth.

They penetrate deep into the skin, create mutations in our DNA, and are also responsible for aging and wrinkles.

The second type is UVB. It's easy to remember because the B stands for BURN.

These are the rays that create redness and, in certain cases, cause burning.

And essentially, sunscreen mainly protects against UVB rays.

But it doesn't (really) protect against the sun's powerful UVA rays.

So sunscreen basically lets you spend more hours in the sun without burning.

And that can create even more serious damage, precisely because of that.

Now, there are companies that market their sunscreen as protecting against UVA, but what they won't tell you is that this protection fades long before the UVB protection does.

At roughly a third of the time, that's what the research says.

Sunscreen basically lets you stay out in the sun for too many hours.

So if you put on sunscreen and then stayed out in the sun for hours, you actually did yourself more damage. You spent too long in the sun, and you also overrode your skin's smart mechanism for telling you when it's had enough. During all that time, the UVA rays penetrate undisturbed.

After all, sunscreen or no sunscreen, there's no reason to spend hours under a strong midday sun with no shade. If you wouldn't do it in the desert, why would you do it at the beach?

When I was a kid I got sunburned quite a bit, and I can still burn today.

But there's one very significant difference: I used to peel, and today that no longer happens.

And there's a reason for that.

It's also the reason I'm not afraid of the sun at all, and that's because I don't do the things that increase the chances of the sun becoming dangerous for me.

Here's what they won't warn you about:

• Seed oils
• Cigarettes / vaping
• A processed diet and junk food
• Synthetic substances and creams that get absorbed into the blood
• An overly acidic diet that creates skin sensitivity

After all, the cells in our body are nourished by what we put into it, and those same cells meet the sun.

If we're feeding them the things above, they can create oxidative damage, and therefore damage, when they meet the sun.

Nature isn't wrong.

Nature responds to the actions we take.

Of course, the way to build a healthy relationship with the sun is first to change your diet and let go of the toxins you put into your body or rub onto it, and then, once the body is no longer acidic and toxic, to start getting sun gradually, five minutes a day and building up over time.

The ideal is 20 minutes a day with as little clothing as possible.

The sun is a source of joy, energy, health, and vitality.

Another thing that affects sun exposure is sunglasses. Our eyes are the sun's receptors, and through the meeting of the eyes with the sun, the body understands that it needs to produce melanin, the dark pigment our skin makes to protect itself. The more tanned we are, the longer we can spend in the sun without burning.

How to go deeper, take ownership, and protect your health

Until the 1950s the sun was considered a source of health and healing. Even hospitals had "tanning" beds.

And then the narrative changed.

Honestly, even today psoriasis patients (a skin disease) are sent every year, at public expense, to spend a few weeks in the sun at a famous saltwater destination, with no sunscreen.

But to sell a toxic cream that gets people slathering on poison while feeling like they're protecting themselves, you have to create demand, and demand comes from fear.

So a first step would be to buy a sunscreen that isn't made of toxic substances.

Our real problem

More than a billion people in the world suffer from a vitamin D deficiency, also called the sunshine vitamin.

It's one of the most important vitamins for human health.

You might be surprised, but those numbers aren't any different in sunny regions either.

Over the last two decades, more than 40,000 scientific publications have reported on the benefits of vitamin D for most of the body's systems.

What does it do?

Vitamin D does several important things.

It helps the body absorb calcium, meaning it strengthens bones.

It strengthens the immune system by producing T cells.

It improves mood by raising levels of dopamine and serotonin.

It raises testosterone in men, which means (muscle, sperm count, libido).

It improves fertility in women.

Low vitamin D levels have been linked to increased susceptibility to many health conditions, including respiratory infections, impaired mental health, the development of autoimmune diseases, and many types of cancer.

Why is this happening? There are a few theories, and they all sound reasonable.

1. We're indoors most hours of the day. 2. We barely eat foods that contain vitamin D, like organic eggs, sea fish, liver, and mushrooms. 3. Sunscreen. Sunscreen prevents UVB rays from penetrating the skin, where vitamin D is absorbed.

So even if you do put on sunscreen, or you're under an umbrella or wearing clothes,

it's worth waiting fifteen minutes beforehand.

Vitamin D is known as one of the most important vitamins for humans, especially in populations of children, the elderly, and pregnant women.

It's important for absorbing calcium, which is essential for maintaining bone tissue. There's research pointing to a link between vitamin D and a reduced risk of various cancers, as well as delaying symptoms of Alzheimer's and preventing depression and diabetes.

In other words, not being in the sun increases the risk of cancer.

A few more benefits of this super-vitamin:

High testosterone

Mood, via serotonin

Unlike other vitamins that you can get through food, vitamin D can also be produced in the body by exposing the body's cells to the sun, which is why it's also called the "sunshine vitamin."

Vitamin D has important health effects on the body, so a deficiency can lead to physical, and according to some research, even mental harm.

Among the consequences of a vitamin D deficiency:

Osteoporosis (loss of calcium), a higher likelihood of obesity, a higher likelihood of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, problems with teeth and gums, fatigue and even feelings of depression, heavy menstrual periods, defects in fetal and infant development, and an increased likelihood of developing cancer.

What do you do if your vitamin D is low?

As mentioned, one of the best ways to get vitamin D is sun exposure.

Of course, the iron rule is always not to burn during exposure.

There's research saying that exposure twice a week, for about half an hour, should be enough to produce the sufficient amount in the body for that whole week.

Others say steady daily exposure of about fifteen minutes is what's needed.

And of course, with as little clothing as possible. In other words, if I stepped out for a lunch break at work but I'm in jeans and a t-shirt, that's not ideal.

Personally, I try to get fifteen minutes of exposure a day. Some people have lighter skin and five minutes will be plenty for them, while others with darker skin will probably need more than fifteen minutes.

Another option is getting the vitamin through food. Here are some of the foods that contain relatively large amounts of the vitamin: fish, eggs, mushrooms, and internal organs.

\*More and more research shows there's no real benefit to vitamin D from capsules.

If you want to be in the sun without fear, and more broadly to be healthy, to feel strong and unbeatable,

this is what happens when you change your diet. Everything changes, and the body responds in kind.

You don't need sunscreen to look young. You need to eat nourishing food.