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Unexpected benefits of sun exposure on skin

theguardian.com

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Re: Unexpected benefits of sun exposure on skin

#51

Post by fhcuvuvuc »

bostonvaulter2 wrote: post #50
jms wrote: post #36

I've been living in Australia and New Zealand, and have been terrified of sun exposure - during peak times (summer mid-day) it's scary how quickly you can burn. However I also have low vitamin D. My current strategy is to check the UV levels (I've got a widget on my personal dashboard) and whenever the UV levels are moderate or below, I try to get as much sun exposure as possible - shorts and t-shirt, or topless. I t…

Where do you get the UV data from?

Don't really need it, while the sun is low in the sky you're relatively safe to get a bunch of sun.

Re: Unexpected benefits of sun exposure on skin

#52

Post by creaghpatr »

atombender wrote: post #42
wkat4242 wrote: post #23

Interesting. I've never been that worried, my skin doesn't burn easily even though I'm very fair-skinned and live in Spain and often hike outdoors. I just hate that SPF stuff on my skin. It makes it sticky and makes me feel dirty. Instead I just try to avoid burning. I do bring some for when it does start but it almost never does. What I do to avoid it works well enough. What I tend to do is just take the shady side…

There are many sunscreens out there, ranging from greasy and sticky, to completely unnoticeable. My go-to sunscreen of choice is Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch. It's sold in most pharmacies in the U.S. It's lightweight and doesn't feel like you have any sunscreen on at all. There's also a mineral version, but I've not tried it.

>My go-to sunscreen of choice is Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch.

Agree, and this is the only brand I've tried that truly crosses the dry-touch threshold. It's a shame that it's more expensive and not commoditized yet (figured it would be by now since it's been on the market for several years).

Re: Unexpected benefits of sun exposure on skin

#53

Post by deet »

It's surprising this article doesn't significantly mention sunlight's non-UV components, like infrared light. There appears to be increasing evidence to support its ability to influence various processes within the body to positive effect.

MedCram has some easily digestible reviews on the topic:

- The ability for light to influence glucose metabolism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Win49aeh8A

- Light's effect on immune response and other processes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YV_iKnzDRg

Re: Unexpected benefits of sun exposure on skin

#54

Post by unaindz »

russellbeattie wrote: post #14

I've always been skeptical of dermatologist insistence that sun exposure is unequivocally bad. It never made sense. If human health and lifespan were so negatively affected by sunlight, we would all be covered in fur, or everyone would be as dark skinned as populations living near the equator. Like everything else in life, "moderation in all things" is the best rule to follow. If you spend your life getting deep dark…

> If human health and lifespan were so negatively affected by sunlight, we would all be covered in fur or dark skinned

Evolution doesn't work like that, as long as you procreate you may die at 40 or 120 and genes would not care. Probably a lot more important to get vitamin d from the sun by reducing skin pigmentation when you live near the poles (getting stronger bones and muscles) than slightly reducing your chances of getting skin cancer at 50+ years (most of your peers die a lot sooner of unrelated causes anyways)

Re: Unexpected benefits of sun exposure on skin

#55

Post by rramadass »

This is the key point to keep in mind;

“The ‘Slip, Slap, Slop’ guidance is appropriate for the descendants of white-skinned north Europeans living in high-UV environments such as Australia, where they have a lot of skin cancer. But it is not appropriate for white-skinned Brits here in Scotland, and it is absolutely inappropriate for dark-skinned Brits, who have made the reverse migration from Africa or India,” says Weller.

Just be aware of latitude differences and the rest is commonsense.

Re: Unexpected benefits of sun exposure on skin

#56

Post by hammock »

olivermuty wrote: post #19
torstenvl wrote: post #9

> Vitamin D is manufactured in our bodies when the UVB rays in sunlight react with a chemical in the skin called 7-dehydrocholesterol. Bone and muscle cells use it to regulate levels of calcium and phosphorus, which are needed to keep them strong and healthy If you are at all active over age 30 — by which I mean you EVER run, jump, or otherwise put pressure on your spine — you need to get lots of sunlight. Most peopl…

Most western diets gets more than enough d-vitamin through food additives. Just a couple of slices of cheese per day and some milk is all the d-vit you need here apparently. The old folk saying is to take d-vitamin supplements in all months that has an R in them. Probably sound advice

The FDA recommendation for Vitamin D is off by a factor of 10 due to a math error, and it has never been corrected.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150317122458.h...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5541280/

Re: Unexpected benefits of sun exposure on skin

#57

Post by hammock »

jms wrote: post #36

I've been living in Australia and New Zealand, and have been terrified of sun exposure - during peak times (summer mid-day) it's scary how quickly you can burn. However I also have low vitamin D. My current strategy is to check the UV levels (I've got a widget on my personal dashboard) and whenever the UV levels are moderate or below, I try to get as much sun exposure as possible - shorts and t-shirt, or topless. I t…

>due to constant exposure that part of my body is more resistant compared to the pasty areas.

This is of course true, and it took me half a lifetime to realize I could get deep tans and stay out in the sun without any sunscreen, all it took was to "DCA" my way into sun exposure at the beginning of the summer. Concerted efforts to get 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 minutes of unprotected sun exposure that slowly increase but not to the point of burning.

I also realized that sunscreen does not need to be so liberally or frequently applied- particularly mineral sunscreen, the thinnest possible film is all that is needed for hours of protection if you aren't swimming or sweating excessively.

Re: Unexpected benefits of sun exposure on skin

#58

Post by biomcgary »

The article doesn't distinguish between UV, visible, and IR. Red light and infrared have known direct biological effects as well. Could the benefits of sun exposure be due, in part, to red and IR? Vitamin D is UV dependent, but you can probably get some benefits of other wavelengths without UV exposure. However, it is possible that synergy exists among the various biological responses to different wavelengths.

Re: Unexpected benefits of sun exposure on skin

#59

Post by thenickdude »

bostonvaulter2 wrote: post #50
jms wrote: post #36

I've been living in Australia and New Zealand, and have been terrified of sun exposure - during peak times (summer mid-day) it's scary how quickly you can burn. However I also have low vitamin D. My current strategy is to check the UV levels (I've got a widget on my personal dashboard) and whenever the UV levels are moderate or below, I try to get as much sun exposure as possible - shorts and t-shirt, or topless. I t…

Where do you get the UV data from?

Our weather forecasting agencies also forecast UV exposure, it gets reported as the "UV Index"

Re: Unexpected benefits of sun exposure on skin

#60

Post by molofaha »

bostonvaulter2 wrote: post #50
jms wrote: post #36

I've been living in Australia and New Zealand, and have been terrified of sun exposure - during peak times (summer mid-day) it's scary how quickly you can burn. However I also have low vitamin D. My current strategy is to check the UV levels (I've got a widget on my personal dashboard) and whenever the UV levels are moderate or below, I try to get as much sun exposure as possible - shorts and t-shirt, or topless. I t…

Where do you get the UV data from?

In New Zealand there's https://niwa.co.nz/our-services/online-services/uv-and-ozone...
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