| EVEN MINIMAL UNPROTECTED sun exposure IS DAMAGING TO THE SKIN. Consumers clamor for the latest anti-wrinkle cream or serum, but all of that is meaningless if you aren't using an effective sunscreen every day of your life. Whether you tan or not (though tanning is particularly damning for skin), the damaging rays of the sun are taking a toll that begins the moment your skin sees daylight. |
| It turns out that much of what we know about skin aging, wrinkles, and skin healing involves a better understanding of the skin's inflammatory reaction to sun exposure (UV radiation), pollution, and cigarette smoke. |
| Irritation and inflammation, whether it is from unprotected sun exposure, free-radical damage from the very air we breathe, eating unhealthy foods, smoking, or pollution is a terrible problem. Yet equally as problematic are skin-care products that contain irritating ingredients, using very hot water, or over-scrubbing skin. Our skin can barely keep up with the assault; in the long run it doesn't, and it suffers irreparable damage. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Maybe they failed to read my own report, Breast Cancer Deception, where I clearly point out the link between sun exposure, skin color and vitamin D creation in the skin. (Or maybe they weren't interested in reading a report that didn't recommend more mammograms...)
Perhaps they have zero nutritional knowledge to begin with and aren't interested in learning anything new from someone else. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Vitamin E is another powerful antioxidant that reduces the effects of sun exposure on the skin. When combined with vitamin A, vitamin E is especially effective at preventing certain skin cancers. Vitamin E also reduces the appearance of wrinkles, and, when applied topically, soothes dry or rough skin. Food sources of vitamin E include wheat germ oil, sunflower seeds, safflower and sunflower oils, almonds, spinach, peaches, prunes, tomatoes, cabbage, asparagus, and avocados.
Avoid synthetic vitamin E supplements, as they have been shown to actually harm health. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Michael Holick's book, "The UV Advantage," describing how to get sensible sun exposure without overdoing it. I'm certainly not saying that any amount of sun exposure is good for you. You really don't need that much to create sufficient stores of vitamin D in your body, and it is easy to overdo it, especially if you're not following a perfectly healthy diet, or if you don't have extremely high nutrition from consuming superfoods and nutritional supplements.
The health benefits of Salmon Essentials
The Salmon Essentials nutritional supplement is actually good medicine. |
Bottom Line Health
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| Sunscreen should protect against both UVA and UVB light, and should be used generously and frequently during sun exposure. Of course, using sunscreen doesn't mean it's okay to be out in the sun all day, every day. It's very important for parents to protect young children from the sun because some of the genetic alterations that occur in melanoma may begin to develop when people are young.
New Sunscreen Promises More Protection
Darrell S. Rigel, MD, clinical professor of dermatology, New York University, New York City.
Kimberly A. Rawlings, spokeswoman, US Food and Drug Administration. |
Joan Liebmann-Smith, Ph. D., and Jacqueline Nardi Egan
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 We all know that excess sun exposure causes the skin to redden or darken; the skin around our eyes is no exception. of us are plagued with these unsightly signs even when we get our eight hours.
The face is the mirror of the mind, and the eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart.
—St. Jerome, 4th-5th century Greek biblical scholar, Letter 54
SPEAKING OF SIGNS
Indeed, dark circles may be something most of us can legiti-
WARNING SIGN
You may think you're getting a healthy glow from lying out in the sun. |
Andreas Moritz
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 But if sun exposure and exercise are combined, muscular tone and muscular strength increase much more than if either one is used alone.
In the male physiology, muscular development is linked to the production of the male hormone, testosterone. The old Greek practice of exercising nude on a warm sandy beach was used to develop a healthy muscular body. When sunlight falls on any part of the body, testosterone production increases substantially, but when it strikes the male genitals directly, secretion of the hormone is greatest. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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 New Moms at Risk
The scientist who's done the most research on vitamin D and the one who's been sounding the alarm the loudest about our collective vitamin D deficiency and the need for smart sun exposure is Michael Holick, M.D. He's written a great book called The UVAdvantage, which I highly recommend. He's looked at the vitamin D levels of pregnant mothers coming into his hospital, and also at the vitamin D levels of their infants
My associate, nutritionist Susan Copp, M.S., points out that you should be careful about assuming tanning beds take care of your vitamin D needs. They don't. |
| He found that 76 percent of the mothers were severely vitamin D deficient, and 81 percent of their infants were as
Natural Prescription for Improved Physical Performance
Vitamin D: 1,000-2,000 IU daily
You can also increase your vitamin D levels by getting unprotected sun exposure for about 10-15 minutes three times a week. well. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 42 percent of African American women were deficient in vitamin D during their childbearing years, especially at the end of winter time. |
Joan Liebmann-Smith, Ph. D., and Jacqueline Nardi Egan
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| The frequency depends on your risk factors, including family history, skin color, age, race, and sun exposure.
For example, if you have a small, shiny, raised papule that slowly enlarges and occasionally bleeds, it may signal basal cell carcinoma (BCC).
Usually BCC growths are painless and their borders are irregular and may be thick and pearly white. To confuse matters, BCCs vary greatly in size and appearance. They can be pink, red, purple, tan, brown, or black. Some are flat patches resembling scars, and some may break open and form scabs. Some grow so slowly significant fact . |
Bottom Line Health
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| Even brief sun exposure adds up over time.
•UVA and UVB rays cause skin cancer and premature aging. UVA tans your skin. UVB burns it. Both cause wrinkles. SPF sunscreen ratings do not refer to UVA rays, so be sure your sunscreen also includes UVA block, such as transparent minimum 6% zinc oxide.
•Sunscreen that boasts higher numbers is not much more effective. SPF 15 blocks 93% of UVB rays.. .SPF 30 blocks 97%. The difference matters most to people who tan or burn easily.
•Use adequate amounts of sunscreen. |
| Ideally, this sun exposure should occur before 10 am and after 4 pm, when damaging UV rays are the least intense.
•Vitamin E. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University analyzed 19 previous clinical trials of vitamin E and discovered that people taking daily doses of 400 international units (IU) or more per day had a higher risk of dying from any cause than people not taking the vitamin. As you probably know, vitamin E had been highly touted as a preventive for heart disease. However, none of the recent clinical trials have shown this to be true. |
Marshall Editions
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 Be careful with sun exposure, as the sun may react with agrimony, used internally or externally, to worsen dermatitis.
Woodruff: This is used topically to treat dermatitis. It can also be used internally, but there are some concerns about liver toxicity with chronic internal use; these effects should be avoided if just used externally.
Witch hazel: Functioning as an astringent, witch hazel is used on the skin as either an aqueous distillate, an ointment, or a gel, and can be applied up to three times daily. It should not be ingested, and it occasionally can worsen the dermatitis. |
Bottom Line Health
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| For skin that appears leathery and discolored by sun exposure, a topical photosensitizing solution called Levulan is applied one hour before the light-based therapy session begins. Levulan allows the light to go deeper into the skin, thereby enhancing the effect of the treatment. We have not found any risks or side effects for laser or photo rejuvenation treatments.
Cost: Laser and photo rejuvenation treatments run from $200 to $1,200 depending on how much skin is treated. Adding Levulan brings the cost to $500 to $1,500.
Before You Consider Plastic Surgery... |
Thomson Healthcare, Inc.
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 John's Wort and sun exposure. A 35-year-old woman took 500 milligrams/day of St. John's Wort for 4 weeks. She developed stinging pain on her face and hands, areas exposed to sun. During an examination, she had painful reactions to light brushing, air gusts at room temperature, and exposure to cold (5 to 10 degrees Celsius). Three weeks after discontinuing St. John's Wort, her symptoms improved and completely disappeared in 2 months (Bove, 1998). |
Andreas Moritz
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| Regular sun exposure, which is a necessity for healthy vital humans, animals and plants, could prevent and eradicate TB for good.
Antibiotic-resistant organisms cannot be eradicated from the surface of the earth, and this may not even be necessary, as we can see from the above research. Although genetically mutated, these and other microbes still require an unclean environment to live and to survive; their population is naturally reduced in size when their food supply becomes limited. Our body's "ecosystem" is not exempt from this law of nature. |
Gabriel Cousens
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 The average vitamin D levels were higher in the raw vegan group than in the control group, despite an extremely low dietary intake of vitamin D, indicative of the increased personal sun exposure.
If you live above 38 degrees north latitude (above Baltimore, St. Louis, Denver, and San Francisco), the sun is too weak from mid-fall through the following spring to stimulate significant vitamin D production. Other challenges are aging, as our skin becomes less efficient at producing vitamin D, and excessive fat layers that inhibit production. |
Dan Buettner
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 That deep-skinned tan that comes from constant sun exposure. Did notice how Kamada's skin was the same? That probably means they've both had steady doses of vitamin D their whole lives."
"So?"
"I think vitamin D is an important ingredient in the longevity recipe," he said enthusiastically, as if just struck by an epiphany. "Your skin manufactures vitamin D when it comes into contact with the sun. |
Tom Bohager
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 Recurrent outbreaks may follow stress, sun exposure, minor infections, and trauma. The incubation period for this contagious virus is two to twelve days.
Recommendations include reducing dietary toxicity, reducing emotional and environmental stress, and using enzyme therapy to provide optimum support to the immune system, improve digestion and nutrient uptake, and balance pH levels. |
| A butterfly-shape rash forms over the cheeks and nose; it typically flares up with sun exposure. Additional symptoms of this skin disease include small, soft groups of lesions that appear on the skin, producing scarring. The second form of lupus is systemic lupus erythematosus, which affects the organs, blood vessels, and joints of the body. Many individuals afflicted with systemic lupus erythematosus develop nephritis, or inflammation of the kidneys, which can lead to more serious kidney and health problems. |
Elaine Magee
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 While experts say that in just 10 minutes you can soak up as much as 5,000 IU of vitamin D if you expose 40 percent of your body to the sun without sunscreen, given the link between skin cancer and sun exposure, you may be better off sticking to that glass of milk.
DIET AND DIABETES
Among all chronic diseases, diabetes best illustrates the power of food in ensuring good health.
One in every 20 people in the United States has diabetes, and the numbers keep growing each year. In fact, the typical high-fat, sedentary American lifestyle puts most of us at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. |
Ann N. Martin
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 Vitamin D (Cholecalciferol) Vitamin D is fat-soluble vitamin. sun exposure also provides vitamin D. This vitamin works with calcium and phosphorus to promote bone and tooth formation. Vitamin D deficiencies may result in malformation of bones and joints, and brittle bones. Vitamin D is in salmon, sardines, cod-liver oil, herring, and mackerel.
Vitamin E (Alpha-tocopherol) Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin that acts as an anti-blood clotting agent. |
Ann M. Coulston and Carol J. Boushey
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 Although sun exposure increases the risk of developing skin cancer [51], it has the potential to reduce the risk of developing more severe forms of cancer [80].
2. Vitamin D and Autoimmune Diseases Other chronic diseases have been implicated, especially in relation to immunity. Vitamin D deficiency may also predispose individuals to type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Several reviews and meta-analyses of the relationship between vitamin D status and development of diabetes are available [81-83]. |
| Figure 2 illustrates the changes in 25(OH)D over a year, demonstrating how sun exposure affects vitamin D status in light-skinned individuals living at about 50°N latitude [14]. One can see the impact of "vitamin D winter" in these subjects. This figure also demonstrates how an oral supplement of cholecalciferol can maintain the summer level
50
40
3 o 30
20
10 b-
INTERVENTION
07 09 11 01 03 05 TIME OF THE YEAR (MONTH)
07
FIGURE 2 The data for this graph were derived from a randomized control trial conducted in Germany (latitude 50°N). |
| Once past this level, 1 pg (40 IU) will raise 25(OH)D levels by 1 nmol/ liter [60]. sun exposure, as described earlier, will also affect serum levels of 25(OH)D. Effects of dietary vitamin D and
-
% of population below 50 nmol/L
-
-
-
?I.I
V
NHW MEX NHB
Source: Looker et al. 2002, data for 30-59 y age group
FIGURE 5 Prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in the United States, as determined by the percent of the population below a serum 25(OH)D level of 50 nmol/liter. NHW (non-Hispanic white), MEX (Mexican), NHB (non-Hispanic black). |
Thomson Healthcare, Inc.
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| Patients with a previous history of photosensitization to various chemicals should be cautious of direct sun exposure (Wheatley, 1998). Also, concomitant use of St. John's Wort and drugs metabolized by cytochrome P450 3A4, 1A2, or 2E1 may result in decreased drug concentrations and subsequent loss of drug effectiveness (Gurley et al, 2002).
Cardiac Effects: Swelling (edema) was reported by 21 of 113 patients taking St. John's Wort versus 9 of 116 patients taking placebo (p=0. |
Ann M. Coulston and Carol J. Boushey
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| This is because 25(OH)D, although not the active form of vitamin D, rises with intake and/or sun exposure and declines with combined sun avoidance and low intake. Measurement of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, the active vitamin D metabolite, is not the indicator of vitamin D status but rather a reflection, primarily, of the need for calcium and phosphate [4, 50], as described earlier. Further, the amount of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D in blood is influenced by renal function.
2. |
Tom Bohager
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| Causes of this condition include excessive sun exposure, compromised liver function, the ingestion of rancid oils, a relatively poor diet, and lack of exercise.
Recommendations include liver detoxification, the addition of enzymes to a well-balanced diet, and supplemental nutritional products to improve one's overall digestion and absorption of nutrients. In addition, avoiding excess exposure to the sun and nutritional support of the hormonal and immune systems would be beneficial. |
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