Nature's Secrets: Non-Toxic Skin Protection

Additional Info

• Segment Number: 5
• Audio File: wellness_for_life/1517wl5e.mp3
• Featured Speaker: Susanne Bennett, DC
• Guest Website: Dr. Susanne
• Transcription: RadioMD Presents: Wellness for Life Radio | Original Air Date: April 24, 2015
  Host: Susanne Bennett, DC
  
  It's time to feel better with Dr. Susanne Bennett. Allergies, nutrition, ultimate wellness, all discussed right here, right now. It's Wellness for Life Radio on RadioMD. Here's your host, Dr. Susanne.
  
  DR. SUSANNE: With spring finally here days are getting longer and the temperatures will continue to rise with warm sunshine and clear blue skies. So, before stepping outside we want to be mindful about natural sun protection particularly in the areas that are prone to sun exposure and damage such as your face, your shoulders, your neck and chest. With so many different brands of sunscreens and sunblocks out there and different types of chemicals, don’t you feel overwhelmed? I sure do. And confused. What formulas, which SPF to choose from? Well today, on Nature’s Secrets I’m going to make it easy for you and give you the details on which best sun care formulas to get and some tips and tricks on natural sun protection.
  
  First, let me give you some sun facts.
  
  Now the sun admits two types of ultraviolet light that affects our skin, UVA and UVB. Now UVB is much stronger than UVA and it has immediate impact on our skin like within 60 seconds. It’s most powerful during the summer and especially between the hours of 11 am and 4 pm. Now UVB is completely blocked by glass like your windows whereas UVA radiation penetrates through glass and windows and can cause damage to the skin even during cloudier days. Although UVA is lower in intensity and it’s not felt, it is the main cause of premature skin aging such as wrinkles, sagging, and aging spots and it can even possibly cause skin cancer. I have to tell you, a few weeks ago I was in Miami for a conference and I was out on the beach relaxing for just an hour and I actually got a second-degree burn on my skin. Oh, my gosh! Thank goodness I knew exactly what to do. I acted quickly and healed my burned skin that was blistering and in so much pain and we healed it in one hour. But because of this such crazy miracle that I actually totally got inspired and made a 4-part skin secrets mini-series that goes into detail on how to heal damaged skin from the sun, premature skin aging and how to achieve younger looking vibrant skin. You can go to drsusanne.com/miniseries to get my 4 part skin secrets info. Now, you can also find that on my radio page as well.
  
  So let’s go into this. What does SPF mean? SPF it stands for sun protection factor. SPF numbers are designed to describe the length of time that you can stay in the sun before you start burning your skin. For example, if you normally start to burn after 30 minutes of direct sunlight, then an SPF 30 product should let you stay in the sun for almost approximately 30 times longer without burning. So, that’s what that number means. You know, I get this question quite a bit as well. What’s the difference between sunblocks and sunscreens? Now, both sunblock and sunscreen formulas protect our skin from sun damage but they work by different mechanisms. Sunblock actually sits on the skin and acts as a barrier to reflect away ultraviolet lights. Now sunblock takes care of both UVA and UVB radiation which can cause a sunburn and skin damage as well as skin cancer. So remember when it blocks the sun’s UV rays, it blocks a penetration into the cell. And those are the blocks like zinc oxide block sunblock or titanium dioxide sunblock--they block both UVA and UVB. Now, I believe that zinc oxide is less irritating and less allergic so that’s the choice that I take and sunblocks usually start at 15 or higher. Now all SPF ratings apply only to UVB protection, not UVA, everyone. Okay, in comparison sunscreens are made with chemicals that absorb and neutralize the UV radiation, neutralizes it. So, these chemicals typically protect against either UVA or UVB, very few protect against both radiations like sunblocks will do. So, as a result these sunscreens have mixtures of both kinds of chemicals in order to make them a broad spectrum to be fully protective. And, you know, what? Sometimes, you find these sunscreens to be as low as 2 SPF but also up even to higher than 100 SPF and I really have big concerns about these chemical sunscreens acting as endocrine disrupters. They can mimic these hormones in our body and it activates these hormone receptors, so I find that it’s really important to stay away from these chemicals that generate free radicals that can damage skin and possibly even again cause skin cancer. So, always go for the sunblocks rather than the sunscreens and look for formulas that have zinc oxide or titanium dioxide in it. Now, out of the two again zinc oxide is my favorite. And then there’s one thing, you want to make sure that when it comes to zinc oxides or titanium dioxides stay away from products that claim they are using nano-particles or micronized zinc particles because those that means basically it’s cut down so small that it can penetrate your skin into the blood stream, so we really want to stay away from those.
  
  So, what do we need? We want to also make sure that you stay away from these synthetic estrogenic compounds. These are xenoestrogens that appear under the names such as oxybenzone or benzophenone or methylbenzylidine camphor. I mean, these are these derivatives that cause super free radical damage, you know? Other ones such as avobenzone, parsol 1789 is very common, parsol 1789. Or dioxybenzone. You’ve got to look at the back of and read these ingredients. If you read them you will see that these chemicals are very high in the majority of the formulas that you look at. Also don’t forget some of these sunscreens also have insect repellents such as DEET or permethrin. These are super toxic. They can cause damage to you and your children’s nervous system and cause all sorts of havoc within your body including liver and kidney issues, so avoid the insect repellents and avoid these sprays. I mean nowadays we have these sprays and powders that we use. What that will do is, it’s so vaporized that it can go into your nose and you’ll inhale it and damage your respiratory system. So, avoiding these sprays is important and make sure that you do get SPF of at least 15. 15 is plenty. You just need to apply it regularly and stay away from SPF 75 or 100 because those are all made out of chemicals, not the sunblocks. Oh, by the way, children. When it comes to kids under 6 months, do not use any sun cream, sunscreen or sunblocks. For little ones you want to make sure you put them with light clothing and this can happen. These are great safety sun tips. Wear loose clothing, long sleeves protect your skin, wear a hat, of course. Polarized sunglasses are really important for your eyes and cataracts. For water sports when you’re out there like I am, I wear a rash guard or full body rash guard that you can wear so that you don’t damage your skin. Always play in the sun especially when you’re exercising in the hot sun--you don’t want to do that and you want to stay away from the sun between 11 am to 4 pm and have play-dates indoors for your children. You could even, when I go out, I usually often use a parasol, which is like a little umbrella for my body, and it works perfectly in protecting my skin and my body from the intense heat. So, make sure again that you remove…You can use also these removable mesh window shields inside your car so that you don’t get the direct sunlight and often our left side of the face is more sun damaged than the right because that’s the side that we’re driving. There’s tons of organic foods that you can eat filled with the internal sunscreen that is in berries and pomegranates and dark green vegetables, gogi berries. These are all excellent formulas, foods that you can have that will help you heal your skin and prevent you from damaging your skin. Now remember don’t forget to join me on The Glowing Skin Summit, drsusanne.com/glowingskinsummit is where you can get that. Until then, this is Dr. Susanne.
  
  Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to serve you. I’m dedicated to helping you feel and be your best today. This is Wellness for Life radio on RadioMD.
  
  See you next time, stay well.
• Length (mins): 10
• Waiver Received: No
• Host: Susanne Bennett, DC