How to avoid sunburn naturally!

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How to avoid sunburn...
Naturally!

Natural Sunburn Prevention
Most of us have been taught that too much sun exposure is dangerous. Light-skinned people tend to get sunburn if they stay in the sun too long, even within a couple hours. Advertising and the media reminds us to use sunscreen to reduce damage to the skin. Well... it didn't make sense to me, and finally I have made some sense of it. I no longer get the sunburn I used to, I don't use any skin creams or other products, and still spend a lot of time in the sun (exposing my skin to the sun), at least during the warm and sunny months.

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When I was younger and stayed in the sun too long (without sunscreen, or even, sometimes, with sunscreen) I would get sunburn, on occasion severe! My skin would get quite red and painful. After a couple days or so, the redness would begin fading to a tan, the pain would subside, and my skin would peel off in sheets. I accepted that as normal at the time, as I was taught that was what every light-skinned person experienced under those conditions. In hindsight, it really doesn't make sense to me that sunburn would be natural for a human animal that is meant to be outside... and in the tropics, at that! Many years ago, perhaps in the year 2000 or 2001, I heard avoiding sunburn was actually a side-effect (one of many) of proper eating.

When I first transitioned to raw foods, I recall hearing someone mention, kind of matter-of-factly, that raw foodists don't get sunburn. I didn't think too much about it. But then, during a summer outing on a lake in Oregon, when I did not use sunscreen and I was in the sun all day, including in and on the water, I ended up not getting a sunburn! I may have gotten a little reddish or deep pink, but there was no real burn. That was nothing like would have happened years earlier. Ever since I have been on 100% raw vegan foods, I have not gotten burned like I did when I was younger and on a standard American diet (SAD). I have even been to Los Angeles a couple times a year and have been in the sun all day with no sunscreen and had shorts and a short-sleeve shirt on. I did have a cap on to keep my nose protected. The worst effect from the sun that I have experienced since being raw was at an all-day outdoor event in L. A. At the end of the day, there was a little discomfort on the back of my neck. A couple days later there was a little flaking of skin and that was it! I've been amazed at the effect of the raw food diet on my skin and it's ability to process the sun! I have recognized how much more efficiently my body seems to work while on a raw food diet, so I am not that surprised that the skin does not burn like it used to, but I am still fascinated by it!

I suspect that a cooked food diet, especially with animal products and artificial ingredients, etc., prevents our tissues from efficiently processing the sun's rays, so we end up with a sunburn! When our tissues are efficient we don't get the sunburn. There have been times when I have gone out into the sun as a raw foodist and it felt like my skin was drinking in the sun. It feels great! It feels like the sun is truly nourishing my body. I don't recall that happening before being raw, other than the sun simply feeling good on my skin. I have no doubt that the sun really is nourishing my body. It has also occured to me that the raw food diet is simply better able to remove toxins from the body and the diet itself is not adding to the toxicity. Perhaps it is the toxicity in the tissues that is contributing to the "burn".

Like most people who know something about nutrition, I am aware that our tissues, when exposed to the sun, will produce vitamin D, a necessary nutrient. I suspect there is a lot more going on to benefit our health when we are exposed to the sun than we realize, at least on a raw food diet. What if the cooked foods, animal products, preservatives, and artificial ingredients, etc., actually prevent our tissues from taking full advantage of the sun, and actually prevent us from getting nutrients we are meant to get... at least from our natural source??? Being on a raw food diet is like a science experiment. I keep learning things about the human body over the years. So much of what I learned as "truth", regarding diet and health, has had to be re-learned or is in that process.

Recently, I was in Los Angeles for Worldfest 2008. I hadn't gotten much sun since last year. I spent most of the day outside in full sunlight. My arms, neck, and legs were getting sun all day. I never had a problem. No sunburn, no red. There may have been some deeper "pink", but nothing more. At the end of the day, I did look a little more tan. I shared that with my friends that I was staying with. They knew I was in the sun all day. They were at the same event. They seemed a little baffled by it. They suggested I'd probably have the eating raw pretty soon (they have been vegan for many years)!

Now, after all those years of learning, it finally makes more sense! We aren't supposed to get sunburn. Sunburn is not natural for us! It seems to happen only when we are not following our natural diet (or at least much closer to our natural diet.) Our ancestors supposedly came from the tropics. They would have had much more sun exposure than those of us living in northern climates. Their skin may have been a little different, but at least now I feel like things make more sense. And since our skin absorbs the lotions we put on it, I'm happy to not be putting that stuff on my skin. Basically, if I wouldn't eat it, why would I put it on my skin and ingest it in a different way?

Please note: Use discretion when spending time in the sun. If you experience pain, discomfort, blistering, or red coloring of the skin, etc., consider retreating to shade. While the sun is wonderful and is responsible for sustaining life on the planet, it certainly deserves our respect. While I have been in the sun for entire days, on those occasions I have been in warmer climates, I normally had a t-shirt and cap on for at least part of the day.

Having read this, you certainly don't have to switch to a raw vegan diet (if you're on some other diet), but I feel passionate about helping people make more informed choices in their lives. I believe everyone has a right to this information. I believe everyone should know this information. Then they may continue what they are presently doing or choose to make changes. I feel it is not fair to keep the information from people when I recognize it could be life changing.

One more thing, as the human anatomy seems to be designed for consuming a plant-based diet, we would not naturally get vitamin D from our foods, except of course when we are infants, consuming mother's milk (human breast milk). Many people may be relying on bovine breast milk (cow mother's milk) for vitamin D, but that is not a natural human food, it is a natural food for infant cows. Regarding calcium, it seems to not even be a good source of that (see this calcium table: Calcium Sources)!

If you were my sister/brother, I'd encourage you to move towards a raw plant based diet!