Sunscreen: Why it doesn't protect you as much as you're led to believe

You've probably heard many times about the need to cover yourself from head to toe with a good sunscreen. Of course, it's necessary to avoid sunburn, but no one tells you about the dangers that using sunscreen entails.

Of course, the best strategy for sunbathing is not to slather yourself from head to toe with a good sunscreen. If you do this, you are unlikely to get sunburned, but paradoxically you are taking risks that no one wants to tell you about.

THE BEST SUNSCREEN

Most sunscreens only protect against UVB rays but not UVA rays , and although the skin does not burn, it is damaged.

It is precisely UVB rays that are associated with increased production of vitamin D and, as this study suggests, people who overuse sunscreen have up to 10 times less vitamin D. It is true that 30 to 40 minutes in the sun are enough to produce the vitamin D we need, but with the fashion of bathing in sunscreen, we are not giving the body the daily time it requires.

Also, not all sunscreens are created equal. Some sunscreens have a chemical barrier and others have a physical barrier.

Chemical protectors

Many of the compounds they contain are harmful because they cross the skin barrier.

Oxybenzone , octinoxate and homosalate are the most commonly used, and retinyl palmitate is much talked about as it is associated with an increased risk of developing tumors. In addition, many of these compounds are endocrine disruptors and replace hormones in the body.

These chemical sunscreens prevent sweat from being produced by an acid, which is a natural protection. They also suppress our body's natural alarm , when your body turns red, which warns you that you have had enough sun.

As if that were not enough, the icing on the cake is that they are quite polluting . Most of them are derived from petroleum, and apart from the fact that this industry is polluting, they end up in the oceans and are a serious threat to coral reefs.

Physical Protectors

They are based on minerals that reflect UVA and UVB rays from your body. The most widely used are zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. They usually leave the skin very white, which is why the term " total screen" is used.

For them to be effective, you have to make sure that the active ingredient is greater than 22%. Some brands have started to replace chemical components with these minerals, but make sure that they do not contain chemicals as well.

We recommend those containing zinc oxide, although titanium dioxide also appears to be safe. In both cases, make sure it does not contain nanoparticles.

You can tell if a sunscreen uses nanoparticles if it has the word nano in brackets on the label. Law EC 1223/2009 requires this to be stated.

Natural sunscreen

The best sunscreen is listening to the signals our own body gives us, without masking them with chemical or physical protectors.

If you want to tan, do it gradually. Don't try to go from not getting any sun at all to lying on a towel for 8 hours. Try to get 30-40 minutes a day and protect yourself with a hat and sunglasses. If you overdo it or find yourself overdoing it, a simple t-shirt can solve the problem.

If you want some sunscreen recipes with natural ingredients, you can find some in this article .

WE NEED THE SUN . You just have to improve your relationship with it. In Spain we have the lowest levels of vitamin D in all of Europe.

This study literally states that avoiding the sun is a “mortality risk factor equivalent to smoking.”

The sun is not bad, but rather the new way we relate to it.

EAT THE SUNSCREEN

Apart from protecting ourselves from the outside, we can also do something from within to make sunbathing a healthy thing. Food has more impact on our health than any other factor.

• Eat foods rich in beta-carotene . Yes, carrots have a lot of beta-carotene, as does sweet potato, but you probably didn't know that other foods like spirulina also have it; but we also had an ace up our sleeve: matcha tea . And if you don't know, check out this comparison between these two foods.

Comparison of beta-carotene between Matcha Tea and carrots.

You are not going to drink 100 g of Matcha Tea, but by taking between 1-3 g you are taking a significant amount of beta-carotene.

• Eat foods rich in antioxidants . Here we show you a comparison of different foods on the ORAC scale that measures the absorption capacity of reactive oxygen species .

As you can see, açaí wins by far.

• Eat foods rich in omega 3 and omega 6 : The current imbalance between omega 3 and omega 6 is responsible for many of today's chronic diseases, but it also influences our skin's ability to protect itself from the sun.

• Drink green tea : Studies have linked the consumption of this type of tea with a lower incidence of tumors. Another point for Matcha tea .

We hope this article has been helpful and has opened your eyes to the topic of sunscreen.

It seems that, once again, nature helps and protects us, if we know how to make good use of it.