The Sun: Beneficial or Harmful?

Sun is a hot topic, especially if you live in the Midwest where we attempt to fit as many things as we can into the nice, hot weather. We have been taught that the sun is a killer. I, personally, grew up getting my moles checked annually for ‘suspicious looking things’. It was the worst appointment all year. They looked at every square inch of me and then were usually frustrated because I either tanned for prom (I don’t recommend tanning, but I guess it was important then) or it was just after summer (and I was a lifeguard). They threatened, or so I remember, about my high risk of getting skin cancer and continued to tell me to completely avoid the sun but if that’s not feasible, to always wear high SPF sunscreen and not to be out in the sun for longer than 15-30 minutes at a time. As defiance can come easily with things I don’t completely understand or don’t agree with, I’m pretty sure I didn’t follow all of the directions to a “T”.  For many, it is known that we adopt what we learn at a young age as a belief system that follows us throughout life.  For many, if we grew up hearing those fear based messages about skin cancer and the sun, we do everything we can to avoid it.

This week, a great article was posted on how being in the sun may not be so bad after all, especially in regards to our Vitamin D absorption. With our kids being 13 and 15, I have never bought or liked the toxic sunscreen found in Target and grocery stores and  I don’t recommend burning (and that’s the tricky part of this, right?).  I’ve purchased natural suncreen online from Mercola as he is one of the most highly respected and well researched people I know.  The few I tried weren’t waterproof and wiped on pasty white.  I know this isn’t a beauty pageant, but if I could find something better, I would jump on it.  That’s when I found this awesome website, The Humbled Homemaker. From there, I was on her facebook site and she had a DIY Natural Sunscreen.  I thought this may be the answer!  I emailed Lyndi, my right hand gal, and she offered to make it (gotta love those DIY’ers, I think I’m a DIY sucker upper) and share some for me to take to the lake.

My Homemade Sunscreen!

It was a success.  All ages used it, from 7 months to 60 years and it worked.  It is waterproof (beeswax), creamy (shea butter, coconut oil) and prevented sunburns (zinc oxide). It was in the sun on the deck all day long and didn’t melt.  Even better, she said it was easy to make.  Go ahead, make it for yourself and let me know what you think.  I’m sure Erin at The Humbled Homemaker would love to hear your success stories too!  Check it out for yourself and order the whole kit here.

Here’s to being happy and healthy in the sun this summer!

Dr. T