What do you use for sunblock?

[akaikumo]

I was musing on this today, because I spent my time at a pool for 3 hours yesterday and got a minor sunburn despite the sun block.

Obviously, sunblock is full of chemicals and rubbing it on your skin isn't that great of an idea. I don't think the sun is harmful, but we have done damage to the ozone layer, which means we're experiencing more radiation then we would have during the paleo era. Plus, I freckle, and I hate that. I'd rather not cook it in to permanent freckles. Damn irish blood.

So what do you do for sunblock?

[goodsamaritan]

Nothing.
I can sense when I've had too much sun and get in the shade, get a hat or an umbrella.
Sunblocks are not popular in my country.

[xylothrill]

I use melanin for sunblock. 

I would not put anything on my skin that I wouldn't eat.

Craig

[boxcarguy07]

Yeah, I never use sunblock, and I personally believe sunblock is much worse for our skin than even excessive sun. Our skin is after all an organ, and absorbs what we rub onto it, so I don't put things on my skin that I wouldn't feel comfortable eating.

Of course, it's not a good idea to let yourself get sunburned. But sunlight is essential. It's important for our eyes and for our skin, especially as it lets us produce Vitamin D.

Thankfully I don't burn easily and can tolerate a good amount of sun... during the summer I make sure to get as much sun as I can.

[akaikumo]

I completely agree.

In fact, I wouldn't really care that much if I didn't freckle. While a few freckles don't bother me, I don't like the way I look completely covered in them. I'm not sure what to do about that, because I don't want to rub that shit on my skin all the time.

This wasn't much of a problem before--I rarely left the cave that is my bedroom or spent any length of time outside As a result, I'm extremely pale, and freckle easily. I don't care about that on my body, but face wise, bleh.

[boxcarguy07]

I for one find that freckles on females can be pretty attractive... regardless, don't worry about the way you are! 

[wodgina]

Where I live the sun is so strong you can end up in hospital pretty easily.

I use Zinc on my face when surfing but not when working and stopped using normal sunscreen on my body as I have protective oils on my skin now from all the tasty raw fats I eat.

[Satya]

Where I live the sun is so strong you can end up in hospital pretty easily.

I use Zinc on my face when surfing but not when working and stopped using normal sunscreen on my body as I have protective oils on my skin now from all the tasty raw fats I eat.

Yeah, I like zinc oxide and clothing.  Really, if it is summer where you are, just don't overdo the sun when it's overhead.  Vitamin D is sorely lacking, so don't be afraid of it either, especially for places above and below 32 degrees of the equator.  Cancer is found more often in latitudes at greater distances from the equator.  That may be why northern (and southern) people eat so much fish, which are rich in vit d.

http://www.westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-d-safety.html

[xylothrill]

I've been blistered by the sun before. The trick is to gradually build up a base tan and go out in the sun regularly to keep it up and keep from burning. I'm lucky I have my mother's skin. My father doesn't tan.

For those who don't tan, or aren't able to keep one, zinc oxide sounds natural enough. After all, there are supplements made of it and other mineral oxides. That's not to say that just because something is a supplement that it's automatically natural.

Craig

[akaikumo]

Zinc oxide in what form?

I can get a tan everywhere except my face, it seems. :/

[TylerDurden]

I find I'm fine in the sun these days, with me getting a glorious tan. I don't even bother using protection, even when walking in the Alps in the height of summer. Worst I've ever had in recent years was some flakes of skin coming off my nose, but that was only a minor but temporary thing, which happened after a huge amount of sun-exposure.

Pre-raw diet, though, my skin was in an appalling shape and I got frequent sunburn because I refused to put on suntan-oil.

The trouble with suntan-oil, of course, is that it's full of hydrogenated fats and they're only effective if you use very high-factor sunoil.

[boxcarguy07]

by suntan-oil do you mean sunscreen?
because here there is sunscreen, which blocks the sun's rays,
and then there is suntan-oil, which increases the rays you absorb, ie. helps you get tanner.

[TylerDurden]

I use the term suntan oil for  both really. I've hardly ever used it so haven't a clue as to the distinction.

[akaikumo]

So I was reading about zinc oxide, and it looks like it's usually coated with dimethicone. The problem with that is it's an "unmodified silicone."

I'm going to see if I can find the micronized version of the mineral without it. We'll see.

[livingthelife]

Fresh aloe juice (externally & internally); lots of juiced carrots/greens (internally); hats & shirts; common sense

[lex_rooker]

I'm not much of a believer in sunblock.  Since they've been pushing sun block the incidence of skin cancer has increased significantly.  My dermatologist insists that it's important but I asked him why people who get skin cancer often get it in places that receive little sun (small of the back below the belt line etc).  All he could come up with was "must have had severe sunburn sometime early in life".  Hmmmm - just in the back below the belt line? - makes little sense to me.

It seems that a light to medium tan is the best deterrent to skin cancer.  Not too much sun and not too little.  I try to get about an hour or two of sun every day or so and shoot for early to mid morning sun in the summer and late morning to afternoon sun in the winter.  I'm also convinced that what we eat makes a big difference in how our skin is affected by sunlight as well.

Lex

[akaikumo]

I agree, Lex. I've given up on the idea of finding something natural to use. Whether I freckle or not on RPD, we'll find out I guess. I'm still a long way from it.

[eblythe]

I just finished a book called "The Wellness Project: A Rocket Scientist's Blueprint for Health" by Roy Mankovitz and in it, he discusses how he is funding research at The University of California Santa Barbara for a new type of sunscreen withOUT chemicals.

I was looking at the author's website and found an article he wrote in regards to sunscreen. Here is the link:
http://montecitowellness.squarespace.com/health-related-inventions/

By the way, the book is awesome. All about a detailed paleo-diet and detox plan that the author came up with. There is a LOT of wonderful information and I suggest reading it.

[PaleoPhil]

I have Irish blood, but I freckle much less on a conventional Paleo diet than I did on the so-called "healthy" whole-grain, low-meat, high-plant diet. I can even get a TAN now for the first time since I was a teenager (albeit a light one ;-) ), and any burns I get change into a tan by the next day, though I try to avoid burning.

As I move to ZC RPD my guess is my skin will handle the sun even better.

[goodsamaritan]

I think the selling of sunblock is a gigantic SCAM victimizing the health of hundreds of millions of people.
Go get an umbrella, get a big hat, go under the shade.

[PaleoPhil]

I just finished a book called "The Wellness Project: A Rocket Scientist's Blueprint for Health" by Roy Mankovitz and in it, he discusses how he is funding research at The University of California Santa Barbara for a new type of sunscreen withOUT chemicals.

I was looking at the author's website and found an article he wrote in regards to sunscreen. Here is the link:
http://montecitowellness.squarespace.com/health-related-inventions/

By the way, the book is awesome. All about a detailed paleo-diet and detox plan that the author came up with. There is a LOT of wonderful information and I suggest reading it.

OK, thanks. I searched it on Amazon and it had enough interesting stuff in it for me to order it. Strangely, though, it doesn't mention Boyd Eaton, who I believe coined the term Paleo Diet and wrote the first hypothesis on biological discordance and Paleolithic nutrition in a scientific journal. Mankovitz seems to be a fan of the Weston A. Price Foundation, which could explain that, because they despise Eaton and Cordain for not supporting dairy products and for opposing saturated fats (Cordain only gets one reference). Luckily, unlike the WAPF, Mankovitz doesn't advocate dairy products or whole grains. Despite Eaton and Cordain's errors they are part of the history of Paleolithic nutrition and they continue to lead Paleolithic nutrition research. Besides, no diet book is free of errors.

On the bright side, the book mentions Stefansson, advocates animal fats and the author mentions that he only "lightly cooks" his meat. Of course, Ray Audette's NeanderThin already did all that years ago, so I'll have to compare and contrast to see whether Mankovitz's book makes an essential additional contribution beyond NeanderThin or not.

[zenfood]

shea butter offers some protection : ¨Shea Butter offers a low level of UV protection (approximately SPF-6), and may be incorporated into natural sunscreen recipes.¨

Also PABA, a natural supplement to be taken internally before going out in the sun.

Personally i dont use anything either, but if i was in the south and somehow had to be under the sun for a while id probably use these two togheter.

A diet rich in good fats and anti oxydants helps as well

[Quinroxanne]

  I don't use sunblock. Not on my budget. But I don't discourage everyone who uses it if you have one then go.. Use it.

[wodgina]

I used melted beef suet on my face yesterday, still went red but my skin felt good

[raw]

raw coconut oil is the best solution for save the skin from the high sun. but still, don't use coconut oil when you need to feed your skin vit D. also use umbrella, shade and cover your body properly. in middle east, that's the way people dress up to save themselves from the hot sun.