Eades suggests in PPLP that sunbathing is beneficial. Don't bother with sunscreen just work up slowly for short periods of time. Is anyone doing this?


I LOVE sunbathing, but haven't done it for years. You know this is the only thing out of the book that just sends off alarm bells. It seems that everything else we do, (taking extra antioxidants, eliminating trans fats...) is designed to not only slurp up any free radicals but to prevent their introduction in the first place. Exposing your skin to Uv and then saying that the vitamins will take care of the damage seems just a bit much. Who's to say the early man really needed wrinkle free skin? What if leatherly looking men and woman showed their capability to survive better than others and it was highly prized? As for being vit D deficient what other sources are there?

Anyone else thinking about this as Spring is near!

because my fitday nutritional stats show my vitamin D as so low, I did an internet search a few weeks ago on how we synthesize vitamin D ... it was very interesting, and I remember not a bit of it! (lol) But you could do the same search--my recollection is that the sun isn't as important as some other micronutrients that we need for that synthesis.

Do I sunbathe? In the Pacific Northwest in Winter? lol--that's hysterical! (remind me, what's a "sun"?)

Just my opinion, very "felt" and unscientific...I garden in good weather, I walk in good weather, and I figure that's plenty. I've never trusted sunscreen (long before the Eades said not to), from the perspective of sensible design: "had Mother Nature wanted us to use sunscreen, she would have put the sun further away." We evolved to take straight sunlight to some degree, eh?

You only need about 10-15 minutes two or three times per week, on your face and arms. I think it's true that nature gave us what we need to protect us from the sun, but they're called TREES and most of us don't live among them anymore. Darker-skinned racial groups evolved to handle long days in the sun, but caucasians haven't done so very well - certainly not to the degree that we should consider it "fashionable" to brown our skin.

Always protecting my gothic palour,
Kristine

I haven't read PPLP yet, but if the Eades discourage sunscreen use, they are just plain nuts. To say that Mother Nature will take care of it is crazy!!! I have two young friends that almost died of melanoma. Sun exposure causes photo aging, moles, freckles, age spots and wrinkles. I read PP and enjoyed it, but my respect for these people will drop exponentially if I find that they tell people not to protect the largest organ on their body -- their skin.

Anyone who plans to spend more than a few minutes out in the sun should wear a broad spectrum sunscreen! There is no such thing as a healthy tan! I actually think that people who tan look a little silly. It's a dated look, very '80s. And if you look at people in their 50's and 60's who sunbathe, you can see firsthand the results -- wrinkles and pruny skin. Yuck!

Sorry to be so strident in my tone, but I feel very strongly about this topic. I used to try to tan every summer, and I regret it. I have lots of moles and freckles. I only hope that the damage I did in my teens and twenties won't result in cancer in the future.

Even though I am in Florida, I tan regularly at a tanning salon. The good salons have bulbs which do not contain the same harmful rays as the sun. After I tan, I feel energized and relaxed. I make sure not to overdo it and I never tan my face. I have read where you get Vitamin D from sunlight, so for my 2 cents worth, try a salon for a nice change.

Julie

P.S. I even worked part time in a few tanning salons.

In fairness to the Eades', I think they make some very worthy points in their book.

Recalling their case from memory - so please check for yourselves as my memory ain't the best - the tanning and burning is done by the UVB while the long term damage is done by UVA. They further claim that even the best wide spectrum sunsreens only block about half of the UVA.

As a result, we slather on a bunch of sunscreen which allows us to avoid our body's primary warning sign - namely that we are getting too much UVA - by turning pink and starting to burn in response to the UVB. As a result, we continue to stay out and absorb tons of UVA.

Furthermore, while they argue for building up a tan in order to allow the skin pigment to block the UVA and recommend not using a sunscreen because of its ability to allow us to overdose on UVA, they also emphasize the importance of NOT letting yourself burn.

As fair-skinned as I am this is the policy that I had to follow growing up - I wore long sleeved shirts and long legged pants all summer long. I've had two really nasty (blistering) sunburns in my life - one when I was eight and one when I was twelve. The second put second degree burns over more than 50% of my body. Not a fun time.

I still follow this basic practice today. I use sunscreen if I'm going to be out in the sun for an extended period of time, but I also keep the amount of exposed skin to a minimum.

I haven't decided if I'm going to try to get anything resembling a tan this summer or not. I have noticed that my tolerance to the sun has significantly improved and I actually have a pale tan on my forearms. If I do try to tan, it will not be anything deep. Just a mild tan so that I can tolerate longer periods of exposure without sunscreen. I will still follow the "minimal skin" rule whenever I'm out in the sun for any length of time.

As I've said before, I'm vigilant about being careful in the sun. I have also done a bit of research on sunscreens. As I understand it, the best sunscreens have either a physical blocker (these would be zinc oxide and titanium dioxide) or a chemical broad-spectrum blocker. The only reliable one of these is avobenzone, known commercially as Parsol 1789. I firmly believe that there is no such thing as a safe tan. A tan is a sign of skin damage. My friend who got melanoma tans very easily. Unfortunately, she didn't protect her skin and the tans she got so effortlessly resulted in cancer that almost killed her. If someone like her (with olive toned skin and brown eyes) can have this happen, then someone like me (with pasty white skin and light blue eyes) needs to be very careful. I consider myself successful when, at the end of an active summer, I have absolutely no tan lines whatsoever. I spent a large part of the summer outdoors with my kids last year, and none of us burned or tanned.

As I said before, I don't own PPLP (the bookstore was out when I went there) and I'd have to read what the Eades said, but nothing they could say would change my mind about tanning. I guess everyone has to do their own research (and that should include looking at sources other than the Eades) and decide what they feel comfortable doing. I'm very happy with my choice.

weird timing for me to see this post.
I felt like I was craving sun today...so I went out, put a blanket on a reclining chair...and there I sat with my eyes closed for about 20 minutes. It felt so good. When my skin started feeling hot, I came in. I don't even know what made me want to do it, but since I (for the first time in my life) have a very private patio in my back yard, I put on shorts and a tank top, other than that, the only thing I covered was the healing scar on my right foot. It felt so good, and I think I'm going out for round 2 in about 15 minutes.
I haven't read any pp books yet...but I'm thinking about it, that's why I came to this forum, and the title of this thread cought my eye first.

I have to say that I will not be going out to suntan! I have very, very pale skin and burn in around 5 minutes - even with sunscreen. I have already had moles removed from my foolish teen years when I did try to tan. I also now have a spot on my lip that my dermatologist said is from previous sun damage that has just now surfaced! Scary!!

I do believe that "Mother Nature" may have taken care of sun damage with melanin, but there are considerably more damaging rays around now than in the "caveman" days, with all the polution, etc. We are exposed to far, far more UVA and UVB rays now.

Theresa

I do. When applicable of course..because the sun isn't out all that much, especially lately. But I have to, for my psoriasis, nothing like the sun to be a natural healer.

"had Mother Nature wanted us to use sunscreen, she would have put the sun further away" say the eades. by the same reasoning, you could argue, "had Mother Nature wanted us to eat a low-carb diet, she would not have created high-carb foods". just because something is natural rather than man-made does not mean it is benign. excess sun can be harmful, as can excesses of many other of Mother Nature's creations.

my father died of skin cancer. i will always use sunscreen and never sunbathe again.

I was just reading about PP for the first time and was thinking of picking up their book, but, this quote just floors me! Mother Nature didn't need to put it further away - she added a protective ozone layer. It's the erosion of this layer that is attributed to the phenomenal increases we are seeing in skin cancer rates.

Hope the rest of the book uses a more 'sensible' approach!
Guess I'll give it a read anyway.

-k-fire (the 45+ spf red-headed beach girl)

First of all...think this issue is based on many factors... skin type..length of time spent in the sun etc. etc. etc.... to try fit everyone in the same mold in regards to suntanning is like makin a corelation that we should all look and weigh the same I personally have tanned all my life... have the type of skin that tans very easily...never burns and in fact have a tan year round...( I guess you could say I am one of these folks)

Quote by Bill, re: PP:

"Furthermore, while they argue for building up a tan in order to allow the skin pigment to block the UVA and recommend not using a sunscreen because of its ability to allow us to overdose on UVA, they also emphasize the importance of NOT letting yourself burn. "

I feel very invigorated after doing 80 laps in the pool during a warm day...a short jaunt under the sun's ray's for me is rejeuvenating ...I do not use suncreen...

Bonnie

Oxygen is good for us, but it also kills and ages us (oxidation). Insulin we couldn't live without, but it also has its bad effects. The sun is no different.

Think about most overweight people you know or see. They have in general very white skin. That is because a lot of us when we are overweight tend to hide indoors, not so much from the sun, but from bathing suits, shorts, and onlookers.

Eades is not the only Nutritionist to recommend a little sun. Dr. Perrone in his book recommends 10-20 minutes three times per week. He says this keeps you from retaining water among other things.

The point is that you can get sun by just shopping outside. I visited a museum last weekend and got plenty of sun exposure.

The idea of no suntan lotion is only for those who foolishly spend too much time in the sun. The point is your skin will start burning and you will feel it and you will go inside. It is to keep you from sun over-exposure. But for those who know they can't avoid staying more than 15 minutes in the sun, definitely wear suncreen. If you have to be outside for long periods of time, this is a completely different thing. You NEED sunscreen.

There is no such thing as safe tanning. I just read an article about the latest finds with tanning salons - they are dangerous. I go to a world reknowned Dermatologist, Dr. Balin who performs Moh surgery.
He said people get all the sun they need by the age of 18 to have cancer problems later in life. 95% of all wrinkles come from sun damage. Tanning Salons and the real sun will do nothing but age your skin prematurely and cause cancer. There is an increasing epidemic of skin cancer in the US from the healthy tan generation generated a long time ago in the 50's and 60's with surfer movies. Now you have the Britany Spears look. I am suffering from Basil and squamous cell cancers (being cut out) and bad moles (being cut out) I am lucky not to have melanoma. If you have a bad mole that has metastisized - you are dead. The doctor will consul you and tell you you may live only 3 years. Melanoma does not respond to chemotherapy or radiation. No matter what your skin type - there is no reason to get sun exposure. You can't prevent all sun from hitting you so you will get enough for whatever healthy effects there are. I can only plead with you all out there - protect yourselves from the sun, protect yout children. You all know more than I do about dieting. I have been have painfull surgeries for the last 3 years. being 47 I am paying for all the summers at Cape May, NJ - and I hardly ever laid out intentionally but never protected myself. I wish so bad I could go back and protect myself. You can lose weight but it is very expensive and painful to get rid of the cancer. And whatever looks you were trying to preserve with age - either have your face cut up for cancer surgery or wither and wrinkle.