Sun and the body - wise or not?

SUN – summer is coming – why are we so afraid of the sun? It’s too bad because without it all life on earth would perish. And we need the Vitamin D that is wisely made in our bodies by the action of the sun’s rays on our skin. And Vitamin D prevents cancer; so what gives?

It is a long and involved story, our relationship with the sun and the medical and advertising industries. My take on this is that our undernourishment of necessary nutrients and over abundance of unnecessary additives in our diets and personal care items are where the blame should be laid.

Nature, in her wisdom has given us many tools for living on this great and glorious planet of hers. One tool is the presence of local plant materials that both feed and protect our bodies in our home environments. She also provides plant medicines but that is another book!

In my years of amateur study on oils – I come across so many – I discovered that the tropical oils – the oils that are often saturated and solid at room temperature and grow in the tropics have sun protective properties that have been used by indigenous peoples of those regions for lifetimes. There are a few unsaturated oils, liquid at room temperatures that are also sun protective. Two come to mind, sesame oil which is the oil of India and Ayurvedic practices and Jojoba oil of the Southwest US and Mexico where the natives both ate the nuts and used the oils for cooking and eating.

Growing up in the Hawaiian Islands many years ago I remember that my first “sun lotion” was a mix of coconut oil and cocoa butter – hmmm…it smelled good and we were able to tan well and protect our skin from drying out. Then, as I got a bit older, baby oil (mineral oil and scent) was substituted on the erroneous assumption that tanning was enhanced by this new choice. The result of that experience was not pretty. Going back years later and seeing the skin of those who went to the mineral oil was a primary lesson for me in going natural! Their skin looked like leather, well tanned leather, thick and not pliant, as skin wants to be.

So the message I want to impart is to stay as natural as possible. There is a wealth of lovely oils that can nourish the skin as well as bring some sun protection for the times when you are out in the elements. Shea butter, cocoa butter, coconut oil, mango butter and sesame and jojoba oils – these are the kind of protection and nourishment that your skin will love. And thank you for.

And loose the chemicals that come in commercial sunscreens. They could be causing as many problems as they claim to solve. Love your skin, feed it well and it will love you back and protect you. Have a great summer.