Just as unhealthy food has a negative effect on your skin and overall health, a healthy food diet can offer protection against a variety of health problems, including protection from the sun.
The following are some healthy foods to protect yourself from the sun that you can include in your diet to improve the health of your skin and avoid health complications that may occur
1. Eat enough good fats
To ensure that your body has the proper building blocks for healthy skin and to reduce inflammation, make sure you are getting enough healthy saturated Omega 3 fats, monounsaturated, avoiding the polyunsaturated fatty acids and omega 6 linoleic acid in vegetable oils. Eating enough good fats can help protect you from the sun.
2. Getting enough antioxidants
If you're avoiding grains and Omega-6 oils and eating protein, fat, and vegetables instead, you're probably in the antioxidant department. Even real foods like berries (blackberries) and dark chocolate, are packed with antioxidants. Antioxidants help your body protect itself from the sun.
Antioxidants help reduce inflammation and free radicals (which you won't have in large part if you're not eating grains, natural sugars, and omega-6 oils.) Research has shown a strong protective effect of antioxidants against sunburn and skin damage.
3. Optimization of vitamin D
This is a logical step in protecting the skin and many other parts of the body. Melanin, the dark pigment you get when you tan, is produced to protect the skin from further UV exposure, providing a type of barrier. This is why dark-skinned people need more sun than fair-skinned people to get the same amount of vitamin D. When the body has enough vitamin D, it will start to produce melanin to prevent excess. There is evidence that optimizing vitamin D levels through sun exposure and even through supplementation will help the body to produce melanin faster and retain it longer.
Research has shown that taking 5,000 to 10,000 IU of vitamin D over several months can have a sunburn prevention effect, and tanning ability can be improved by helping your skin protect itself from the sun.
4. Exposing yourself to the sun little by little
While the sun is very beneficial because it helps our bodies produce vitamin D, sunburn is certainly not an advantage. The easiest way to avoid sunburn, naturally, is to gradually increase your exposure to the sun, while eating a healthy diet. For most people, 15-30 minutes is sufficient at first, although many can go up to several hours without any problems.
If your activity level requires being outside for longer, wear protective clothing or find some shade.
5. Avoid chemicals and use natural options
Because your body needs vitamin D and there is no conclusive evidence that sunscreen protects against skin cancer, it is best to avoid using sunscreen, especially the chemical-laden varieties.
If you have to be out in the sun for long periods of time and can't seek shade, use a homemade natural sunscreen or just coconut oil (which supposedly has a natural SPF of around 4).
At this point, I wonder what a healthy diet can't help! I was not only happy with the weight loss, the extra energy, clearer skin, better sleep, etc, but it even helps me reduce sunburn and improve my tan!
6. Take some support supplements
Around this time of year, you also start taking a specific regimen of supplements that help reduce inflammation and improve sun tolerance. The supplements I take are:
Vitamin D3 (take about 5,000 IU / day) - New evidence shows that optimizing blood levels of vitamin D may have a protective effect against sunburn and skin cancer
Vitamin C (take about 2,000 mg / day) - A powerful anti-inflammatory, and is good for the immune system as well.
1/4 cup of coconut oil melted in a cup of herbal tea per day, medium chain fatty acids and saturated fats are easily used by the body for the formation of new skin and protect against burns.
Astaxanthin, a very powerful antioxidant that research shows acts as an internal sunscreen. It is also supposedly an anti-aging supplement.
While you are working on your computer, playing racquetball, working in your garage, or doing a science experiment in school, it is important to you protect your eyes with the right eyewear. When you are exposing your eyes to chemicals, sharp objects, or other materials such as wood shavings, metal shards, etc, it is important to have tough and protective eyewear to prevent anything ill-suited from entering your eyes.