Nothing beats the feeling of pure, warm sunlight on your skin, especially after a cold and dreary winter. We often take for granted the life-giving power of the sun and completely ignore its many health benefits. On one hand, sun helps us to produce vitamin D, a hormone necessary for bone health and optimal immune function; on the other, too much sunlight can also cause deleterious effects on skin elasticity and function, aggressively facilitating the early signs of aging. Having these extreme oppositions means we need to find a balance between getting enough and avoiding damage resulting from overexposure. And, regardless of what you may have heard in the past, this doesn’t always have to require the use of sunscreen.
How to Protect Against Sun Damage from the Inside Out
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The sun has been vilified for decades thanks to a number of past studies indicating sun exposure increases the risk for skin cancer. While it is certainly true that subjecting your skin to too much sunlight can elevate cancer risk, a stable approach to exposure can actually decrease mortality from all causes. [1] In response to sunlight, our body produces a hormone commonly referred to as vitamin D, creating the starting material for the initiation of a complex metabolic process that supports immune health. Sunscreen can actually decrease our body’s ability to make this incredible “vitamin.” On top of that, many of the chemicals found in conventional sunscreens can actually increase the risk for a number of diseases. [2]
Sun Protection Starts with Your Diet
Fortunately, there are effective approaches to protecting your skin against sun damage without having to entirely forgo outdoor activities. It turns out that what you put into your body may be just as important–or even more important–as the protection you place on your skin. Antioxidants are potent natural UV protectants, and specific sources of them may be helpful for protecting against accelerated skin aging due to UV exposure. [3] Here are just a few of the many ways you can protect your skin while in the sun:
Spice Up Your Routine
Exciting research delving into plant biology has discovered the synergistic protective effects of turmeric and ginger on skin health. According to recent research, both ginger and turmeric extract exhibit powerful antioxidant and soothing qualities that, when taken orally or applied topically, protect the skin matrix from both UVA and UVB rays. [4] Both extracts encourage the body’s production of Thioredoxin 1, a redox and antioxidant protein that guards against UV-generated skin damage.
Become a Tea Connoisseur
Short bouts of exposure is all that is needed for direct UV light to activate collagenase and elastase, two enzymes that catalyze the degradation of the skin’s collagen matrix. Studies have shown that white tea, one of the least processed varieties of tea picked from the Camellia sinensis plant, inhibit these two enzymes, likely protecting against early wrinkle formation. [5] In addition, white tea provides a higher degree of antioxidants than the widely-consumed black tea, providing an even greater protection from sun-induced oxidation.
