Let's soak up the sun.. or not (Part 1 - Introduction)

A holiday in Asia is always a wonderful break from the cold wintery months in Europe. I recently had the pleasure of one; a last minute decision but a good one as I was beginning to feel a little depressed and sluggish.

I started writing this article as an overview of the sun UV ray and its effects, and the importance of sunscreen. However, there are more grounds to cover and each of the sections below warrants a comprehensive analysis and write-up from reliable medical sources, so stay tune for Part 2 to 6.

The good and bad of sun exposure

It is no secrets that too much sun causes old spots, skin and bone diseases. Too little or none at all isn't an ideal situation as well because the sun is the best natural source to obtain Vitamin D which is important to regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body and increase the immunity system.

Read more of Part 2 - The good and bad of UV rays exposure

How much sun is too much, or too little?

As a general rule of thumb, it is usually recommended that around 10 minutes are spent under the sun without sunblock every day during summer and around 15-20 minutes during winter or when the sky is overcast. People with fairer skin tone should spend shorter time under the sun compared to people with darker skin tone.

Read more of Part 3 - Too much or too little UV rays?

Vitamin D supplements?

It is reported that most of us are generally deficient in Vitamin D and the recommended dose for each person is different. Seek advice from your doctor if you are worried about the level of your Vitamin D before simply choosing any Vitamin D supplement at your local health store.

Use sunscreen for protection

If you spend a lot of time under the sun, sunscreen application is a must! The consequences of excessive sun exposure such as skin cancer, far outweight the benefits of Vitamin D. Choose a good sunscreen. Needless to say, chemical sunscreen with ingredients such as Oxybenzone and Avobenzone is a huge no-no! A good sunscreen should be natural and safe. It should be physical sunscreen and contains sufficient amount of zinc oxide, between 18% and 20%. Zinc Oxide is the best ingredient because it guards off against the UVA1, UVA2 and UVB rays. In fact, it is the only ingredient that reflects off all the mentioned three types of UV rays that penetrates into our skin's epidermis and dermis layers otherwise.

Which sunscreen product?

This will be the last of the series on this topic where I will recommend and compare between a few physical sunscreen products out there in the market.

Let's soak up the sun.. or not (Part 1 - Introduction)

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