To sunscreen or not to sunscreen...

I was feeling quite under the weather recently, so I accompanied a friend to the beach in hopes of soaking up the sun's vitamins and getting some energy!  We laid out our towels, put a little bit of lotion on here and there, and relaxed for a few hours.

When we trudged home up the hill on our bikes, we noticed slight tightness and pains on our stomachs and bums.  We lifted our clothes to see RED LOBSTER PINK skin! Yowzas!

But is sunscreen the right solution?  Will I get skin cancer if I don't use it next time???  I don't think so.  Dr. Mercola doesn't think so either.  Check out all the nasty ingredients in sunscreen that your skin absorbs and sends right to your liver:

Para Amino benzoic acid (PABA) Avobenzone Cinoxate Dioxybenzone Homosalate Menthyl anthranilate Octocrylene Octo methoxycinnamate

Octyl salicylate Oxybenzone Padimate O Phenylbenzimidazole Sulisobenzone Titanium dioxide Trolamine salicylate Zinc oxide

These are all synthetic chemicals, not natural, so your body doesn't know what the heck to do with them and has a hard time processing them.

Sunscreen also blocks your skin’s ability to make vitamin D by more than 95 percent. And we need vitamin D for healthy bones and immunity.

Of course you don't want to burn every time you sit in the sun, so start by going out a little bit more each day.  And most of us know that 10 a.m. to 2 p.m is when the sun is strongest, so you can stay out of it then.

It's also important to feed your skin with lots and lots of omega-3s from fish oil and flax oil, and saturate your body with fruits and vegetables.  Fill yourself with antioxidants to sweep up any damage from the sun.  

Happy sun time!