Natural Skin Care Products can Block Vitamin D

A growing number of forward-thinking experts in the traditional and natural healthcare field are sounding the alarm about the connection between sunscreen use and vitamin D that helps build a strong immune system that can fight colds, fatigue, influenza, and a wide array of other conditions and diseases. Traditional and natural sunscreens and natural face products with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) component, like facial moisturizers, can block the UVB light your body needs to produce vitamin D.

The SPF reflects the percentage of UVB light a sunscreen or moisturizing lotion with SPF can block. In a Swiss newspaper interview, Prof. Dr. Annette Bischoff-Ferrari, a member of the Medical Faculty of the University of Zurich, said, We know that with a sunscreen protection factor of 6 (SPF-6) and more the body is unable to produce (synthesize) any vitamin D. A moisturizer with a sunscreen component is usually made with an SPF of 15.

What is Vitamin D? According to Mitchell A. Fleisher, MD, Vitamin D3, cholecalciferol, is a critically important nutrient that is much more than just a vitamin.  It actually acts as a steroid hormone involved in multiple physiological pathways essential for health and well-being, including mineral and bone metabolism, and normal cardiovascular, neurological and immune system function.

The sun is your best source for vitamin D, because your body can store what it produces from sunlight for future use, followed by Vitamin D supplements, which your body does not store. Because higher levels of UVB light are required by your body in order to synthesize vitamin D, supplements are a great option in areas where UVB light intensity is low and when you cannot expose your skin to sunlight for long enough periods.

Vitamin D is important because it supports the proper function of cells. According to the Vitamin D Council (www.vitamindcouncil.org), there is a connection between low vitamin D levels and colds and flu, bone health, asthma, rickets, multiple sclerosis, fatigue, depression, Type II diabetes, preeclampsia, colorectal cancer, other cancers, and more.

Who is most at risk of having low vitamin D levels? Large segments of the U.S. population are very much at risk. In his groundbreaking book, The Vitamin D Cure, James Dowd, M.D., writes Current statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tell us that more than half of the general population is vitamin D—deficient regardless of age. And about 70 percent of elderly Americans and 90 percent of Americans of color are vitamin D—deficient. Add to the mix people who are overweight or obese because of dietary imbalance or inactivity, and the totals are staggering.

Why is the number of people with vitamin D deficiency so staggering? One reason is excessive sunscreen use. Sunscreen blocks UVB light, and thus, the body's ability to produce vitamin D. If you fail to take your body’s vitamin D production into account when exposing your skin to sunlight, you risk compromising your immune system.

What can you do to make sure you get your vitamin D while also protecting my skin? Being aware of what causes skin damage—free radicals--and knowing your skin’s limitations during sun exposure gives you the power to take complete control of your skin’s health. Resorting to high SPF sunscreen is not the answer because it gives you a false sense of security, often leads to over-exposure, and blocks your body’s ability to produce vitamin D.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating for dropping sunscreen use. What I am saying is that you need to set aside time for sun exposure that does not involved sunscreen, so your body can have the opportunity to produce vitamin D. You short and long-term health depends upon it. You can use antioxidant supplements or, even better, a high potency bioactive antioxidant moisturizer, such as MelanSol® Certified Natural Moisturizer.

Making sure your vitamin D levels are within the accepted range, at least 50ng, is crucial for maintaining optimum health. Become intimately familiar with your number - your body’s level of vitamin D3. Ask your doctor to test your body’s level of vitamin D3. Once you know your number, you can put together a personal plan that involves unprotected sun exposure, diet and supplements to give your body the best defense against many of the illnesses that plague our society today.

 

By: Michael J. Russ

Read More

Have the Best Sunburn Treatment Around to Save Your Skin

I wish everyone could enjoy the sun, without having to keep one eye on a watch and the other on the sun’s intensity. Unfortunately, if you have fair skin, could just be a dream. Aside from having to use sunscreen when you expect to expose your skin for an extended period, being prepared for the possibility of sunburn, especially when visiting tropical climates, is a must. When you fall victim to over-exposure, you can easily arrive at the best treatment for sunburn become intimately familiar with free radicals and antioxidants.

What is an antioxidant?

Antioxidants act as cell protectors and are capable of counteracting the damaging, but normal, effects of oxidation (free radical generation) in tissues. Antioxidants, naturally found in plants, fruits, and vegetables, counteract free radicals by binding with them before they can damage skin cells.

What are free radicals?
Oxygen, an essential element for life, can create damaging by-products called free radicals during normal cellular metabolism. Free radicals, also called reactive oxygen species, are chemically active atoms or molecular fragments that have a charge due to an excess or deficient number of electrons in the outer shell.

Free radicals attack the fats, protein, and DNA in our cells and break down the elastin and collagen in our skin. This process promotes sunburn, acceleration in skin aging (excessive wrinkles, sagging skin, and sun spots), and the development of non-melanoma skin cancer, such as basal and squamous cell carcinoma.

How are free radicals connected to sunburn, skin aging, and skin cancer?

Each time you expose your skin to direct or indirect sunlight, free radicals form in your skin. Although everyone has some degree of antioxidant protection to counteract their continued accumulation, sunburn, also referred to as oxidative stress, occurs when the accumulating free radicals exceed your body’s natural ability to keep them under control.

Skin aging is the effect of continuous free radical damage, non-melanoma skin cancer being the most advanced form of damage, when free radicals have mutated the DNA of your skin cell.

Once you discover sunburn, stopping its forward progress involves bringing the over-accumulation of free radicals responsible for your discomfort under control as soon as possible. If you let them prolong their rampage, they will continue to damage your skin throughout the night and into the next day. Natural bioactive antioxidants are the secret to getting your inflammation and painful skin under control.

What are natural bioactive antioxidants?

Natural bioactive antioxidants are those that are capable of maintaining their ability to capture and eliminate free radicals. A great example of a natural bioactive antioxidant combination is the one used in a sunburn relief gel produced by MelanSol® 100% Natural Skin Care. The antioxidant combination in this natural sunburn remedy is Bio-melanin (melanin extracted from the fruit of dates), natural mixed vitamin E, and green tea extract. These three antioxidants are completely natural and work synergistically to continuously detoxify your skin of free radicals. This unique formula also includes aloe barbadensis, chamomile, and calendula because of their anti-inflammatory properties.

Is there any proof that sunscreens with bioactive natural antioxidants offer better UV protection?

Yes. A groundbreaking 2003 university study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, said, “Sunscreens are useful, but their protection is not ideal because of inadequate use, incomplete spectral protection, and toxicity. Skin naturally uses antioxidants (AOs) to protect itself from photodamage. This scientific review summarizes what is known about how photodamage occurs; why sunscreens—the current gold standard of photo-protection—are inadequate; and how topical AOs help protect against skin cancer and photo-aging changes.” The university study reviewed vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, zinc, silymarin, soy isoflavones, and tea polyphenols and said, “Their topical use may favorably supplement sunscreen protection and provide additional anti-carcinogenic protection.” (J Am Acad. Dermatol 2003; 48: 1-19. To view the full report, visit www.PureSunscreen.com.)

The best course of action for avoiding sunburn is to know your skins tolerance for sunlight and have sun protective clothing on hand, however, because accidents can happen, plan in advance to have a natural antioxidant rich sunburn relief formula on hand, just in case. That way, you won’t be left wishing you did.

By: Michael J. Russ

Read More

A Great Natural Moisturizer Begins With Bioactive Antioxidants

Everyone uses a moisturizer of some kind on a daily basis and there are hundreds of them to choose from. Products are being sold by brand name cosmetics companies and are marketed for use exclusively on your face or body. Some are reasonable in price, others are incredibly expensive, and the vast majority of them are chemical in composition.

A growing number of people are questioning the safety of the colors, synthetic preservatives, fragrances, and other chemicals these products contain. Their concern is leading them to seek certified natural moisturizer, a safer alternative.

If you are thinking of dumping your brand name face and body lotion in favor of one that contains all natural ingredients, there are more than a few to choose from—some are all natural, while others come close. Natural has become a marketing term that has lost much of its real meaning. What you want to unearth during your search is a genuinely natural lotion that does more than nourish, condition, hydrate, and rejuvenate. You also want it to protect your skin from aging.

What never ceases to amaze me is how the hundreds of lotions and moisturizers on the market seem to be missing the mark when it comes to the one thing they should be doing—helping prevent skin aging. Of course, they can only accomplish this when the formula is natural and includes the silver bullet of skin protection---antioxidants.

I am sure you have seen the word anti-aging on the labels numerous skin care products. What they mean is that the products contain some form of antioxidants, usually chemically formulated, that can help prevent excess skin aging. The question to be asked here is do chemical anti-aging ingredients do a better job than natural ones? In my view, they do not, especially when they are combined with additional chemicals with questionable health qualities.

Bioactive natural antioxidants are the latest technological advancement in chemical free moisturizer. Antioxidants act as cell protectors—controlling free radicals that attack the fats, protein, and DNA in our skin cells and break down elastin and collagen which creates excess wrinkles. Excessive free radical damage over a longer period of time can lead to skin cancer.

Antioxidants with bioactivity are more effective because they remain active on your skin and neutralize free radicals for a longer period of time—a real benefit if you only apply your moisturizer in the morning.

An excellent example of bioactive antioxidants in action is the revolutionary combination invented by Peter Zahner for MelanSol® 100% Natural Skin Care. Peter’s antioxidant formulation consists of bio-melanin (melanin extracted from date fruit), green tea extract (with an optimum polyphenol count), and natural mixed vitamin E (full spectrum). When these three natural antioxidants are combined in a specific way, they act synergistically to control the accumulation of free radicals that damage skin cells. Bio-Melanin has 1000 times the capacity for controlling free radicals than vitamin E alone.

The word antioxidant has also become a great marketing term. Unfortunately, antioxidants like coffee, green tea, soy, oatmeal, vitamin C, synthetic vitamin E, and certain natural forms of vitamin E are less protective because they have a low capacity for controlling free radicals on your skin. They are included in formulas because they know many people are looking for antioxidants.

When searching for a natural moisturizer, before investigating its antioxidant mix, save yourself some valuable time by first making sure the entire formula is truly natural. This can easily be confirmed if the product prominently displays the green Natural Seal of the Natural Products Association (NPA) of the USA on its front or back label. The NPA independently certifies that natural products ingredients, and the way they were processed, are indeed free of chemicals.

Going natural is not only good for your body; it’s good for your soul. The positive feelings you experience from using safe and healthy ingredients on your skin are priceless.

About the author:

Michael J. Russ is the author of Sun Care Decoded: Answers to Questions You Didn’t Know to Ask. He is a fierce advocate for using natural skin care and has helped thousands of people make the switch to healthier skin care.

Read More