The CANCERactive Safe Sun campaign has told people for more than a decade that vitamin D is essential to a strong immune system and you can only really achieve adequate plasma levels by going in the sun; So the issue is to practice 'safe' sun - go in the sun but don't burn.
Sunshine - essential to good health
The sun by its action on cholesterol layers under the skin, provides vitamin D, which has been shown to be essential in preventing diseases from cancer to dementia. Vitamin D arms the immune system. Sunshine also produces serotonin in the body to improve mood and depression, and nitric oxide to reduce heart attack and stroke risk.
The latest evidence is that 300,000 people die prematurely in America every year because of past misinformation about sunshine.
And research shows that Covid-19 deaths are higher in people with low plasma vitamin D.
For goodness sake - Go in the sun - it's good for you!!! (But don't burn.)
The CANCERactive Safe Sun campaign
Sunshine is healthy; but be safe in the sun!
In order to be healthy and have a strong immune system you need plasma levels over 35 ng/ml according to the NHS; 40 ng/ml according to the American Health Authorities and 70 ng/ml according to experts at Boston Medical School.
In studies on people newly diagnosed with cancer, approximately 80% of people have deficient levels - below 20ng/ml. Research has shown only 13% of Americans have adequate vitamin D levels; for Black Americans the figure is only 6% and twice as many die from Covid as is represented by their popoulation statistics.
Virtually no vitamin D in food
The problem is, there is virtually none in food - cod liver oil has a little. It is sunshine you need, or supplements. Health UK talk of 90 minutes in the sun, or 2,500 IUs a day for a normal dose; Boston Medical School talk of 3 hours in the sun, or 5,000 IUs if you have cancer
A 2019 report from expert endocrinologists, dermatologists and vitamin D experts reviewed more than 100 robust studies and concluded that more that 300,000 people are dying each year in the USA because of the twaddle charities like Cancer Research have been uttering for years.
Studies on Covid-19 in Asia have show that the severity of Covid-19 is linked to the lower your levels of vitamin D.
Go in the sun - but don't burn
The issue is not staying out of the sunshine but on delivering safe sun to benefit your overall health.
Safe Sun is the goal - for, while sunshine is sensational, clearly, burning is bad.
What about Skin Cancer and melanoma?
There is little doubt that exposure to harmful strong sun rays can damage the skin and even contribute to mutation and cancer. But research covered in Cancer Watch shows that half of melanoma is in places not particularly exposed to sunshine, while another study showed that 93 per cent of melanoma patients were deficient in vitamin D - they had not got enough sunshine!
Much is made of increased levels of skin cancer and melanoma. Melanoma in the UK has jumped in 5 years from 7,000 cases to 16,000. But then you find out that this is because doctors are more aware of the disease. The numbers of stage 3 and 4 cases are static.
Research on the sunbelt in the USA, and among populations such as Mexicans shows that these people living constantly under the sun actually get LESS skin cancer.
Another study showed the involvement of oestrogen - twin sisters, one on the contraceptive pill, the other not; the former has twice the risk of melanoma from lying in the sun than the latter.
Oestrogen and chemicals
The Environmental Working Group in America have produced a review of supermarket sunscreens and found that only one in five is truly safe by their standards?
What is the big issue? Chemicals of concern - a number of which may be phytocarcinogenic. What's that? These are chemicals in the sunscreen that may become carcinogenic in the presence of sunshine - the sun activates them to become carcinogens!
The World Health Organisation has now urged governments to ban certain chemicals, typically oestrogen-mimic chemicals (xenoestrohgens) like parabens (a preservative), and BPA and phthalates which can leach from many plasticisers used in packaging; worse, they are known to denature in heat and release even more hormone-damaging chemicals into the liquids contained. And when you are lying on the beach, where do you leave your sunscreen bottle?
But there are other possible xenoestrogens already in some sunscreens: for example, PABA, retinyl palmitate, oxybenzone have been found to be xenoestrogens, while common fragrances can contain any number of xenoestrogens they dont even have to name, like xylene and toluene.
It's all especially worrying because there is some evidence that skin cancer and especially melanoma are linked to localised oestrogen and you may be about to rub a sunscreen into your skin containing a number of these gender-bender chemicals. Who knows what might happen when sunlight falls on them?
The experts who produced the 2019 meta-study even called for a warning on sunscreen bottles saying how sunscreen STOPS you getting good levels of vitamin D, nitric oxide and serotonin!
The warnings are actually nothing new - in a 2000 report from the FDA (covered in the US National Toxicology Programme) talked of sunscreens containing vitamin A causing tumours and lesions to spread 21 per cent faster than those creams without the ingredient!
Cancer Watch even carried research on the links between endometriosis and Oxybenzone (Click Here).
But Cancer Research UK tells you to rub in about two tablespoons of sunscreen every few hours! They even have a financial sponsorship deal with a sunscreen manufacturer. Meanwhile, the expert meta-study above concluded that Sunscreens should have Government Health Warnings on them - because they stop you from getting sunshine to your skin and making vitamin D.
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Stay Safe in the Sun
As a result of all the misinformation, in 2008 we launched our own Safe Sun campaign called..... Practise SafeSun. It is all about sun safety, and getting the most from sunshine, something other charities have failed repeatedly to advocate.
Some might call it, not the 'Sun Smart' campaign but, the SunSmarter campaign.
Please forward this to all those family and friends you care about.
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Practise "Safe Sun"
The CANCERactive Campaign to get more from your sunshine!
1. Try to get at least 30 minutes in the sunshine every day of your life. It is essential to your good health, your immune system and cancer prevention.
2. However, do not go from the dark British Winter and immediately spend the first days of your holiday under a mid-day tropical or mountain sun. Build up tanning slowly, using early mornings or late afternoons - it takes about 4 days to activate your pigmentation; before that you are in danger of tissue damage.
3. Do not burn. Be sensible. Be safe.
4. Be aware of your own skin type.
5. Avoid all sun screens, lotions, after sun creams and skin creams/moisturisers that contain PABA, parabens, retinyl palmitate, retinol palmitate, oxybenzone, propylene glycol, or come in plastic bottles you are unsure whether or not they have BPA or Phthalates from their plasticisers. Never leave your plastic bottle directly in the sun. (To read more on this click here)
6. As an after sun, use pure Aloe Vera gel to help repair any damage.
7. Always wear sunglases and consider a hat.
8. Be wary of sunbeds and artificial tanning lights. There has been research expressing concerns and official warnings.
9. If you are taking HRT or an oestrogen-based contraceptive pill, be even more cautious than others. The oestrogen may pre-sensitise your skin.
10. Sunshine's action on your skin makes essential vitamin D in your body. Health GB told us last year - If you cannot go in the sun, and are living a predominantly indoor city life, you should supplement. The ideal dose is 3,000 to 5,000 IUs of vitamin D per day; that's 2-4 hours in the sun..
Go to: Are you getting enough? our report on the vitamin that is essential to your good health - and to beating cancer.
* Sunshine is sensational - it's burning that's bad!!
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i) Other things to consider from research are boosting your diet in advance, with oily fish, carotenoids (like carrots, red and yellow peppers and watermelon), flavonoids including resveratrol (grape skins, red wine), and olive oil; and going in the sea in preference to chlorinated swimming pools.
ii) 2011 research shows that a combination of vitamin D and natural calcium (one helping of greens per day) significantly reduce skin cancer risk.