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A touch of sun: Good or bad?
Can getting a little bit of sun be good for you after all? Find out here!
By Marilisa Racco
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But what about skin cancer? According to Dr. Reinhold Vieth, a professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto, U.S. statistics suggest that there are three deaths related to sun exposure for every 100,000 women. "If the bad side is losing three lives to skin cancer but the good side is saving 10 lives from breast cancer, which would you choose?" asks Vieth. "There's no question that sun damages the skin, but because recommendations for 'moderate' sun exposure are so ambiguous, they don't mean anything to most people. If people err, it is more likely on the side of too little sun."
However, you still need to protect yourself, says Thomas. "Most skin
cancers are related to sun exposure," he says. "Most people use a fraction of the recommended amount of sunscreen. An SPF 15 is only a 15 if you apply two milligrams per square centimetre. For most people, an SPF 15 is more like an SPF 3 or 5." Thomas recommends using sunscreen with a minimum SPF 15 that blocks both UVA (the rays that penetrate deep into the skin and can cause collagen breakdown and melanoma) and UVB light (which produces vitamin D and can cause sunburn). Look for products that contain Mexoryl XL, Parsol 1789 (avobenzone) or Helioplex (a combination of avobenzones that protect against UVA rays).
You can also get vitamin D from your diet. The Canadian Cancer Society recommends getting 1,000 international units (IUs) of vitamin D a day. Supplements - like multivitamins, which contain up to 400 IUs of vitamin D - are a good way to get the nutrient's perks, especially in winter. UVA rays are present year-round, but Canada doesn't produce enough UVB light to make vitamin D from November to February, says Thomas. You can also supplement your diet with vitamin D-rich foods like cod-liver oil, oily fish (salmon, sardines) and orange juice.
Is there any difference between the quality of vitamin D you get from the sun and that from supplements? "If you never went outside and only took vitamin D supplements, you'd still get enough vitamin D," says Thomas, "but what kind of life would that be?"
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