In the mid 80’s while at the Optimum Health Institute in San Diego I read the book “Sunlight Could Save Your Life” by Dr Kime which includes numerous scientific studies showing the benefits of sunlight. At a minimum it’s well known that Vitamin D which is developed in the skin in the presence of sunlight is very important for the immune system and building bones. There are many other health benefits from sunlight. (“lower your cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar..increase your endurance, sex hormones, and resistance to infection.”)
His bottom line was that sunlight is beneficial but it is our diet that causes us problems with the sun. It makes sense; after all, we have evolved 4 billion years in the presence of sunlight whereas our diet has changed significantly in only the past 150 years. Even the reduction in the ozone layer has very little effect for most of us since that developed only very recently and except at the earth poles has only been reduced by 1-2% depending on location. Cancer usually takes 20-30 years to develop and the skin cancer epidemic started in the late 1950’s & 60’s, long before ozone depletion became a factor.
Processed oils started to be mass marketed in the ’30s. (Read “Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill” by Udo Erasmus.) The primary culprits in the skin cancer epidemic are trans-fatty acids, rancid oils and processed sugars. All oils rapidly turn rancid after they are pressed from their source and exposed to light, heat and air. Rancid oils are very potent free radicals which damage the cells. Trans-fatty acids are distorted lipids that are an artifact of the oil hydrogenation process which delays rancidity. They are not naturally occurring. They weaken the cell wall and wall of the cell nucleus which protects theDNA. Udo states that the hydrogenation process would not be permitted were it invented today, since it is carcinogenic. Processed sugar has numerous deleterious effects on the body including weakening the immune system. Free radicals are also major culprits in aging since they cross-link proteins, causing them to stiffen, which is part of the wrinkling process.
One of the tragic ironies of our sun-fear industry is that most of the sun tan lotions contain trans-fatty acids, rancid oils and other toxic chemicals (http://products.mercola.com/summer-survival-kit/) and thus contribute to the problem they are supposed to protect against.
Inspired by Dr. Kime’s book I did an experiment where I fasted on water, raw juices and raw foods for three weeks and stayed out of the sun. I was white as a new born babe when I went out in mid-summer sun for 10 hours continuously on one day. At the end of the day my exposed skin was still completely white, no burn whatsoever, and entirely painless; no hint of sunburn. Then I went inside and later ate a single fried potato chip. Immediately my face turned red and painful!
Next I did another experiment where I avoided any sun exposure and ate mostly junk foods for a couple weeks with plenty of fried and processed foods. I went out in the summer sun for a few hours and developed the kind of sunburn where I felt like I was on fire and the skin was a deep dark red. Following that I fasted mostly on water and took large amounts of nutritional supplements especially the antioxidant vitamins C & E. The dosing schedule I followed was based on the “discomfort test”; whenever I felt the discomfort of the sunburn I took another large dose of the supplements e.g. several grams of vitamin C with bioflavonoids (not time-released form) and 400 IU or more of vitamin E (oil based and dry form) along with plenty of water. Vitamin C and E are both wonderful painkillers besides being antioxidants that soak up free-radicals present due to the sunburn. Vitamin E in oil can be applied externally also. Now there are many other antioxidants that would probably be very helpful in this process. In a couple days the horrible sunburn turned into a perfect tan with no peeling.
If you want to prove to yourself that sunlight by itself doesn’t damage the body I would urge you to conduct the same experiment.
Currently I try to follow a diet that is mostly raw fruits, a small percentage of easily digestible raw vegetables, occasional raw animal foods like raw cheeses, bee pollen, raw eggs and occasional cooked foods. I try to get 15-30 minutes of midday sun on 30-40% of my body. I never burn unless I indulge myself in some processed foods like chips that have a lot of vegetable oil.
When I was still eating mostly processed foods and still getting sunburned I dealt with it quickly and easily using homeopathy. If the burn felt prickly I would use a dose or two of 30c Urtica Urens (stinging nettles) which immediately removed the burn and the discomfort. If the burn was more intense and red without the prickling I would use a dose or two of 30c Cantharis to the same effect. This is just a band aid, though. Much better to avoid the burn in the first place.
For those of you seriously into self-care for your health and want to deal with those moles that start to turn ugly and make you concerned about skin cancer, contact me before you give up your power to the medical industry. I will give you something to try that I discovered in old homeopathy literature that worked for me.
I wrote this article around 10 years ago. Now I see that the research has finally caught up with me as you can see in this article on the Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon University website:
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/micronutrients-health/skin-health/nutrient-index/vitamin-C
and from Mercola.com
Kaiser Permanente Calls Out Sun Avoidance as “Misguided”