What is it that makes you feel beautiful? Is it your smile? Pretty eyes? Sense of humor? A long time ago I used to think that being tan made me look prettier and THINNER, so I would tan ALL the time. I was not very smart about the sun.
Painful!!
Just recently, I started to get new moles popping up all over. I had been a lifeguard for 3 years and barely wore sunscreen in my 11 hour days in the sun. The dermatologist has already removed a countless amount of these moles because they were categorized as dysplastic nevi (atypical moles that increase your risk for melanoma). Hello wake up call!!
The fact of the matter?? Tanning and tanning beds are like smoking. People know the risks, but they do it anyway! Why doesn’t melanoma scare people? The stats keep getting scarier and skin cancer is showing up in those younger and younger. My message?? BE PROACTIVE!! Cover up!
Note: I strive to look so cool in a backward hat.
Lately though, I have been thinking about new ways we can protect our skin (other than sunscreen of course). I started researching ways that foods can defend you from skin cancer. While I am still encouraging DAILY sunscreen, I LOVE the idea of natural defense; through your foods! Here are a few Power Foods!!
- Dark Chocolate: Just 2 oz of real dark chocolate daily offers loads of antioxidants that help fight those pesky free radicals damaging YOUR healthy cells!
- Broccoli, radish, and watercress: Each produce sulforaphane when digested, which is a compound that works to form cell-protecting proteins; helping to fight cancer!
- Fish: The omega 3 fatty acids found in fish help reduce inflammation and protect against DNA damage; making you less susceptible to burns, which contribute to skin cancer. Try eating about 2-3 servings of fatty fish per week to reap the benefits.
- Green and Black Teas: Both are high in antioxidants. Again, antioxidants fight free radicals which DAMAGE your cells!! Antioxidants help protect against cancer cell formation.
- Colorful Fruits and Vegetables: In general, the more colorful the fruit and vegetables, the better. Plants use COLOR as their sunscreen protection. Why can’t we use a little too?? Think bright red tomatoes, deep pink watermelon, and intense orange carrots!
- Spinach, Kale, Chard: The International Journal of Cancer showed that consuming these three super foods can decrease your risk for squamous cell carcinoma by as much as 50%! Have you had your greens today?
MAKE IT YOUR YEAR TO PRACTICE DAILY SUN PROTECTION!!
- Funny Hats?……………..CHECK
- SPF of 30 or higher?……….CHECK
- Sunglasses with UVA and UVB protection?……CHECK, CHECK!!
- Eating a Healthy Diet, rich in SUPER foods???….TRIPLE CHECK!
Join me!! Help me make pale the new “tan.” Click to see a list of more pale beauties!!
Beauty without the tan!
After years of too much sun...you TOO could look like this. (something to strive for?)
Take the SunScreen Challenge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- For 30 days, write a daily blurb about how YOU are protecting yourself from the sun! Food/SunScreen/Hats/Shirts??? Share it with readers and be a HUGE influence! USE YOUR VOICE! Don’t have a blog?? Share with others through twitter, facebook, and the like! Be creative!!
Today I am protecting my skin with an SPF of 30 for my hands, face, and neck (the rest of me is covered up…it’s COLD outside!!)
Around the Blogosphere:
- Pale Gurl-Life Liberty and The Pursuit of a Tan (Hilarious!)
- CONTEST GIVEAWAY at The Healthy Junky! Check it out!!
- A MUST read about Strawberries!! Thanks to Ashley from Edible Perspective!!
[...] SUNSCREEN CHALLENGE: If you haven’t taken the challenge yet, I HIGHLY encourage you too!! I applied SPF on my face, neck, and hands (per usual) and read some really interesting stats that I will be sharing tomorrow! [...]
[...] you believe that some foods may contain protective compounds? It can’t hurt to double [...]
Thank you for this article. Much appreciated. You mainly would need to hunt through loads of garbage to find some decent information! OH by the way, feel free to submit your blog to my free web directory. It will boost your visitors and backlinks!
[...] from The Healthy Apron contacted me after reading the post and asked if I would participate in her Sunscreen Challenge. I immediately accepted, but then slightly panicked. Thirty days of spreading sun awareness [...]
[...] Don’t worry, I applied the sunscreen as I am taking Erin’s Sunscreen Challenge [...]
Hey Erin,
Do you have any recommendations for natural sunscreen lotions? Some of the chemicals used in foundations and lotions are known hormone disruptors… pretty scary. I don’t want them absorbed into my bloodstream or washed off down the drains into our water supply. These days I just cover up, but when I’ll be out a long time but I would love to hear from you if you are aware of a safer alternative
[...] with friends and on your own blogs! I would also LOVE to hear opinions! Thanks for stopping by! SUNSCREEN CHALLENGE: Even though it's an extremely dreary, dark day, I lathered up my face and arms with an SPF of 30!! [...]
[...] Ultimate Combo SUNSCREEN CHALLENGE!! All weekend I protected my skin with SPF and even went hat hunting…with no success; the cute [...]
[...] Sunscreen in Foods? How To Keep Your Skin Protected! [...]
I am soo glad that you posted about this. I try and wear a moisture with SPF, but need to remember to put on additional sunscreen. When I go outside, my body usually tans, but my face always always burns. Its horrible. I used to be a tanning bed junky too, which I still go to ever once in awhile but have drastically decreased my use of that…thank god. I decided that even though I like being tan, I want to have healthy skin all my life which means SUNSCREEN!
Yeah, skin cancer seems to be popular in my family so I always make sure to cover up. I never liked tanning anyway, because I’m the kind of person who completely skips the tan and just gets a burn. Yay. =| And I’ve got those transition glasses so I don’t have to worry about wearing sunglasses. They get dark at the faintest hint of sunlight, though. If I go on runs when it’s sunny and then walk in the house where the lights aren’t on, I go blind because my sunglasses have gone almost completely black; I just didn’t notice because it was very sunny out. I know I’ll be thankful in the long run but it’s awfully annoying sometimes.
Pale is pretty, anyway. People with intentional tans are usually the people who look way better pale but don’t believe it themselves.
And Anne Hathaway is missing from the pale beauties list!
Oh, and I finally got around to adding that recipes page, thanks to your gentle reminder.
i had no idea some foods had sunscreen qualities in them! how great! thanks for the info……
oh and pss! i added you to my blogroll too!
i love sunscreen, i love your blog and i LOVE this post! being pretty much albino myself, i am all on board to make pale the new tan (no matter how many times my boyfriend calls me casper lol)! i never went tanning in high school, more out of apathy towards the idea than protection, but in my senior year, a friend of mine wrote an essay about how tanning is the newest epidemic in the US – and won a scholarship for it. it was crazy, such a good paper. i wonder if i can find it? anyways i digress! i love the idea and i’m totally in
ps. new friends = good times
let’s get a falafel some day (;
This whole post was a wake up call for me! I am TERRIBLE at wearing suncreen! I need to be so much better about it. This might be the kick in pants accountability I need!!
ew! that woman in that picture looks so gross! One thing I have started doing more of lately is put more sunscreen on the side of my face that is against the window when I drive. My moms face has more winkles on her cheek and eye on that side, and her derm. said its from driving. and on her hand, too. So, I am making an effort to wear more ont hat side and wear sunglasses with a thicker side so my eye/skin ont he side of my eye is protected!