The tan that you get after exposing your skin to sunlight is a natural “side benefit” of exposure to UVA and UVB light from the sun.
While the UVA rays provide most of the “tanning” effect, which is your body’s natural way of protecting your skin from sun damage, UVB rays can also lead to skin reddening and sunburn, if you stay out too long.
But more importantly, it is the UVB rays that allow your body to produce valuable
vitamin D, and instead of oxidizing the already existing melanin in your skin, produce new sun-protective melanin, which results in a healthier tan.
This is why getting safe sun exposure every day is actually one of the
best actions you can take for your health. If that is simply not an option, as it is for most in the winter, a
safe tanning bed can also be used. The point isn’t to “get tan,” it’s to optimize your vitamin D levels, the natural result of which will be both a healthy glow and tan.
Manufacturers of sunless tanning products like the spray-on tans, claim DHA is a simple carbohydrate sugar solution, but some toxicologists disagree. Part of the problem is that the U.S. government's regulations for DHA allow contaminants such as lead, arsenic and mercury.
If you have light-colored skin, you can use the color of your skin to tell you when you’ve had enough sun and it’s time to get in the shade (or cover up using a long-sleeved shirt, pants, and a hat). Stay out just long enough so that your skin turns the very lightest shade of pink. Continuing UV exposure beyond the minimal dose required to produce skin redness will not increase your vitamin D production any further. In Caucasian skin, this equilibrium will typically occur within 20 minutes or so of ultraviolet exposure during ideal conditions. It can take 3 to 6 times longer for darkly pigmented skin to reach the equilibrium concentration of skin vitamin D
- Most tanning units use magnetic ballasts to generate light. These magnetic ballasts are well known sources of EMFs that can contribute to cancer. If you hear a loud buzzing noise while in a tanning bed, it has a magnetic ballast system. I strongly recommend you avoid magnetic ballast beds, and restrict your use of tanning beds to those that use electronic ballasts.
- The person operating the tanning equipment can also make a difference in its safety. If the person is not educated on its safe operation, you have a higher risk of overexposure and sunburn.
- High-quality indoor tanning devices are safe if you precisely follow the simple guideline of never getting burned. Your skin should only turn the lightest shade of pink after using them.
- Safe tanning beds have less of the dangerous UVA than sunlight, while unsafe ones emit more UVA than sunlight; it is the UVA rays that penetrate your skin more deeply than UVB, and appear to be a much more important factor in causing photoaging, wrinkles and skin cancers.
Could Breast Cancer Be 90 Percent Preventable, Just with Vitamin D?
Vitamin D has powerful effects when it comes to
breast cancer, to the degree that breast cancer is being described as a “vitamin D deficiency syndrome.” Of course, other lifestyle factors are also important in preventing cancer, such as nutrition, exercise, sleep, and managing stress. However, vitamin D’s critical importance seems to grow with every emerging study.
Carole believes that 90 percent of ordinary breast cancer is related to vitamin D deficiency — which is 100 percent preventable!
This is absolutely a profoundly important statement. As breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, this has massive implications for women’s health.
