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handeaux · 3 years

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Beware The Squirrel Pie: Cincinnati’s Long History With Periodical Cicadas

The song of the 17-Year Cicada will soon resound throughout the Cincinnati region just as it has since 1800, breeding, as always, myths, memories, rumors and a great deal of unsubstantiated folderol.

When Cincinnati was founded in 1788, the local periodical cicadas, known as Brood X, had been slumbering as subterranean grubs for half a decade. The first emergence to attract the settlers’ attention would have taken place in 1800, but was apparently unmentioned in the local newspapers. An anonymous correspondent known only as “M.C.” confirmed to the Cincinnati Gazette [23 June 1868] that cicadas were not unknown to the city’s first European colonizers:

“During the last of May, 1817, I first witnessed their appearance in this vicinity. Being then a boy, my father gave me facts connected with their appearance in 1800, which have now been confirmed four times.”

An early painting of Cincinnati in 1800 suggests that cicadas may have been a minor phenomenon in 1800 because the settlers had chopped down all the trees for miles around the Cincinnati riverfront, so there were few places for emerging grubs to metamorphose into flying, humming adults. A letter from Philadelphia that year, printed in one of Charles Cist’s collections, records that the City of Brotherly Love was inundated to the extent that conversation was impossible without shouting and church services were cancelled. No one had, as yet, surmised that Cincinnati and Philadelphia both host Brood X and endure the eruption simultaneously.

A big concern in 1868 involved the ability of cicadas to sting, which they do not. Although the female is equipped with an ovipositor sufficient to penetrate tree bark for the purpose of laying eggs, the insects do not confuse humans for trees, and do not sting. Still, the Cincinnati Gazette [12 June 1868] reported:

“The Dayton Empire, says that when the locusts visited that vicinity seventeen years ago, many persons were stung by them, and in some cases fatally.”

The Enquirer [16 June 1868] spread this tale as well:

“We learn that on Saturday last two children in Dayton were stung by them so severely that one died, and of the life of the other there is but little hope.”

Another concern raised that year involved the potentially poisonous effects upon squirrels fattened on cicadas. The Enquirer [17 June 1868] warned readers that cicada-fattened squirrels were to be avoided:

“Our readers should be cautious in eating squirrels during the locust season, as these rodents eat the locusts. Dr. Wright informs the Terre Haute Express that in 1851 he knew one family, and the inmates of a large boarding house, among them Col. R.W. Thompson, made quite sick, with every symptom of poisoning, traced to the eating of squirrel pie.”

By the appearance of 1885, the Cincinnati Post [2 June 1885] advised residents to look upon the rare infestations of this sonorous insect as a benefit because they prune weak tree branches:

“Fruit growers count on better apple crops for the half-dozen years after a ‘locust year’ than the half-dozen years before they come.”

Although the Enquirer in 1868 claimed locust-fed squirrels were a hazard, the newspaper changed its tune in 1885:

“The seventeen-year locust has been eaten in North America and is said to have been used in soap-making.”

The Cincinnati Post [12 June 1885] agreed, taking biblical inspiration from John the Baptist, who subsisted on locusts (of an entirely different species) and honey, suggested that the insects might be breaded and fried:

“Those who have eaten of him may be pardoned for saying, after acknowledging that the new dish was very good, that it had a flavor unlike anything else in their experience.”

C.H. Newton, librarian at the Mercantile Library, brought a couple of cicadas from his home in College Hill to cicada-less downtown that year, only to have them devoured instantly by the city’s abundant sparrows.

By 1902, reporters deferred to scientists in all matters cicada, advising calm until the plague passed, but rumors of cicada stings persisted. The Cincinnati Post touted the nutritional value of our infrequent visitors, reporting [11 June 1902] on a man who served dinner consisting of cicada soup, cicada fritters, cicada pie, and cicadas on toast, noting that no one asked for a second helping. It would be another 85 years, until 1987, before the Snappy Tomato Pizza Company introduced their Snappy Cicada Pizza.

Cincinnati’s hillsides had returned to sylvan grandeur by 1919 as trees were permitted to grow rather than be chopped down for fuel and housing. Newly reforested hills hosted billions of cicadas in 1919 requiring, according to the Enquirer [2 June 1919], extraordinary measures:

“In College Hill the insects were reported to be so numerous yesterday that the residents in several sections of the hill scooped them up with shovels and, pouring coal oil on the insects, burned them in heaps.”

At the Cincinnati Zoo in 1936, cicadas competed with the orchestra during rehearsals for the Summer Opera. But the biggest cicada problem affected the Bavarian Brewery in Covington when several bushel baskets-full of dead cicadas clogged the cooling tower, halting production of the golden amber beverage until workmen could clear the blockage.

The 1953 emergence here in Cincinnati coincided with a significantly more harmful insect pest, the army worm. A caterpillar of insatiable appetite, the army worm devoured lawns, garden, trees – any foliage in its path. Compared to the relatively harmless – though loud – cicada, the army worm posed a real threat.

In recent years, Cincinnati has gained international renown through the research of Dr. Gene Kritsky of Mount St. Joseph University, who has made the study of this fly-by-night insect the hallmark of his esteemed career in entomological investigations.

Throughout Cincinnati’s love-hate relationship with the 17-year periodical cicada, the occasional insects have proved to be a good omen for baseball. As our good friend, Joe Hoffecker reports, the Reds have played eight seasons during which Cincinnati endured an infestation of 17-year cicadas. During those eight seasons, the Reds won a World Series, two National League pennants and two second-place finishes. The combined won-lost record for those eight years is 633-553, for a cumulative .534 percentage. This bodes well for the 2021 season.

#cicadas #17-year locusts #squirrel pie

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nextstepelectric · 4 years

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home electrician near me Port Stanley Ontario

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Gazette dated 6

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Electrical contractors nearby

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recentnews18-blog · 6 years

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New Post has been published on https://shovelnews.com/news-of-the-weird-sept-13-19/

News of the Weird: Sept. 13-19

Rude Awakening

Former English soccer star Gary Mabbutt, 57, traveled to South Africa in July to visit his daughter, who works at Kruger National Park, but it wasn’t the exotic big game that left the most lasting impression on him. While he was sleeping, he later told the BBC, “… a rat has come into the bedroom, climbed into the bed and has decided to chew on my foot,” which Mabbutt couldn’t feel because he suffers from Type 1 diabetes and has little feeling in his foot. The rat “made quite a big hole in my toe, going down to the bone, and ate underneath my foot.” Mabbutt was finally alerted to the rodent’s presence when it bit his thumb and he saw his bloody foot. He flew back to the United Kingdom, where he underwent surgery and spent a week in the hospital. “All the opponents that I’ve played against,” he said, “and I finally get taken out by a rat.”

Bright Ideas

The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in Maine is seeking state permission to construct a permanent memorial to the 4,500 or so lobsters that perished on Aug. 22 when a truck carrying them crashed in Brunswick. The monument, a 5-foot-tall granite tombstone, would “remind everyone that the best way to prevent such tragedies is to go vegan,” said Danielle Katz, director of PETA. The proposed wording for the stone is: “In memory of the lobsters who suffered and died at this spot August 2018, Try Vegan, PETA” and would include a graphic of a lobster. Of course, Maine residents are possibly the least sympathetic about their crustacean counterparts: The Portland Press Herald reports that in 2017, 110 million pounds of lobster were harvested in the state.

Along with a nail salon, a massage parlor and a dry cleaner, a mall in Toronto, Canada, is now the site of North America’s first sex doll brothel. Aura Dolls offers “an exciting new way” for patrons to achieve their desires “without the many restrictions and limitations that a real partner may come with,” says the company’s website. Marketing director Claire Lee told City News on Aug. 27 that customers “come in, they have their own room … a TV monitor that plays adult entertainment and a doll … will be ready and waiting for you.” Lee also assures potential customers that the dolls will be cleaned after each customer using a three-step process. The company says it has had requests from women for male dolls and is considering adding them.

Lifelong New York Knicks fan Evan Perlmutter, 33, finally hit the wall with his team. Fed up that the Knicks had been promising a better future for a decade, he told Bleacher Report, Perlmutter posted a listing on eBay to sell his fandom. In the description, he promised to root for the team of the auction winner’s choosing and “burn no less than three articles of Knicks memorabilia.” Sure enough, he got a bite: James Riedel, 23, of Orange County, California, paid $3,500 for Perlmutter’s fandom on Aug. 24, converting Perlmutter into a Los Angeles Lakers fan. Perlmutter plans to attend a few Lakers games with Riedel and record his destruction of his Knicks gear for Riedel’s YouTube channel.

A first date spent surfing in Santa Cruz, California, last October ended in an unconventional first kiss when 56-year-old Max Montgomery collapsed from a heart attack on the beach. His date, Andi Traynor, a 45-year-old anesthesiologist, leaped into action, performing CPR until paramedics arrived. Montgomery underwent bypass surgery the next day, and he assured Traynor that she was under no obligation to keep seeing him. “Who wants to date someone who just had a heart attack? But she told me she was not going anywhere,” he told The Daily Mail on Aug. 29, and in fact, the two are still together, having sealed their relationship with a “real” kiss.

Compelling Explanation

Colorado Springs resident Klete Keller engaged the services of a female dog-sitter through an app called Wag! for his pet, Jimbo. But Keller’s tail was not wagging when he returned home early the morning of Aug. 27 to find two shirtless men sitting on his couch and “an open bottle of personal lubricant and a camcorder on the end table,” Keller told Fox 21 News, “so it’s pretty self-explanatory what was going on.” When reached for comment, the unnamed dog-sitter said her keys were stuck in her car and she “didn’t have WD-40 … so I ended up grabbing what I had in my car, for things, that you know, I do on my personal time.” But Keller also noticed what he suspected was “bodily fluids” on the couch and said Jimbo was locked in a bedroom, sitting in his own urine and acting terrified. “It was just, just a total mess and I can only imagine what poor Jimbo saw in there,” Keller said. The sitter did admit that she shouldn’t have invited guests over, but it’s a good bet her former 4.96 out of 5 rating on Wag! is going to take a hit.

Government in Action

This summer, a few of Ryk Edelstein’s friends in Montreal, Canada, had their requests for vanity license plates turned down for being “offensive.” “I found it mind-boggling that innocent-sounding family names or place names were being rejected,” Edelstein told the Montreal Gazette. So he decided to order his own vanity plate, requesting the word SMEGMA, which he was certain the Societe de l’assurance automobile du Quebec (SAAQ), which issues the plates, would check, “and in a million years it would never be approved.” But it took SAAQ less than 24 hours to approve the request and issue its congratulations to Edelstein, who now sports the plate on his car. He reports that his wife thought it was funny at first, but now she is “none too pleased about this plate.”

The Entrepreneurial Spirit

William Parrish Jr., 32, and McKenzee Dobbs, 20, of Ocala, Florida, were just trying to better accommodate their customers when they turned the kitchen window of their mobile home into a drive-thru for heroin addicts. They also installed helpful directional signs and even had a “Closed, Please Call Again” sign alerting buyers when they’d next be open. Ocala police officers who raided the trailer on Aug. 23 were tipped off by a number of overdoses happening nearby: “We were able to determine that the product was laced with fentanyl,” police Capt. Steven Cuppy told WFTV. Parrish and Dobbs told Ocala police they thought a drive-thru would be less noticeable than people regularly going in and out of the home.

Questionable Judgment

Toms River, New Jersey, police are hoping the public can lend them a hand in finding a lost item. Ronald Vanarsdale, 36, of Toms River was drag racing on his motorcycle just after midnight on Aug. 30 when he crashed, sending the bike more than 760 feet from the crash site and hurling Vanarsdale 300 feet through the air, severing his right arm just below the bicep. NJ.com reported police Sgt. Ed Mooney applied a tourniquet to Vanarsdale’s arm at the scene, and he later underwent surgery at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune. Toms River police, though, could not locate the severed limb and asked the public’s help in locating it.

Source: https://azdailysun.com/flaglive/full_frontal/news_of_the_weird/news-of-the-weird-sept/article_75b4ebcc-80fa-5fa3-ac1d-8f79d83e225c.html

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autolovecraft · 7 years

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To the Pawtuxet bungalow.

Then, by insidious degrees, there appeared to develop a curious sequel to one of his years, he descended the ladder and reached the slimy steps below. I am ever Sincerely your friend, Marinus B. Willett. Ward had come home.

April 13,1928, Marinus Bicknell Willett visited the room of Charles Dexter Ward. But Weeden, night after night following the lighters or small sloops which he saw steal off from the Curwen warehouses, and following the small boat which would sometimes steal quietly off and down the bay some distance, perhaps as far as Namquit Point, where they had probed for the ancient vaults whose rumor could have reached them by no wholesome means. There is an obvious effort to be wittily insulting, 'and I trust they proved more becoming than the beard and glasses that no one might wonder at your godless likeness to him; I know what imperfections were in the air, and it must have burst; after which the hole appeared to strike a flight of steps to some wide gulf of ultimate abomination, Willett was destined to be disappointed; for amidst that fetor and cracked whining he discerned only the brick-faced top of a cylindrical well perhaps a yard and a half before. As decades mounted up, this singular quality began to excite wide notice; but Curwen always explained it by saying that Curwen must be killed and dissolved in acid. He would hesitate gingerly down vertical Jenckes Street with its bank walls and colonial gables to the shady Benefit Street corner, where before him was a wooden antique with an Ionic-pilastered pair of doorways, and beside him a prehistoric gambrel-roofer with a bit of primal farmyard remaining, and the great Judge Durfee house with its fallen vestiges of Georgian grandeur. To find, in distant Salem, such sudden proof of the significance of the thing; and indulged in the wildest theories concerning Curwen and his monstrous experience therein had of course created a new source of embarrassment, so that his presence might no longer be a signal for hushed conversation, transparent excuses or errands elsewhere, and a good part of the fear in which the academy is set appealed to his sharp eye for landscape. And Willett again let silence answer for him.

At the same time burning some substance so pungent that its fumes escaped over the entire house, and was thereafter his best customer; extending aid likewise to the struggling Gazette that appeared each Wednesday at the Sign of the Golden Eagle across the Bridge, Curwen had gone with them; though his zeal and attendance soon abated. For Mr. Knight Dexter of the Bay in hunting out uncommon things and bringing to trial. The doctor noted very closely the crabbed and complicated letters, and the great brigs of the Browns, Crawfords, and Tillinghasts, all made strange furtive signs of protection when they saw the slim, deceptively young-looking figure with its yellow hair and slight stoop entering the Curwen warehouse in Doubloon Street or talking with captains and supercargoes on the long quay where the Curwen ships rode restlessly. I must own with humiliation that no triumph such as I dreamed of can ever be mine. He stumbled on things no mortal ought ever to know, concerning the matter of the last extremity and what to do or think about it. For the moment, however, Dr. Willett and Mr. Ward, and had ordered the required kind and number from agencies which he had delved. This, indeed, was found on the shelves of the laboratory proper. But wait—was there not still another reference to guards in this matter which he had never previously noticed—a small rodent-featured person with a guttural accent—and obtained the whole mantel and overmantel bearing the picture at a curtly fixed price which cut short the impending torrent of unctuous haggling. He stated that the papers of his ancestor had contained some remarkable secrets of early scientific knowledge, for the most part, that Curwen's incessant mixings and boilings of chemicals had much to do with his condition. Medieval Jews and Arabs were represented in profusion, and Mr. Merritt turned pale when, upon taking down a fine volume conspicuously labeled as the Qanoon-e-Islam, he found, were not at all easy to discover; since he had been pouring in and out of his hands, and found that with extreme difficulty he could budge it.

In the fuller gleam it appeared that this apartment was nothing less than the latest study or library. At last, in a crabbed penmanship absolutely identical with the ancient script of Joseph Curwen, of this town, merchant, was married to Miss Eliza Tillinghast, daughter of Mrs. Eliza, daughter to Capt. James Tillinghast,of whose paternity the family had retired, the butler was nightlocking the front door when according to his uprooted and savagely splintered slate headstone, was found excavated and rifled, the work being evidently done with a spade stolen from an adjacent tool-shed. In paying off the stolid Brava who resisted all questioning by the visitors, and in the accents of the formulae aloud in an effort to square the sound he conceived with the letters he found carved.

The briefly scrawled message was this, and its mystery lent purpose to the shaken pair, who forthwith walked steadily out to the Ward home, where provisions were made for its thorough restoration and installation with an electric mock-fireplace in Charles's third-floor study or library. There were chantings and repetitions, and thunderous declamations in uncanny rhythms; and although these sounds were always in Ward's own voice, but somehow this small glimpse gave a new and vague terror to the painted features of Joseph Curwen had recourse to his one ancient ally, and began to work casually on the cipher and half on the cipher and half on the cipher as soon as a messenger from Capt. Hopkins had joined Capt. Whipple to notify him of the river, put an end to the disturbance. It can be compared in spirit only to the fate of the solar system and the universe. A second flaming thing appeared, and if possible discovering his present whereabouts.

His passion for graveyards, in which he stood was perhaps fourteen feet high in the middle of January, 1920, there entered Ward's bearing an element of triumph which he did not feel disposed to count any more. The next card was from Klausenburg in Transylvania, though it never openly entered the Port of Boston. And he was still there Sunday noon when a telephone message came from the detectives who had been a Baptist.

It is interesting to speculate on what the persistent and revengeful Weeden would have done had he been ashore at the time, when he suddenly turned from the inscriptions to face the room with its eyes? Evidently its crunching of the fallen electric torch had not been good for it.

He had fled from Salem to Providence—that universal haven of the odd maneuvers of the strange substances he brought from London and the Indies on his ships or purchased in Newport, and was watching the bewildered opening of her eyes when a chill shot through him and threatened to reduce him to the very state from which she was told her husband's body lay. Did he not telephone the doctor in the oppressive house where fear and miasma were slowly gathering as the empty panel in the upstairs library leered and leered and leered and leered.This entry came to light upon the accidental separation of two leaves which had been taken for granted on account of the end; for the lightning flashed farther and farther off, whilst the whole skin had a coarse, loosely knit texture impossible to account for. That they did not like the wild way that one of the detectives said, replying to some unknown voice with phrases such as 'I am very sorry, but I will declare that Charles Ward was seen more often than usual, and was clearly heard by at least two voyages to the Orient; and his hours were spent mainly at home, and that the storm would soon be over. Steeling himself against any realization of why he did it, he gave the detectives an article to be shewn to such Pawtuxet shopkeepers as had seen the portentous Dr. Allen. If something graver appeared, and if the salts, be not ready for his hand; and though he could not leave his present quarters; while the situation of Baron Ferenczy's castle did not favor visits.

16 Oct. These men, if favorable, might eventually be brought together for collective deliberation; and with them would rest the responsibility of deciding whether or not to inform the Governor of the Colony, Joseph Wanton of Newport, and since famous as the early teacher of Gilbert Stuart. Chemistry or alchemy would appear to have played a great part, for he had a large number of Guinea blacks he imported until 1766, and the gloom grew so dense that the letters on the wall nearly faded from sight. In that second look Willett saw such an outline or entity, for during the next few days Charles Ward was seldom seen by his family. Hearing of Curwen as the owner of those strange and resonant tones was seen to be no other than Charles Ward. As I have told him of my danger, and he ventured the mild statement that those notes were old ones, of no possible significance to anyone not deeply initiated in the history of magic. Or wait—what had found him? So Willett went back to that great pillared hall of stench and howling, always feeling ahead lest he collide with the numerous great pillars or stumble into the abominable pit he had uncovered. The room beyond the door. It now remained to differentiate the long-dead could possibly have furnished some of the carvings on that altar that he approached to study them with his electric light.

He found that his ancestor was born in Salem-Village, now Danvers, seven miles from town, on the eighteenth of February O.S. 1662-3; and that without imparting anything vital himself, the confined youth had adroitly pumped them of everything the Prague letter had contained. Then he decided on elimination as a policy, and went carefully over the whole subterranean surface both vertical and horizontal, trying to account for. The oddity was the slight amount in Charles's normal writing, which indeed included nothing more recent than two months before. So that was what these lekythoi contained; the monstrous fruit of unhallowed rites and deeds, presumably won or cowed to such submission as to help, when called up by some hellish incantation, in the defense of their blasphemous disturbance. There were cries, they said, and sustained howlings; and they were prone to assign other reasons for his continued youth and longevity. At last, in a crabbed writing which Willett at once saw was identical with that shared by the old Curwen legends kept him from climbing down alone into that malodorous gulf. In applying to private families for records thought to be in different languages, all known to Curwen, though of undeniably modern dating. The youth was arguing or remonstrating hotly with himself, for there was no change in the apparent contents of his attic laboratory, in which she was emerging. One night about midnight, as Charles was chanting a ritual whose weird cadence echoed unpleasantly through the house below, there came a very perceptible flash like that of lightning, which would have to be studied very carefully before yielding up their true meaning. It was at once a pathetic, a dramatic, and a contemptible thing. The next morning, however, was constitutionally a scholar and an antiquarian; but even he outgrew the darkest shadow, and smothered memories in prayers. Reaching for his handkerchief before rising to leave, Dr. Willett's fingers closed upon a piece of paper in his pocket which had not been ordered on, no one can tell. This verse repeat each Roodmas and Hallow's Eve; and if the salts, or the feverish heaviness of the strokes which formed the underscoring, he could not possibly stay another night. He was always very liberal to her and to old Asa, but seemed more worried than he used to be; which grieved her very much, since she had watched him grow up from birth. It was in a sullen mood; and seemed disinclined to open the conversation which Willett obviously desired. Do you know, and reached back through the years; and seemed to result from a type of stroke utterly different from that which the youth only replied that this individual was very safely taken care of, and could not do as you did, besides the which my farm at Patuxet hath under it what you know, and it made much to be found in case of trouble, as you must be sensible of from the thing you got from the King’s chapel ground in 1769 and what H. got from Old Burying Point in 1690, that was like to end him. Ward a single oft-repeated dual formula he had lately found in Ward's underground library: 'Y'ai 'ng'ngah, Yog-Sothoth thrice and was the next Day delivered.

#H.P. Lovecraft #automatically generated text #Patrick Mooney #Python #Markov chains #The Case of Charles Dexter Ward #1927 #The Case of Charles Dexter Ward week

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heilpraktiker-hannover · 7 years

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Is Your Sunscreen Doing More Harm Than Good?

Is Your Sunscreen Doing More Harm Than Good? by Dr. Mercola , articles.mercola.com April 26, 2017 See Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh9lDWPMWrM Vitamin D, often referred to as "the sunshine vitamin," is different from other vitamins in that it influences your entire body. And, while scientists refer to vitamin D as a vitamin, it is actually a steroid hormone obtained from sun exposure, food sources and supplementation. Vitamin D receptors have been found in almost every type of human cell, from your brain to your bones. Unfortunately, dermatologists and the media do the public a great disservice by recommending avoiding the sun to decrease skin cancers. 1 , 2 This is because these "experts" fail to realize that vitamin D deficiency not only raises your risk of skin cancer 3 but many of the most common cancers as well, which claim far more lives than the deadliest skin cancer, melanoma. Breast 4 and prostate 5 , 6 cancers are just two examples where low vitamin D renders you more vulnerable to more aggressive forms of the disease. Low vitamin D also raises your risk for heart disease , diabetes , osteoporosis and other chronic diseases. The scientific evidence, now running in excess of 34,000 studies, details the many benefits of UV exposure , both for vitamin D production and other benefits that are completely unrelated to vitamin D. The most important thing you can do to prevent skin cancer is to spend a sufficient amount of time in the sun as frequently as possible, ideally close to daily to maintain an optimal vitamin D level. A primary risk factor for skin cancer is intermittent overexposure, not sensible exposure. Appropriate sun exposure means, first and foremost, avoiding sunburn. As long as you avoid sunburn you are getting the benefits of sun exposure. Sunscreen Chemical Is Lethal to Horseshoe Crabs Avoid shielding yourself from the sun's rays by slathering on chemical sunscreens, many of which have been linked to an increased risk of skin cancer, as noted by clinical laboratory scientist Elizabeth Plourde, Ph.D., 7 in the video above. Sunscreens have also been implicated in the destruction of corals and other sea life. A recent symposium on emerging environmental contaminants highlighted the environmental dangers associated with widespread sunscreen use. According to University of Delaware marine biologist Danielle Dixson, the chemical oxybenzone in sunscreens is lethal to horseshoe crab eggs. In Delaware, beach season coincides with the spawning season of horseshoe crabs, and since they lay their eggs in the sand in shallow water, they're particularly vulnerable to chemical contaminants introduced by beachgoers. Researchers estimate sunscreen-wearing beachgoers introduce as much as 6,000 metric tons of sunscreen into the world's oceans each year. As reported by Cape Gazette: 8 "'Sunscreen exposure strongly influences the development, growth and survivorship of the horseshoe crab egg and larvae,' [Dixon] concluded … The chemical found in Hawaiian Tropic used in Dixson's study is oxybenzone, which has been found to alter the DNA of coral, increase susceptibility to coral bleaching and disrupt the endocrine systems of marine animals. Research has found the chemical impacts aquatic life at a concentration of 62 parts per trillion — the equivalent of one drop of water in about six Olympic-size pools, Dixson said." Sunscreens Contain Many Potentially Hazardous Chemicals While some sunscreen manufacturers have switched from oxybenzone to avobenzone, researchers like Dixon note no studies have been done to confirm whether avobenzone is actually a safer choice. Chances are, it's not. Disturbingly, recent research by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found 96 percent of the U.S. population has oxybenzone in their bodies, and this chemical is a known endocrine disruptor linked to reduced sperm count in men and endometriosis in women. 9 Disturbingly, at least nine of the sunscreen ingredients the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved are known endocrine disruptors. 10 Aside from oxybenzone — which is found in 70 percent of sunscreens — other commonly used chemicals that can enter your bloodstream and can cause toxic side effects, including hormone disruption, include but are not limited to: 11 , 12 ✓ Octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC) ✓ Para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) ✓ Octyl salicyclate ✓ Phenylbenzimidazole ✓ Octocrylene ✓ Octisalate ✓ Dioxybenzone ✓ Menthyl anthranilate ✓ Homosalate ✓ Octinoxate ✓ Cinoxate ✓ Parabens Many sunscreens also contain vitamin A and/or its derivatives, retinol and retinyl palmitate , which have been linked to an increased risk of skin cancer by increasing the speed at which malignant cells develop and spread. Beware of Nanoparticles Spray-on sunscreens 13 pose an additional hazard by releasing toxic particles into the air. The FDA has previously expressed concern that inhaling these products may be risky, especially to children, and has warned parents to avoid spray-on sunscreens. 14 , 15 The two agents of greatest concern are zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, as these are the two most often used in spray-on sunscreen products. These two minerals are the safest topical sunscreen agents around, but inhaling them is a whole different story. Most studies to date have shown that zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are safe and unlikely to penetrate your skin when applied topically, as long as they are not nanosized. But when these minerals are inhaled, they have been shown to irritate lung tissues and potentially lead to serious health problems, 16 and the finer the particles, the worse their effects appear to be. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified titanium dioxide as a "possible carcinogen" when inhaled in high doses. 17 According to IARC: 18 "Titanium dioxide causes varying degrees of inflammation and associated pulmonary effects including lung epithelial cell injury, cholesterol granulomas and fibrosis. Rodents experience stronger pulmonary effects after exposure to ultrafine titanium dioxide particles compared with fine particles on a mass basis." Safe Versus Unsafe Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide Most nanoscale particles (microscopic particles measuring less than 100 nanometers) 19 found in American sunscreens are either titanium dioxide or zinc oxide. 20 Animal research has shown that inhaled nanoparticles can reach all areas of your respiratory tract and, since your lungs have difficulty clearing small particles, they may be allowed to pass into your bloodstream. Other studies have proven some nanoparticles are even able to cross your blood-brain barrier. If allowed to enter your lungs or penetrate your skin, nanoparticles therefore have the potential to cause widespread damage to your cells and organs, immune system, nervous system, heart and brain. 21 , 22 Some scientists postulate that the toxic effects of nanoparticles relate to their size being in the range of a virus, which may trigger your body's immune response. 23 Inhaling higher amounts of zinc oxide can also lead to "metal fume fever," 24 characterized by chest pain, cough, dyspnea, reduced lung volumes, nausea, chills, malaise and leukocytosis. One animal study found zinc oxide nanoparticles to be cytotoxic, interfering with zinc homeostasis, elevating zinc levels and resulting in apoptosis (cell death). 25 An Indian study concluded that zinc oxide particles cause toxicity in human lung cells possibly through "stress-induced apoptosis." 26 Human studies are sorely lacking as to the health effects of inhaling of zinc oxide particles, especially at lower levels, such as from brief exposure to sunscreen spray. However, using these spray-on products are clearly an unnecessary risk since safer options are readily available. Your safest bet is to use topical zinc oxide or titanium dioxide that does not contain nanosized particles. Sun Avoidance Promotes Early Death One of the most compelling reasons for getting regular, sensible sun exposure on bare skin is that it promotes optimal physical and psychological health and helps prevent chronic diseases of all kinds. As noted in a scientific review 27 by dermatologist Dr. Richard Weller, sun exposure has cardiovascular benefits independent of vitamin D, and cardiovascular disease is a far greater public health problem than skin cancer. In fact, research suggests your risk of dying from heart disease or stroke is 800 percent greater on average than your risk of dying from skin cancer. 28 One of the key messages in Weller's paper is that public health messages really should be determined based on all-cause mortality, not a singular disease. "Sunlight is a risk factor for skin cancer, but sun avoidance may carry more of a cost than benefit for overall good health," he writes. Another study 29 published in the journal Public Health Nutrition in 2012 also concluded that: "The overall health benefit of an improved vitamin D status may be more important than the possibly increased CMM (cutaneous malignant melanoma) risk resulting from carefully increasing UV exposure. Important scientific facts behind this judgment are given." Even though Weller is ahead of the pack in recognizing the importance of sun exposure, he and most other physicians don't understand why this is so. There are many reasons, but two large ones are: Exposure to the sun increases nitric oxide production, which will relax blood vessels, lower blood pressure and decrease platelet activation, making your blood thinner and less likely to clot and form a stroke or heart attack. Nitric oxide will also improve your immune function. Red and infrared rays are rarely discussed but recent research has shown that red at 660 nm and near infrared at 830 nm both have powerful benefits on improving mitochondrial function. This is because cytochrome c oxidase, which is one of the electron transport chains in the mitochondria, are chromophores for those wavelengths and when they absorb that energy the efficiency of ATP and mitochondrial cellular energy is increased. Sun Avoidance Is as Risky as Smoking A study 30 , 31 driving home this risk-benefit reality was done in Sweden. More than 25,500 Swedish women between the ages of 25 and 64 were followed for 20 years. Detailed information about sun exposure habits and confounding factors were obtained and analyzed in a "competing risk" scenario. Overall, women who got regular sun exposure did have a higher risk for melanoma compared to sun avoiders, but they also had a lower all-cause mortality risk, likely due to their increased vitamin D levels. Women with active sun exposure habits ended up having a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and non-cancer death compared to those who avoided the sun. According to the authors: "Nonsmokers who avoided sun exposure had a life expectancy similar to smokers in the highest sun exposure group, indicating that avoidance of sun exposure is a risk factor for death of a similar magnitude as smoking. Compared to the highest sun exposure group, life expectancy of avoiders of sun exposure was reduced by 0.6 [to] 2.1 years." In short, if you're concerned about mortality, and not just mortality from one specific disease (melanoma), the scales are decidedly tipped toward sun exposure being of tremendous benefit. Five of the many noteworthy properties of spending some quality time in the sun include: 32 Pain-killing (analgesic) properties Increased subcutaneous fat metabolism Regulation of human lifespan (solar cycles appear to be able to directly affect the human genome, thereby influencing lifespan) Daytime sun exposure improves evening alertness Conversion to metabolic energy (i.e., we may "ingest" energy directly from the sun, like plants do) Measure Your Vitamin D in Summer and Winter As a general rule, I recommend measuring your vitamin D level twice a year, in the middle of the summer and winter, to ascertain your annual high and low. Ideally, you want your serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) to be between 40 and 65 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) year-round. Anything below 20 ng/mL is considered a serious deficiency state that increases your risk of both acute and chronic ill health. When it comes to optimizing your vitamin D through sensible sun exposure, keep your skin color in mind. African Americans are more prone to vitamin D deficiencies as they produce less vitamin D3 than do Caucasians in response to usual levels of sun exposure. As a general rule, the darker your skin, the more sun exposure you need, and vice versa. Remember the absolute best way to optimize your vitamin D level is by sensible sun exposure. I haven't swallowed oral vitamin D for over 10 years now and my level is rarely below 70 ng/mL, but that is because I made a conscious effort to move down to Florida and walk in the sun for 90 minutes nearly every day. I realize that not everyone can do this, and if you can't, then taking a supplement is likely a wise choice. I just want you to recognize it is a significantly inferior alternative as you are also missing out on the nitric oxide, and the red- and near-infrared benefits from the sun mentioned above. Reduce Your Risk of Sunburn With 'Internal Sunscreens' As mentioned, one of the primary risk factors of skin cancer is sunburn, which is an inflammatory process. Aside from paying careful attention to covering up before you get burned, you can reduce your risk of sunburn by eating plenty of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables, and/or taking an astaxanthin supplement. The latter has been shown to work as an effective internal sunscreen, protecting your skin from UV radiation damage. In addition to copious testimonials and anecdotal evidence, scientific studies have substantiated these skin protective effects. 33 In one study, subjects who took 4 milligrams (mg) of astaxanthin per day for two weeks showed a significant increase in the amount of time necessary for UV radiation to redden their skin. Animal studies lend further evidence to astaxanthin's effects as an internal sunscreen: How to Choose a Safer Sunscreen There are thousands of sunscreens on the market and it may seem daunting to find a safe one. The majority of chemical sunscreens contain endocrine disruptors, which are particularly risky for pregnant women, infants and small children. These can disrupt growth and development, cause early puberty and result in small testicle size and low sperm count in boys. They also have carcinogenic potential. 37 Among the worst are those containing oxybenzone, synthetic fragrances and retinyl palmitate. When choosing a sunscreen, your safest choice is a lotion or cream with zinc oxide. It's stable in sunlight and provides the best protection from UVA rays. 38 Your next best option is titanium dioxide. Just make sure the product: Does not contain nano sized particles Protects against both UVA and UVB rays Keep in mind that SPF protects only from UVB rays, which are the rays within the ultraviolet spectrum that allow your skin to produce vitamin D. The most dangerous rays, in terms of causing skin damage and cancer, are the UVA rays. Avoid sunscreens with an SPF above 50. While not intrinsically harmful, the higher SPF tends to provide a false sense of security, encouraging you to stay in the sun longer than you should. Moreover, higher SPF typically does not provide much greater protection. In fact, research suggests people using high-SPF sunscreens get the same or similar exposure to UV rays as those using lower-SPF products. Other Safe Sunning Tips I recommend spending time in the sun regularly — ideally daily. Sunshine offers substantial health benefits, provided you take a few simple precautions to protect yourself from overexposure. Here are my top five safe sunning tips: 1. Give your body a chance to produce vitamin D before you apply sunscreen. Expose large amounts of your skin (at least 40 percent of your body) to sunlight for short periods daily. Optimizing your vitamin D levels may reduce your risk of many internal cancers, and actually reduces your risk of melanoma as well. 2. Stay out just long enough for your skin to turn the very lightest shade of pink. Shield your face from the sun using a safe sunscreen or hat, as your facial skin is thin and more prone to sun damage, such as premature wrinkling. 3. When you'll be in the sun for longer periods, cover up with clothing, a hat or shade (either natural or shade you create using an umbrella). A safe sunscreen can be applied after you've optimized your skin's daily vitamin D production, although clothing is your safest option to prevent burning and skin damage. Keep in mind that in order for sunscreen to be effective, you must apply large amounts over all exposed areas of your skin. This means the product should not trigger skin allergies and must provide good protection against UVA and UVB radiation. It also should not be absorbed into your skin, as the most effective sunscreen acts as a topical barrier. 4. Consider the use of an "internal sunscreen" like astaxanthin to gain additional sun protection. Typically, it takes several weeks of daily supplementation to saturate your body's tissues enough to provide protection. Astaxanthin can also be applied topically, which is why it's now being incorporated into a number of topical sunscreen products. 5. Consuming a healthy diet full of natural antioxidants is another highly useful strategy to help avoid sun damage. Fresh, raw, unprocessed foods deliver the nutrients that your body needs to maintain a healthy balance of omega-6 and animal-based DHA omega-3 oils in your skin, which are your first lines of defense against sunburn. Vegetables also provide your body with an abundance of powerful antioxidants that will help you fight the free radicals caused by sun damage that can lead to burns and cancer. Original Page: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/04/26/hazardous-chemicals-in-sunscreens.aspx Shared from Pocket

#-newsletter #-podcast #-ideas #sonnenschutz #-video #Heilpraktiker #Naturheilkunde #alternative Medizin

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sherristockman · 7 years

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Is Your Sunscreen Doing More Harm Than Good? Dr. Mercola By Dr. Mercola Vitamin D, often referred to as "the sunshine vitamin," is different from other vitamins in that it influences your entire body. And, while scientists refer to vitamin D as a vitamin, it is actually a steroid hormone obtained from sun exposure, food sources and supplementation. Vitamin D receptors have been found in almost every type of human cell, from your brain to your bones. Unfortunately, dermatologists and the media do the public a great disservice by recommending avoiding the sun to decrease skin cancers.1,2 This is because these "experts" fail to realize that vitamin D deficiency not only raises your risk of skin cancer3 but many of the most common cancers as well, which claim far more lives than the deadliest skin cancer, melanoma. Breast4 and prostate5,6 cancers are just two examples where low vitamin D renders you more vulnerable to more aggressive forms of the disease. Low vitamin D also raises your risk for heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and other chronic diseases. The scientific evidence, now running in excess of 34,000 studies, details the many benefits of UV exposure, both for vitamin D production and other benefits that are completely unrelated to vitamin D. The most important thing you can do to prevent skin cancer is to spend a sufficient amount of time in the sun as frequently as possible, ideally close to daily to maintain an optimal vitamin D level. A primary risk factor for skin cancer is intermittent overexposure, not sensible exposure. Appropriate sun exposure means, first and foremost, avoiding sunburn. As long as you avoid sunburn you are getting the benefits of sun exposure. Sunscreen Chemical Is Lethal to Horseshoe Crabs Avoid shielding yourself from the sun's rays by slathering on chemical sunscreens, many of which have been linked to an increased risk of skin cancer, as noted by clinical laboratory scientist Elizabeth Plourde, Ph.D.,7 in the video above. Sunscreens have also been implicated in the destruction of corals and other sea life. A recent symposium on emerging environmental contaminants highlighted the environmental dangers associated with widespread sunscreen use. According to University of Delaware marine biologist Danielle Dixson, the chemical oxybenzone in sunscreens is lethal to horseshoe crab eggs. In Delaware, beach season coincides with the spawning season of horseshoe crabs, and since they lay their eggs in the sand in shallow water, they're particularly vulnerable to chemical contaminants introduced by beachgoers. Researchers estimate sunscreen-wearing beachgoers introduce as much as 6,000 metric tons of sunscreen into the world's oceans each year. As reported by Cape Gazette:8 "'Sunscreen exposure strongly influences the development, growth and survivorship of the horseshoe crab egg and larvae,' [Dixon] concluded … The chemical found in Hawaiian Tropic used in Dixson's study is oxybenzone, which has been found to alter the DNA of coral, increase susceptibility to coral bleaching and disrupt the endocrine systems of marine animals. Research has found the chemical impacts aquatic life at a concentration of 62 parts per trillion — the equivalent of one drop of water in about six Olympic-size pools, Dixson said." Sunscreens Contain Many Potentially Hazardous Chemicals While some sunscreen manufacturers have switched from oxybenzone to avobenzone, researchers like Dixon note no studies have been done to confirm whether avobenzone is actually a safer choice. Chances are, it's not. Disturbingly, recent research by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found 96 percent of the U.S. population has oxybenzone in their bodies, and this chemical is a known endocrine disruptor linked to reduced sperm count in men and endometriosis in women.9 Disturbingly, at least nine of the sunscreen ingredients the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved are known endocrine disruptors.10 Aside from oxybenzone — which is found in 70 percent of sunscreens — other commonly used chemicals that can enter your bloodstream and can cause toxic side effects, including hormone disruption, include but are not limited to:11,12 ✓ Octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC) ✓ Para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) ✓ Octyl salicyclate ✓ Phenylbenzimidazole ✓ Octocrylene ✓ Octisalate ✓ Dioxybenzone ✓ Menthyl anthranilate ✓ Homosalate ✓ Octinoxate ✓ Cinoxate ✓ Parabens Many sunscreens also contain vitamin A and/or its derivatives, retinol and retinyl palmitate, which have been linked to an increased risk of skin cancer by increasing the speed at which malignant cells develop and spread. Beware of Nanoparticles Spray-on sunscreens13 pose an additional hazard by releasing toxic particles into the air. The FDA has previously expressed concern that inhaling these products may be risky, especially to children, and has warned parents to avoid spray-on sunscreens.14,15 The two agents of greatest concern are zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, as these are the two most often used in spray-on sunscreen products. These two minerals are the safest topical sunscreen agents around, but inhaling them is a whole different story. Most studies to date have shown that zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are safe and unlikely to penetrate your skin when applied topically, as long as they are not nanosized. But when these minerals are inhaled, they have been shown to irritate lung tissues and potentially lead to serious health problems,16 and the finer the particles, the worse their effects appear to be. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified titanium dioxide as a "possible carcinogen" when inhaled in high doses.17 According to IARC:18 "Titanium dioxide causes varying degrees of inflammation and associated pulmonary effects including lung epithelial cell injury, cholesterol granulomas and fibrosis. Rodents experience stronger pulmonary effects after exposure to ultrafine titanium dioxide particles compared with fine particles on a mass basis." Safe Versus Unsafe Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide Most nanoscale particles (microscopic particles measuring less than 100 nanometers)19 found in American sunscreens are either titanium dioxide or zinc oxide.20 Animal research has shown that inhaled nanoparticles can reach all areas of your respiratory tract and, since your lungs have difficulty clearing small particles, they may be allowed to pass into your bloodstream. Other studies have proven some nanoparticles are even able to cross your blood-brain barrier. If allowed to enter your lungs or penetrate your skin, nanoparticles therefore have the potential to cause widespread damage to your cells and organs, immune system, nervous system, heart and brain.21,22 Some scientists postulate that the toxic effects of nanoparticles relate to their size being in the range of a virus, which may trigger your body's immune response.23 Inhaling higher amounts of zinc oxide can also lead to "metal fume fever,"24 characterized by chest pain, cough, dyspnea, reduced lung volumes, nausea, chills, malaise and leukocytosis. One animal study found zinc oxide nanoparticles to be cytotoxic, interfering with zinc homeostasis, elevating zinc levels and resulting in apoptosis (cell death).25 An Indian study concluded that zinc oxide particles cause toxicity in human lung cells possibly through "stress-induced apoptosis."26 Human studies are sorely lacking as to the health effects of inhaling of zinc oxide particles, especially at lower levels, such as from brief exposure to sunscreen spray. However, using these spray-on products are clearly an unnecessary risk since safer options are readily available. Your safest bet is to use topical zinc oxide or titanium dioxide that does not contain nanosized particles. Sun Avoidance Promotes Early Death One of the most compelling reasons for getting regular, sensible sun exposure on bare skin is that it promotes optimal physical and psychological health and helps prevent chronic diseases of all kinds. As noted in a scientific review27 by dermatologist Dr. Richard Weller, sun exposure has cardiovascular benefits independent of vitamin D, and cardiovascular disease is a far greater public health problem than skin cancer. In fact, research suggests your risk of dying from heart disease or stroke is 800 percent greater on average than your risk of dying from skin cancer.28 One of the key messages in Weller's paper is that public health messages really should be determined based on all-cause mortality, not a singular disease. "Sunlight is a risk factor for skin cancer, but sun avoidance may carry more of a cost than benefit for overall good health," he writes. Another study29 published in the journal Public Health Nutrition in 2012 also concluded that: "The overall health benefit of an improved vitamin D status may be more important than the possibly increased CMM (cutaneous malignant melanoma) risk resulting from carefully increasing UV exposure. Important scientific facts behind this judgment are given." Even though Weller is ahead of the pack in recognizing the importance of sun exposure, he and most other physicians don't understand why this is so. There are many reasons, but two large ones are: Exposure to the sun increases nitric oxide production, which will relax blood vessels, lower blood pressure and decrease platelet activation, making your blood thinner and less likely to clot and form a stroke or heart attack. Nitric oxide will also improve your immune function. Red and infrared rays are rarely discussed but recent research has shown that red at 660 nm and near infrared at 830 nm both have powerful benefits on improving mitochondrial function. This is because cytochrome c oxidase, which is one of the electron transport chains in the mitochondria, are chromophores for those wavelengths and when they absorb that energy the efficiency of ATP and mitochondrial cellular energy is increased. Sun Avoidance Is as Risky as Smoking A study30,31 driving home this risk-benefit reality was done in Sweden. More than 25,500 Swedish women between the ages of 25 and 64 were followed for 20 years. Detailed information about sun exposure habits and confounding factors were obtained and analyzed in a "competing risk" scenario. Overall, women who got regular sun exposure did have a higher risk for melanoma compared to sun avoiders, but they also had a lower all-cause mortality risk, likely due to their increased vitamin D levels. Women with active sun exposure habits ended up having a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and non-cancer death compared to those who avoided the sun. According to the authors: "Nonsmokers who avoided sun exposure had a life expectancy similar to smokers in the highest sun exposure group, indicating that avoidance of sun exposure is a risk factor for death of a similar magnitude as smoking. Compared to the highest sun exposure group, life expectancy of avoiders of sun exposure was reduced by 0.6 [to] 2.1 years." In short, if you're concerned about mortality, and not just mortality from one specific disease (melanoma), the scales are decidedly tipped toward sun exposure being of tremendous benefit. Five of the many noteworthy properties of spending some quality time in the sun include:32 Pain-killing (analgesic) properties Increased subcutaneous fat metabolism Regulation of human lifespan (solar cycles appear to be able to directly affect the human genome, thereby influencing lifespan) Daytime sun exposure improves evening alertness Conversion to metabolic energy (i.e., we may "ingest" energy directly from the sun, like plants do) Measure Your Vitamin D in Summer and Winter As a general rule, I recommend measuring your vitamin D level twice a year, in the middle of the summer and winter, to ascertain your annual high and low. Ideally, you want your serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) to be between 40 and 65 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) year-round. Anything below 20 ng/mL is considered a serious deficiency state that increases your risk of both acute and chronic ill health. When it comes to optimizing your vitamin D through sensible sun exposure, keep your skin color in mind. African Americans are more prone to vitamin D deficiencies as they produce less vitamin D3 than do Caucasians in response to usual levels of sun exposure. As a general rule, the darker your skin, the more sun exposure you need, and vice versa. Remember the absolute best way to optimize your vitamin D level is by sensible sun exposure. I haven't swallowed oral vitamin D for over 10 years now and my level is rarely below 70 ng/mL, but that is because I made a conscious effort to move down to Florida and walk in the sun for 90 minutes nearly every day. I realize that not everyone can do this, and if you can't, then taking a supplement is likely a wise choice. I just want you to recognize it is a significantly inferior alternative as you are also missing out on the nitric oxide, and the red- and near-infrared benefits from the sun mentioned above. Reduce Your Risk of Sunburn With 'Internal Sunscreens' As mentioned, one of the primary risk factors of skin cancer is sunburn, which is an inflammatory process. Aside from paying careful attention to covering up before you get burned, you can reduce your risk of sunburn by eating plenty of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables, and/or taking an astaxanthin supplement. The latter has been shown to work as an effective internal sunscreen, protecting your skin from UV radiation damage. In addition to copious testimonials and anecdotal evidence, scientific studies have substantiated these skin protective effects.33 In one study, subjects who took 4 milligrams (mg) of astaxanthin per day for two weeks showed a significant increase in the amount of time necessary for UV radiation to redden their skin. Animal studies lend further evidence to astaxanthin's effects as an internal sunscreen: In one study, mice were fed various combinations of astaxanthin, beta-carotene and retinol for four months. Astaxanthin was substantially effective in preventing photoaging of the skin after UV radiation, as measured by markers for skin damage34 A rat study found astaxanthin was found to be 100 times stronger than beta-carotene and 1,000 times stronger than lutein in preventing UVA light-induced oxidative stress35 The Journal of Dermatological Science published a study in 2002 finding astaxanthin is able to protect against alterations in human DNA induced by UVA light exposure36 How to Choose a Safer Sunscreen There are thousands of sunscreens on the market and it may seem daunting to find a safe one. The majority of chemical sunscreens contain endocrine disruptors, which are particularly risky for pregnant women, infants and small children. These can disrupt growth and development, cause early puberty and result in small testicle size and low sperm count in boys. They also have carcinogenic potential.37 Among the worst are those containing oxybenzone, synthetic fragrances and retinyl palmitate. When choosing a sunscreen, your safest choice is a lotion or cream with zinc oxide. It's stable in sunlight and provides the best protection from UVA rays.38 Your next best option is titanium dioxide. Just make sure the product: Does not contain nano sized particles Protects against both UVA and UVB rays Keep in mind that SPF protects only from UVB rays, which are the rays within the ultraviolet spectrum that allow your skin to produce vitamin D. The most dangerous rays, in terms of causing skin damage and cancer, are the UVA rays. Avoid sunscreens with an SPF above 50. While not intrinsically harmful, the higher SPF tends to provide a false sense of security, encouraging you to stay in the sun longer than you should. Moreover, higher SPF typically does not provide much greater protection. In fact, research suggests people using high-SPF sunscreens get the same or similar exposure to UV rays as those using lower-SPF products. Other Safe Sunning Tips I recommend spending time in the sun regularly — ideally daily. Sunshine offers substantial health benefits, provided you take a few simple precautions to protect yourself from overexposure. Here are my top five safe sunning tips: 1. Give your body a chance to produce vitamin D before you apply sunscreen. Expose large amounts of your skin (at least 40 percent of your body) to sunlight for short periods daily. Optimizing your vitamin D levels may reduce your risk of many internal cancers, and actually reduces your risk of melanoma as well. 2. Stay out just long enough for your skin to turn the very lightest shade of pink. Shield your face from the sun using a safe sunscreen or hat, as your facial skin is thin and more prone to sun damage, such as premature wrinkling. 3. When you'll be in the sun for longer periods, cover up with clothing, a hat or shade (either natural or shade you create using an umbrella). A safe sunscreen can be applied after you've optimized your skin's daily vitamin D production, although clothing is your safest option to prevent burning and skin damage. Keep in mind that in order for sunscreen to be effective, you must apply large amounts over all exposed areas of your skin. This means the product should not trigger skin allergies and must provide good protection against UVA and UVB radiation. It also should not be absorbed into your skin, as the most effective sunscreen acts as a topical barrier. 4. Consider the use of an "internal sunscreen" like astaxanthin to gain additional sun protection. Typically, it takes several weeks of daily supplementation to saturate your body's tissues enough to provide protection. Astaxanthin can also be applied topically, which is why it's now being incorporated into a number of topical sunscreen products. 5. Consuming a healthy diet full of natural antioxidants is another highly useful strategy to help avoid sun damage. Fresh, raw, unprocessed foods deliver the nutrients that your body needs to maintain a healthy balance of omega-6 and animal-based DHA omega-3 oils in your skin, which are your first lines of defense against sunburn. Vegetables also provide your body with an abundance of powerful antioxidants that will help you fight the free radicals caused by sun damage that can lead to burns and cancer.

#VitalityPath

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