Nutritional Strategies to Avoid Sunburn

With summer comes lots of time in the sun, but how do you protect yourself (and your family) without using commercial sunscreens? Many people are waking up to the health risks of using conventional sunscreens, specifically the endocrine disruptive effects of three common active ingredients: oxybenzone,

homosalate, and octocrylene. While natural mineral based sunscreens are an alternative option, they don’t always work well and require frequent reapplication.

Fortunately, there are nutritional changes that can make a big difference in our skin’s response to the sun. I first discovered this by accident after our family switched from a Standard American Diet (SAD) to a Whole Food diet filled with fruits, vegetables, and lots of healthy fats. Our first summer with this new way of eating resulted in no sunburns and very minimal sunscreen usage.

Skin damage from the sun (which can include sunburn or photoaging) occurs due to inflammation, oxidative stress, and DNA damage from the ultraviolet radiation. There are a couple of key nutrients needed to prevent this damage - antioxidants and the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA.

Antioxidants

An antioxidant is a substance that works to prevent oxidative damage in the body by donating an electron to a free radical, which makes it stable and nonreactive. Though our bodies do make some antioxidants, we need to have food sources as well, especially in times of physical or mental stress. Vitamins A, C, and E are well known antioxidants but there are many others, including selenium, quercetin, glutathione, lutein, astaxanthin, and resveratrol. Plant foods have the highest levels of antioxidants with some of the best food sources being:

• most herbs and spices

• berries

• dried plums and apricots

• kale

• artichokes

• nuts

• green and black teas

• dark chocolate

Ideally we'd be able to fill our antioxidant needs through diet alone but when that isn't possible, supplements can be helpful to fill in the gaps.

EPA & DHA

The inflammatory process in the skin that results from over exposure to the sun can be calmed with anti-inflammatory polyunsaturated fatty acids. EPA and DHA are omega-3 fatty acids that have been shown to have a protective effect on the skin in cases of UV exposure. Food sources of EPA and DHA include fish such as:

• salmon

• herring

• sardines

• trout

When diet alone isn't enough, cod liver oil and krill oil supplements are an option, and for those that can't eat fish - there are even algae supplements that provide both DHA and EPA. It's also important to note the inflammatory effect of trans fatty acids. Processed junk foods (like donuts, frozen pizza, cakes, and cookies), margarine, and other "buttery" spreads with hydrogenated oils should be removed from the diet for the body to have a healthy inflammatory response. Even though some animal foods contain trans fats, they have not been shown to promote inflammation like industrial, man-made trans fats do.

A reduction in sunburn was a surprising benefit of eating a whole food diet, and it shows that what we eat matters and can affect us in unexpected ways. Now, if I do happen to be in the sun for too long and get a little pink, I just make sure to take some vitamin C or a little glutathione and I’m fine by the next day.

(Supplements mentioned in this article can be purchased here at 20% off!)

*this content is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment*