Photo taken with my phone camera on a Sydney flight not long ago
I visited a homeopath last week, mainly to tackle my recent three-weekly virus attacks from a different angle. She is a nutritionist as well but more about nutrition in another post. Today I want to have a closer look at the
Slop! part of this famous Australian sun protection campaign:
Slip on a shirt,
Slop on sunscreen and
Slap on a hat!
When I was younger I never used sunscreen. My skin tanned easily, hardly ever did I get sun burn, so why bother? There wasn't much education on skin cancer either. In the last few years I have changed my attitude, mainly out of vanity as my aging skin started showing distinct signs of sun damage.
Being out on the bike, for hours at a time, and in the harsh Australian sun, I'm using sunscreen religiously. Tess, the homeopath, asked me which sunscreen I'm using. She also asked whether I knew what the active ingredient of my sunscreen was and whether I knew how it worked?
If you are like me, you probably have no problems answering the first question but struggle with the second and third.
It's sunscreen, right? It protects from getting sunburn and melanoma.
Slip! Slop! Slap! Why do I need to know how it works?
Well, Tess explained a few things about sunscreen to me. I thought I'd share it with you because summer is just around the corner... at least for us down(here)under.
First there was zinc
Zinc based sunscreens build a physical barrier on your skin so UV rays can't actually get to your skin, pretty much like
Slip! for your face. This is very effective but unfortunately not very comfortable, nor does it look attractive when you don't happen to have sand between your toes.
Then there was oxybenzone
There is a range of
newer sunscreens that work chemically as they penetrate the skin and protect it from UV rates by absorbing them.
The main active ingredient is oxybenzone. Go on, google it! Come on, do it now! I'll wait.
Did you read about the controversy on Wikipedia? I won't go into all the chemical details. In summary, Oxybenzone filters out ultra violet light by converting it into heat. Research strongly suggests that it is not only a toxin for you body because it gets absorbed by the skin but also changes the DNA of skin cells, damages or kills skin cells, is a major contributor for skin aging and... is photocarcigonetic. Yes, it may cause the very thing it claims to protect us from.
In the long run, zinc-based sunscreens may be the healthier option.
All this worried me enough to check my sunscreen(s) - yes, I have more than one - do some more research and make a decision about how I'm going to protect my skin on long rides in future. I'd suggest you do the same!
