How Sunlight and Ultraviolet Radiation Affect Us
The sun makes life on earth possible. Sunlight also has direct health benefits for humans, catalyzing our production of Vitamin D and even enhancing our mood. Plus, many enjoyable activities involve being in the sun; it’s fun to be outdoors. Yet unfortunately, there is a trade-off. Every second you’re in the sun damages your skin. This skin aging is cumulative and irreversible. It can also lead to serious long-term health consequences including skin cancer. Here’s a little bit more information about sunlight and how it affects us:
Sunlight The sun emits Ultraviolet A (UVA) and Ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation (in addition to other radiation spectra). These rays create free radicals throughout your skin, damaging DNA, cellular structures, proteins, and connective tissue such as collagen and elastin. UVA and UVB radiation also induce inflammation, harm the sensitive cells of your eyes, and can even suppress the immune system (increasing the chances of getting sick). This free radical damage leads to skin aging, wrinkles, sunspots, and even serious health concerns.
UVB UVB radiation causes tanning by stimulating specialized skin cells called melanocytes to produce and release more melanin (the pigment that gives your skin its color). UVB rays also stimulate the production of Vitamin D in your skin. However, UVB rays damage the DNA in your skin cells and are responsible for sunburns.
UVA UVA rays penetrate deeper into your skin than UVB, causing damage to many different skin structures including collagen and elastin. Even thought UVA rays don’t stimulate tanning or produce sunburn, they potentially cause more adverse consequences than UVB and are accountable for a disproportionate share of the blame in the aging of your skin. While UVB rays peak in intensity in the middle of the day and the middle of the summer, UVA rays remain a consistent intensity from morning until evening and are nearly as strong in the winter as the summer. This means that even when you are not tanning or getting burned by UVB rays, you may still be sustaining serious damage from UVA radiation – without ever realizing it!
How To Protect Yourself From The Sun You can protect yourself from sun damage by covering up or using a sunscreen lotion. But be careful which sunscreen you choose, as topical sunscreens have drawbacks–including the fact that many topical sunscreens contain unhealthy chemicals that may actually cause more harm then good.
Sunsafe Rx Oral supplements such as Sunsafe Rx can provide supplemental support for your skin and eyes during environmental exposure (and can be used synergistically with non-toxic sunscreen lotions with zinc oxide as the active ingredient).