This article serves as an expansion to my Instagram posts on sun and health. One of the most frustrating things I find personally in the health-influencer space is that there are lots of bold claims made without any substantial evidence (especially around sunscreen and sunburn).
With my work, I’m going to try to do it differently. If I propose something, it will be based on scientific evidence, and I’m going to show you the sources of my information, or you can ask me for them. Moreover, I want to challenge you to do your own research, and make up your own mind. If you trust my opinion, I am grateful for that, but I will give you the tools to look into it yourself if you doubt what I say is true. Feel free to challenge my presented opinions, as I am always looking to find the truth.
With that said, I will list some notes and the scientific sources below the headings that correspond to my Instagram posts. Later on I will also recommend certain products or brands that you can consider, some of which may be affiliate links. If you buy a product through those links, you support my work for free, and I am very grateful for that.
Table of Contents
Click here for my alternative sunscreen recommendations.
Click here for supplement recommendations that can help you protect your skin even if you use no sunscreen at all.
The Danger of avoiding sun
The main sources I used for this post are a 2015 and a 2016 scientific review.
- Sunlight and Vitamin D: Necessary for Public Health, 2015 (link)
- The Risks and Benefits of Sun Exposure, 2016 (link)
But another study worth taking a look at is:
- Sunlight: For Better or For Worse? A Review of Positive and Negative Effects of Sun Exposure (link)
All these studies acknowledge the extreme importance of sun-induced vitamin D. The first study mentioned notes that in 2010, 19/30 leading causes of death in the US were linked to vitamin D deficiency.
The importance of sun-induced vitamin D
Vitamin D deficiency is extremely common, as it is very hard to get enough vitamin D out of your diet, and most people spend the bulk of the day inside. When going outside, many people (mostly women) preventatively put on sunscreen, since beauty gurus told them that sunshine is the devil which will make them age quickly and get cancer. Sunscreen of just SPF 8 blocks 92.5% of UV production, and SPF 15 will block 99% of UV reduction.
The top row of Table 2 from Vitamin D Deficiency published in the New England Journal of MedicineI’m not just making up these numbers. You can check them yourself in this amazing article titled Vitamin D Deficiency which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine (link). Don’t take my word for it, read what medical professionals say about it. What this article will also tell you is that:
- Approximately 1 billion people worldwide are vitamin D deficient.
- Vitamin D deficiency can cause / is linked to:
- Loss of bone density, osteoporosis, and increased chance of fracture
- Muscle weakness and increased chance of falling
- Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
- Colon cancer
- Pancreatic cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Ovarian cancer
- Breast cancer
- Type 1 Diabetes
- MS (Multiple Sclerosis)
- Crohn’s disease
- Hypertension (high blood pressure)
- Congestive heart failure
- Inflammation (CrP and IL-10)
- Schizophrenia & Depression
Another study confirms an association with Alzheimer and Dementia (link)
A harrowing list, if you ask me. As a result, the reviews I presented earlier suggest at the very least to wait with applying sunscreen until your body had enough time to produce the adequate amount of vitamin D, and to go out regularly when the sun shines.
“Insufficient sun exposure has become a major public health problem, demanding an immediate change in the current sun-avoidance public health advice.”
The Risks and Benefits of Sun Exposure (2016)
“We are of the opinion that moderate sun exposure (less than the time required to burn) to the arms, shoulders, trunk, and legs should be sought rather than avoided”
Sunlight and Vitamin D: Necessary for Public Health (2015)
Beyond vitamin D
But, the benefits of the sun go far beyond just vitamin D
More on these benefits can all be found in the studies presented earlier (1, 2, 3) as well as in a section of Chris Kresser’s blog (blog includes references). Just to name a few, sun exposure will also:
- Increase Nitric Oxide, which is a vasodilator that lowers blood pressure, increases blood flow to tissues which speeds up their recovery, and benefits heart health.
- Produces Beta Endorphins, which have a myriad of benefits, such as boosting immune function, promoting a feeling of relaxation and wellbeing, and relieving pain.
- Regulates the circadian rhythm, which is essential for your sleep and energy levels throughout the day
- Can increase testosterone and potentially regulates female hormones as well. According to the same study, it can also increase Romantic Passion. (link)
- Stimulates the skin to form melanin as well as other natural defense mechanisms against the damaging effects of UV.
Getting UV light on the skin or in the eyes is required if you want to get these benefits.
Skin Cancer
Now what about skin cancer you might ask, isn’t the sun increasing my risk of skin cancer. Indeed, some studies have shown that the sun contributes to an increased risk in skin cancer, but that’s not the whole story.
The increase is in particular in non-melanoma skin cancer. As it turns out, these types of cancers only make up a maximum of 30% of the skin cancer cases in the US (and likely the rest of the world).
The other 70% of skin cancer cases are malignant melanoma’s. And you wouldn’t believe it, but science has actually shown that the chance of malignant melanoma DECREASES with sun exposure.
“With a total of 5 million cases of skin cancer treated each year at an annual cost of $8.1 billion, skin cancers result in 13,000 deaths annually. Melanoma, by far the most deadly form of skin cancer, accounts for 70-75% of those deaths and 40% of the costs. Despite public health messages to the contrary, not all skin cancers, particularly melanomas, are directly attributed to moderate sun exposure. Though painful sunburns before the age of 20 seem to be a strong predictor of all types of skin cancer, chronic or lifetime sun exposure is associated with an increased risk of nonmelanoma skin cancers, but a decreased risk of malignant melanoma.“
Sunlight and Vitamin D: Necessary for Public Health (2015)
“By contrast, lifetime sun exposure appeared to be associated with a lower risk of malignant melanoma, despite the fact that lifetime sun exposure did not diminish the number of melanocytic nevi or atypical nevi.”
The influence of painful sunburns and lifetime sun exposure on the risk of actinic keratoses, seborrheic warts, melanocytic nevi, atypical nevi, and skin cancer (link)
Simple Health Math
Knowing all of this, we can do some simple math to find out what is really most beneficial for your health. Gladly, this math was mostly done for us in Sunlight and Vitamin D: Necessary for Public Health (2015). We see that increased sun exposure, at least up to the point that we have consistent healthy vitamin D levels can:
- Save 336,000 lifes yearly from the 19/30 leading causes of death
- Save a significant portion of the 70-75% of skin cancer deaths as a result of malignant melanoma
- Save at least $130 billion annually
(Figures are from the US)
While staying inside and using chemical protection against UV light at all times only decreases the chance of non-melanoma skin cancer, which amounted to maximum 3,900 deaths in the US in 2010. Almost 100x less than the deaths from too little sun exposure.
Conclusion
The numbers don’t lie. More sun exposure directly on your skin is amazing for your health. Moreover, it’s free, and pleasant. We need more sun, not less, and we need to be less eager with the sunscreen. Yes, avoid sunburn, but there are more and healthier ways to do that than using chemical sunscreen at all times. Put your health first, and your fear of sunburn and aging second.
The sunscreen Issue
When it comes to sunscreen, there seem to be two camps. The first camp recommends you to put sunscreen on at every opportunity, spreading fear of skin cancer and aging. Just check out this (rather ridiculous) article.
The second camp preaches that chemical sunscreen is toxic. Below you can see an example of an Instagram post from Carnivore Aurelius preaching that exact message.
Unfortunately, both camps usually stop at the fear mongering, and fail to provide any real substance to their claims. At least, few verifiable sources people can check for themselves.
In this piece I will try to refrain from any fear mongering, give a nuanced take, and provide the sources that I used to form my opinion.
As I already showed in the the part The Danger of Avoiding Sun, the skin cancer claim makes little sense, since the chance of getting the most deathly type of skin cancer decreases with increasing sun exposure (WITHOUT sunscreen).
But even though increased sun exposure (WITHOUT sunscreen) is very beneficial for your health, sunburn is not, and there might be cases where you are exposed to sun for so long, that a form of sunscreen could come in handy to prevent sunburn.
In the next part I’ll give you my opinion on why you should reconsider indiscriminately applying commonly used sunscreens, and give you a list of alternatives that I think are better to use instead.
Reason #1: It blocks vitamin D
As shown earlier, sunscreen with SPF 8 blocks 92.5% of vitamin D production, and SPF 15 will block 99%. Now this is true regardless of which sunscreen you use (including the ones I will recommend later on). This means that at the very least, you should wait with applying any type of sunscreen until you had a certain amount of exposure to the sun without blocking any of the UV light. This is typically in the realm of 15-30 minutes. The older you are, or the darker your skin tone, the longer you’ll need to be exposed.
Reason #2: The chemicals are absorbed in your blood and associated with negative health outcomes
A study published in 2020 titled Concentration of Sunscreen Active Ingredients: A Randomized Clinical Trial (link) studied the absorption of the 6 most commonly used UV-blocking chemicals in participants that applied sunscreen. The ingredients in question:
- Avobenzone
- Oxybenzone
- Octocrylene
- Homosalate
- Octisalate
- Octinoxate
What they found was all of these ingredients were easily absorbed by the skin and could be detected in the blood samples at levels that far exceeded the recommended safety limits by the FDA.
In this study conducted in a clinical pharmacology unit and examining sunscreen application among healthy participants, all 6 of the tested active ingredients administered in 4 different sunscreen formulations were systemically absorbed and had plasma concentrations that surpassed the FDA threshold for potentially waiving some of the additional safety studies for sunscreens.
Effect of Sunscreen Application on Plasma Concentration of Sunscreen Active Ingredients: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Another study titled Exposure patterns of UV filters, fragrances, parabens, phthalates, organochlor pesticides, PBDEs, and PCBs in human milk: correlation of UV filters with use of cosmetics (link) found that UV-blocking chemicals were present in 82.5% of the breast milk samples.
So what can these chemicals potentially do to us? For this we can refer to a great summary written by the Environmental Working Group, a US non-profit organization (link to article). The table from the article is shown below.
The article dissects the evidence of harmful impact of each of these ingredients, and provides the relevant scientific sources. In summary, we can see that all the ingredients except for Octisalate have been shown to cause hormone disruption and/or skin issues and other concerns.
These other concerns include among other things potential carcinogenic activity and the breakdown of these chemicals into toxic byproducts when in the bloodstream.
Granted, there is not a ton of evidence, but there is some, and it’s not looking good.
Are you going to suffer serious health consequences from using this type of sunscreen every once in a while. Very likely no.
However, the study presented earlier showed that just applying it once already spiked the presence of this chemical in your blood to significant levels.
Imagine doing that every day, or multiple times a day, for a long period of time. Imagine covering your entire body in it while going out sunbathing. That’s a whole different story. Even if we don’t know the full extend yet of how these chemicals affect us in the long term, having them in high concentrations in our blood consistently can hardly be good for us, wouldn’t you agree?
For expecting mothers, or those with a young baby, this is really worth thinking about. A small dose of chemicals might not have any significant effect in your body, but in the very tiny and vulnerable body of a young baby, who knows what it might do. It has never been reported to do any damage to the baby you should be directly worry about, but for optimal health of the baby it’s really something worth taking into consideration.
Reason #3: It damages marine ecosystems
Given that sunscreen is typically used by beach-goers or people going for a swim in lakes or rivers, this point is also of relevance.
As it turns out, when some of these most commonly used chemicals wash off in the water, they can cause damage to marine life, and in particular coral reefs. These effects were found to be so severe, that some places have started to ban the suncreens with these chemicals from being used. Most notably Hawaii signed two bills in 2018 and 2021 which ban any sunscreens containing oxybenzone, octinoxate, avobenzone and octocrylene.
Similar laws were passed in the Pacific island of Palau and Key West Florida, and more places might follow as awareness and research progress.
Here are some articles if you want to dive deeper: news article, study, study, article
Reason #4: A larger chance of contamination
Just last year, a pharmaceutical test company by the name of Valisure LLC tested a wide range of sunscreen products on contamination in the US. Shockingly, 27% of their tested samples were contaminated with Benzene, a known carcinogen. The report can be found here.
The trouble with a lot of sunscreen products is this. Just take a look at the backside of an average sunscreen and you’ll see a list of 20 ingredients, and might recognize one of them. The rest is a range of chemical ingredients almost too difficult to pronounce.
Now I’m not going to tell you to fear chemicals, since many chemicals are used for good (like in medicine). But just think logically for a moment. A sunscreen product with 20+ ingredients, most of which are chemicals synthesized in chemical factories, and competing in a market with tons of competitors always trying to get the lowest price or improve the margins, doesn’t that seem likely to be a product vulnerable to contamination? Either through ignorance, mistake, or simply capitalistic greed?
Healthy User Bias & Sunscreen Use
Before I move on to better sunscreen alternatives, I want to make a quick point about research done on sunscreen use and its association with better health outcomes.
To begin, there is an interesting scientific meta-analysis that stated that sunscreen use can not conclusively be linked to a decreased chance of melanoma.
“Evidence from observational studies on sunscreen use and melanoma risk was weak and heterogeneous, consistent with the challenges of controlling for innate confounding by indication. The only RCT showed a protective effect of sunscreen.”
Challenges in assessing the sunscreen-melanoma association (link)
Another problem I think that bugs studies regarding suncreen use and health outcome is the healthy user bias.
Given the relentless advertising of sunscreen in the past decades, sunscreen users tend to be people that are more conscious about their health, which likely means that they are more likely to have other healthy habits as well (e.g. nutrition, exercise, etc.). Perhaps they even supplement vitamin D.
On the other hand, non-users are likely not healthy people applying natural, nutritional, and supplemental means to reduce sun damage, but rather people that have little care about their health or whether they get burned or not. Think of your typical overweight British men turning into a red lobster on a Spanish beach.
Is it any wonder then that some observational studies show that suncreen users have better health outcomes? I wonder what would happen if the sunscreen users would be compared to people that don’t use sunscreen but are very conscious about their health and sun exposure.
Sunscreen alternatives
As I said earlier, there are situations where sunscreen might come in handy. If you have to choose between sunscreen or sunburn in a given situation, sunscreen is likely the preferred option. However, as I demonstrated, most sunscreens come with a range of potential downsides. For this reason I researched and found a number of sunscreens that I think can be a great alternative to the common synthetic sunscreens out there, would the need arise.
The sunscreens I will recommend are based on Zinc Oxide. This mineral can be used as a sunscreen for levels up to SPF 50. As mentioned here, studies showed that Zinc Oxide was either barely absorbed, or not absorbed at all by the skin into the bloodstream. Even if it had, Zinc is a mineral which is beneficial for your health.
The sunscreens listed below usually consist out of very few ingredients, all of which can be identified easily, and all of which have usually been proven to promote skin health or protect against UV damage. However, always check for yourself whether you think it is a product worth buying.
If you go out to find sunscreen alternative by yourself, make sure that you do not buy Zinc Oxide sunscreens that come in spray/powder form and/or contain nanoparticles, as inhalation of Zinc Oxide, and in particular nanoparticles, has been shown to be potentially damaging.
EU
Two European brands that I was able to find which seem to have great quality products are Suntribe (from Sweden) and Sol de Ibiza (from Spain). Both products ship everywhere in the EU and internationally as well (at a higher fee of course).
- Sol de Ibiza 30 SPF (amazon)
- Sol de Ibiza 50 SPF (amazon)
- Suntribe 30 SPF, 8 ingredients (amazon)
- Suntribe 30 SPF, 3 ingredients (amazon)
US & Canada
Some of the products might contain sunflower oil, probably included for its anti-oxidants and vitamin E content. Some of you might be concerned about the PUFA’s. I personally think the amount of sunflower oil is so small that the benefits outweigh the potential downsides, but just a heads up.
Sun Damage Protection
Aside from using sunscreen, there are many proven ways to decrease the damage by UV light. To decrease the damage done, first we have to know what causes the damage. This is best explained in my opinion in this article by the name of Sunlight damage to cellular DNA: Focus on oxidatively generated lesions. The image below is from the article and neatly summarizes how it works in broad terms.
The two main causes of damage are direct DNA damage and oxidation.
The first type of damage is the most difficult to understand and therefore it is not entirely known yet what can be done to counter it. There are multiple natural mechanisms in place in the body that can deal with DNA damage. The damage that is not fixed could lead to carcinogenic mutations. For this type of damage it suffices to say that the healthier you are in general, the more capable your body will be at repairing its DNA.
Thus make sure you sleep well, stay hydrated, exercise, and eat a nutrient dense diet.
When it comes to oxidation however, we know how to prevent it from happening or correct it, namely through anti-oxidants.
Below I will list a number of nutrients/compounds that were found to be helpful in preventing UV-induced damage, and most of those likely work through their anti-oxidant capacity, although they might be helping with the direct DNA damage as well.
Cacao
Two studies I found reported great benefits of daily cacao or chocolate consumption. The key was that it has to be high flavanol cacao or chocolate. This is typically very dark chocolate or raw cacao powder.
It seems that either 15 grams of powder or 40 grams of chocolate would do the trick, but more is definitely better.
UV-induced erythema was significantly decreased in the high flavanol group, by 15 and 25%, after 6 and 12 wk of treatment, respectively, whereas no change occurred in the low flavanol group.
Long-term ingestion of high flavanol cocoa provides photoprotection against UV-induced erythema and improves skin condition in women (link)
Erythema: redness of the skin caused by injury or another inflammation-causing condition (e.g. sunburn)
Our study demonstrated that regular consumption of a chocolate rich in flavanols confers significant photoprotection and can thus be effective at protecting human skin from harmful UV effects.
Eating chocolate can significantly protect the skin from UV light (link)
Vitamin C + Vitamin E
Both vitamin C and vitamin E are vitamins with a strong anti-oxidant effect in the body, so it is no wonder they were shown to have benefits when it comes to preventing damage from UV-light. Interestingly, some studies show that when both are supplemented the benefits are the highest, potentially revealing a synergistic effect.
Combined vitamins C and E reduce the sunburn reaction, which might indicate a consequent reduced risk for later sequelae of UV-induced skin damage.
Protective effect against sunburn of combined systemic ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and d-alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) (link)
We conclude that d-alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) prescribed in combination with ascorbic acid (isolated vitamin C) produces the best photoprotective effect.
UVB photoprotection with antioxidants: effects of oral therapy with d-alpha-tocopherol and ascorbic acid on the minimal erythema dose (link)
Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) and alpha-tocopherol (Vitamin E) are the most abundant antioxidants present in the epidermis and dermis…
Sunlight damage to cellular DNA: Focus on oxidatively generated lesions
Polypodium Leucotomos
This is a plant mainly found in South America, which has shown some remarkable effects when it comes to skin protection from UV light.
Polypodium leucotomos extract 240mg taken twice daily for 60 days was a safe and effective means for reducing the damaging effects of ultraviolet radiation. Based on the excellent safety profile of Polypodium leucotomos, additional studies using higher doses may be warranted.
Safety and Efficacy of Oral Polypodium leucotomos Extract in Healthy Adult Subjects (link)
Oral administration of PL is an effective systemic chemophotoprotective agent leading to significant protection of skin against UV radiation.
Oral Polypodium leucotomos extract decreases ultraviolet-induced damage of human skin (link)
Nicotinamide/Niacinamide
This is a different version of vitamin B3, also known as Niacin. It will not give you the flush effect that Niacin can give you. It seems that this vitamin plays a key role in keeping your skin healthy, and specifically in the prevention of any type of skin cancer. One study from the New England Journal of Medicine mentions how taking 500 mg of Niacinamide twice a day could lower the incidence of skin cancer by 35% and 29% in two other high quality studies, and in its own experiment saw a reduction of 23%.
Aspirin
Aspirin is known as an anti-inflammatory or painkiller by many, but has also shown to be beneficial in treating a wide range of skin issues, as discussed in this study. Regarding sunburn, it seems that aspirin is able to reduce the inflammatory response after prolonged UV-exposure, thereby decreasing the severity of sunburn.
A double blinded crossover study, with 3.6 g of aspirin administered to sunburn patients over 9 h in three divided doses, 30 min prior to UVB exposure, along with a control placebo group revealed a significant reduction of erythema in the aspirin-treated group 4–6 h post–sun exposure.
Aspirin in dermatology: Revisited
Based on this study, it seems that one could consider taking Aspirin preventitavely if you expect to be exposed to harsh sun for a considerable amount of time to reduce the chance of sunburn.
NAC
As described in this article, the anti-oxidant Glutathione plays a major role in the defense against and repair of UV-induced damage. From the current research available, it seems that the supplement NAC more efficient in increasing Glutathione than taking Glutathione by itself.
Provision of L-cysteine within the cell is all that is needed to increase glutathione synthesis, and N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) does this efficiently at a lower financial cost than glutathione.
Examine.com
Skin Treatment: Topical
There are a number of products one can apply to the skin itself, either before or after sun exposure, to help the skin recover from UV-induced damage.
The first one is Caffeine, which has been shown to have a sunscreen effect and anti-cancer properties. The easiest way to apply this is by applying strong espresso to your skin before and/or after sun exposure. Coffee in general is also a great source of anti-oxidants, which will also help your skin’s healing process.
Mechanism studies indicate that caffeine has a sunscreen effect that inhibits UVB-induced formation of thymine dimers and sunburn lesions in the epidermis of mice. In addition, caffeine administration has a biological effect that enhances UVB-induced apoptosis thereby enhancing the elimination of damaged precancerous cells, and caffeine administration also enhances apoptosis in tumors.
Mechanisms of Caffeine-Induced Inhibition of UVB Carcinogenesis (link)
Drinking coffee will likely contribute as well.
The next two are best used after sun exposure. The first natural after-sun product with great properties is Aloe Vera. Aloe Vera has been used for decades if not longer as a skin ointment to treat actual burn wounds, and speed up healing of the skin. Try to find a product that is mostly Aloe Vera and contains little to no additional filler compounds.
Due to anti-inflammatory, increased immune activity, anti-bacterial and anti-viral effects, and decreased histamine activity properties of Aloe vera, it accelerates the healing process of burn wounds. (…) Aloe vera is mainly used to treat first- and second-degree burn wounds resulting in reduced recovery time to 9 days.
The Effect of Aloe Vera Clinical Trials on Prevention and Healing of Skin Wound: A Systematic Review (link)
The second one is vitamin E. Even though I mentioned vitamin E already, it should be noted that vitamin E can also be applied topically, and that this is possibly a more effective way to make sure that there is enough vitamin E present at the right location.
Skin Treatment: Nutrition & Vitamins
There are a couple of nutrients which are vital for skin health in general. If those are deficient in your diet, it can likely limit recovery and replacement of damaged skin. Make sure your diet contains plenty of Collagen, Biotin, and vitamin A (retinol), to maximize skin healing capacity, or if your diet lacks in them, consider a supplement.
Some of the other components I mentioned can also easily be obtained from food, such as vitamin C, Cacao, and Coffee/Caffeine. There are also many other sources of anti-oxidants, think of berries like blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries for example. These anti-oxidants will likely also contribute to your UV defense system.
Finally, as I mentioned before, there are many natural healing and defense mechanisms present in our cells by nature. If you want to optimize the function of these mechanisms, it suffices to say you should be as healthy as possible. Be at a healthy weight, work out, eat nutrient dense foods and make sure you are not deficient in anything, and sleep at least 7 but preferably 8-9 hours a night.
Supplements to consider
Below I will give a list of some supplements you can look into and consider based on the information I provided above. Not all recommendations will be perfect (they might contain one or two ingredients I would have left out myself), but I still think they could be overall beneficial if used in the right context.
After Sun
These are products with some great ingredients to help skin recovery and healing after UV-exposure.
- Mountain Mel’s (US & Canada)
- Honey Girl Organics (US & Canada)
- Mountain Rose Herbs (US & Canada)
- Sun Tribe (EU)
Vitamin E
Vitamin C (whole food)
- Nutricost (US & Canada)
- Nature Basics (EU)
Supplements that include Polypodium Leucotomos
- Summer Ready (US & Canada)
- Solar Care (EU)
Niacinamide