Sun Exposure and Sunscreen: What is Healthy and What is Not [Episode #914]

Topic: Sun Exposure and Sunscreen: What is Healthy and What is Not

Hi loves, welcome back to our Thursday Q &A show. Today we’re gonna be talking about the sun, which is such a powerful energy in our lives. Pretty much all life comes and is able to be sustained here on planet earth through this energy of sunlight, which of course furnishes the plants and the animals that eat the plants and those of us that eat animals and plants. There’s this primary powerful energy of the sun. And yet we want to treat the sun with great respect because of course we’re able to get vitamin D, we’re able to awaken our energy in different ways. Some traditions talk about light codes and wisdom that comes through when we’re able to sit in the power of the sunlight. But today we’re going to be talking about specifically how much sun exposure is really healthy and what ingredients to look for in sunscreens and how to really protect our bodies. So this is an important topic. We’re here in the sunlight in the height of summer, although some of you may already be starting school soon it’s still very hot out there around the country.

Episode Summary

Sun Exposure and Sunscreen: What is Healthy and What is Not

In this episode, Kimberly Snyder discusses the importance of sun exposure and how to protect our skin. She highlights the benefits of sunlight, such as synthesizing vitamin D and improving mood and sleep patterns. However, she also emphasizes the risks of overexposure, including skin cancer and premature aging. Kimberly recommends using non-chemical sunscreens with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide and wearing hats and sunglasses for added protection. She encourages getting sunlight on the limbs for about 10 minutes and using sunscreen on the face and neck. Overall, she promotes a balanced approach to sun exposure and skincare.

 

Episode Chapters

00:00 The Power of Sunlight
06:08 Choosing the Right Sunscreen
19:45 Reducing the Risk of Skin Cancer
23:43 Adjusting Sun Exposure for Different Skin Types
26:57 Balancing Sun Exposure and Skincare

SOLLUNA PRODUCT LINKS

• Glowing Greens Powder™
• Feel Good SBO Probiotics
• Feel Good Detoxy
• Feel Good Digestive Enzymes
• Feel Good Starter Kit
• Feel Good Skincare

KIMBERLY’S BOOKS

• Chilla Gorilla & Lanky Lemur Journey to the Heart
• The Beauty Detox Solution
• Beauty Detox Foods
• Beauty Detox Power
• Radical Beauty
• Recipes For Your Perfectly Imperfect Life
• You Are More Than You Think You Are 

OTHER PODCASTS YOU MAY ENJOY!

• Ayurvedic Tips for How to Boost Energy and Immunity with Vaidya Jay [Episode #839]
• ]The Benefit of Detoxing for Immunity and Overall Health [Episode #567]
• How To Reorganize Your Schedule to Recharge Your Vitality and Lose Weight with Dr. Suhas [Episode #757]
• 6 Simple Food Principles for Increasing Your Vitality and Longevity [Episode #755]
• The Power of Fiber for Metabolism, Ongoing Detoxification and Reducing Inflammation [Episode #850]

STUDIES AND RESEARCH

Benefits of Sun Exposure:

The study in the New England Journal of Medicine (2007) highlights the importance of sunlight in synthesizing Vitamin D, which is crucial for bone health, immune function, and the prevention of chronic diseases such as osteoporosis.

A 2010 Study in Journal of Affective Disorders found that exposure to natural light significantly improved mood and alleviated symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

A 2013 Study in Current Biology found that natural light exposure helps regulate the circadian rhythm, promoting better sleep patterns and overall health.

 

Risks of Overexposure to the sun:

A 2001 study in Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology outlined the correlation between excessive UV exposure, sunburn, and the increased risk of skin cancers, including melanoma.

A 2014 study in the Journal of Clinical Ophthalmology supported the connection  between UV exposure and cataracts, emphasizing the importance of protective eyewear.

Research from a 2017 study in the Journal of Tissue Viability further concluded that overexposure to UV radiation accelerates premature skin aging and causes most of the visible signs of photo-aging leading to wrinkles, loss of skin elasticity, and pigmentation changes.

 

Safe Sun Protection:

A 2011 Study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that regular use of sunscreen significantly reduces the risk of developing melanoma and other skin cancers.

A 2018 study from the University of Sydney found that sunscreen use can reduce melanoma risk by 40% in young people.

 

Choosing Safe Sunscreens:

A 2011 study in the Journal of Toxicological found that zinc oxide provides longer-lasting protection compared to some chemical sunscreen agents.

A 2012 Study in the Journal of Science of the Total Environment on zinc oxide nanoparticles suggested that when properly formulated, they do not penetrate healthy, intact skin in significant amounts.

 

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Transcript:

Kimberly Snyder (00:00.824)
Hi loves, welcome back to our Thursday Q &A show. Today we’re gonna be talking about the sun, which is such a powerful energy in our lives. Pretty much all life comes and is able to be sustained here on planet earth through this energy of sunlight, which of course furnishes the plants and the animals that eat the plants and those of us that eat animals and plants.

There’s this primary powerful energy of the sun. And yet we want to treat the sun with great respect because of course we’re able to get vitamin D, we’re able to awaken our energy in different ways. Some traditions talk about light codes and wisdom that comes through when we’re able to sit in the power of the sunlight.

But we wanted today we’re going to be talking about specifically how much sun exposure is really healthy and what ingredients to look for in sunscreens and how to really protect our bodies. So this is an important topic. We’re here in the sunlight in the height of summer, although some of you may already be starting school soon. My kids don’t start school until the end of August. So we have a couple of weeks left. We’re going back to Hawaii.

But even if you’re starting school or you’re sort of back in the flow of fall, there’s still a lot of sunlight for those of us in the Northern hemisphere. And this topic relates all year round because sun exposure is a really important topic. As I mentioned, it’s part of nature. It’s part of our environment. It’s part of our health. There’s so much research. And we’ll get into in just a moment about how sunlight helps us sleep better at night.

sunlight is getting some direct exposure to sunlight can really help to improve cardiovascular health. It’s been measurable in science in so many different ways. And here in our feel good podcast community, we talk about energetics, we talk about intuition, and we talk about science because often it starts to line up. And this is one of the key aspects of

Kimberly Snyder (02:19.67)
the new book, The Hidden Power of the Five Hearts. Those of you that are watching this podcast on YouTube will see the cover behind me. If you are listening to this, you can check out the gold covers with the different five variations of light on my Instagram at underscore Kimberly Snyder or on our new book website, mysalooner .com slash five hearts book. This is a, it’s just awakened my heart so much. This book is something I’m

living so deeply. I’m so excited to share it with you. Before we get into the show, I’ll just mention briefly that we are pre -selling the book now. And if you pre -order the book, you’ll be able to join me in a four week heart reset program. Four weeks was what we did in our Heart Aligned Meditation study, where we found a 29 % increase in coherence, which means more clarity, more health, slowing aging. So many things happen when we increase our heart coherence.

So especially if you are in our more intimate podcast community, think you’ll really love the live Zooms where I’ll teach you these concepts around health, relationships more deeply, and there’ll be a chance to ask me questions live. Of course, you can check out the playbacks. We also have a Vitality Recipe Kit that is selling with the pre -sales of the book. So please check it out once again at mysaloon .com slash five hearts book. But today for now, we’re talking about

skin care, sun care, which affects our largest organ, which is the skin. And this is an interesting topic because we do know there’s such benefits from the sun. But we also hear so much about skin cancer, how melanoma spreads so quickly. We hear more cases of fatalities from skin cancer. So as I mentioned, it’s something that we need to really respect.

just like different aspects of our lifestyle. Honey, for instance, which is something that I consume quite regularly, raw honey from our farm in Hawaii, needs to also be greatly respected, of course, because it does contain sugars. So there’s a balance to all of these energies in our life. And also there’s individuality. So of course there’s different skin types, as we’ll talk about today. There’s different tolerances for the sun.

Kimberly Snyder (04:43.128)
There’s different tolerances to certain ingredients in sun protection, in actual skin care, sunscreens. So we’ll get into all of that right now. So our question today comes from Sybil who lives in Arizona. Sybil, I bet you get a lot of sun where you are. I was actually just with my friend, Danica Patrick, a few days ago who lives in Scottsdale. And she showed me a screenshot.

of the weather and it was all like 111 degrees, 112 degrees. So she was out here, actually shot on her podcast, which will air in a few weeks for the book launch. So I know that Arizona is very sunny and thank you so much for your question and bringing this topic forward because again, all these practical topics around our four cornerstones, food, body, emotional wellbeing and spiritual growth all play key aspects of our energy and our wellness and our health.

So you write, Hey, Kimberly, can’t wait for your new book to come out. I had a question about sun exposure. I work indoors all day and do not get out in the sun all the time. So my question is, what is a healthy amount of sun exposure to get every day? And what’s the best way to protect myself? So let’s get into some research right away. The New England Journal of Medicine from 27.

2007 highlights the importance of sunlight in synthesizing vitamin D, which is crucial for bone health, immune function, and the prevention of chronic diseases such as osteoporosis. There’s these incredible aspects of nature that we try to emulate in different ways and we can to an extent, but it’s important to recognize the power of the sun. The sun creates strength in our bodies. The sun strengthens our bones.

Isn’t that amazing just by being outside in the light, which intuitively feels really great if you spend some time, especially in the early morning. This morning I was meditating on the porch before the children awoke and I was just getting that really gentle morning sunlight. And it made me feel so amazing and so inspired for the day. Right. And these are things that although research shows, you know, this amount of vitamin D and so on and so forth, there’s certain things.

Kimberly Snyder (07:06.134)
Of course that we can’t quantify. And when we spend a little bit of time at a lake or in the park or in the ocean, which I hope you get to do, or you do get to do at some point or maybe the summer, there’s something about the sunlight, which is so invigorating. So again, from a scientific standpoint, vitamin D is such an important aspect of fertility, of bone health, of many different aspects of our overall wellbeing.

And we can certainly supplement with vitamin D and there’s certain foods even that contain vitamin D and certain foods that are fortified with vitamin D and mushrooms is one of those foods by the way. But how amazing if we can get a little bit of sunlight and take it in in the most natural way. In 2010, there was a study in the Journal of Affective Disorders that found that exposure to natural light significantly improved mood and alleviated symptoms of seasonal affective disorder.

So if you’re listening to this in the Southern hemisphere, where it’s actually quite maybe dark and gloomy, if you’re living in a place like Patagonia or you live in a place with limited sunshine all the time or certain times of the year, this is important to note. You may have heard this in snippets and pieces, but there are different light boxes in ways that you can emulate the sun on your desk or in your home.

And these are really the next best thing. So while we’re talking about this natural power of the sun, please take care of yourself and get something that emulates the sun. If you find yourself in longer extended periods where you’re not getting that light. Last week we’re in Hawaii and it’s summertime and it’s usually perfect weather all the time, beautiful weather. But the first few days we were there, there was something going on in the environment and the atmosphere. Of course, there’s always these natural shifts and changes.

and there was some really gloomy weather for the first few days. And I could feel it. It affected me to an extent. So I am someone who’s very sensitive to the weather, which is probably why I’ve chosen to live in sunny places. I grew up in Connecticut with very cold weather and winters. And there’s an effect of this. And some of us are more resilient than others. My father is very sensitive to seasonal affective disorder.

Kimberly Snyder (09:30.702)
Caitlin and our team talks about it as well, shared about it here. So just pay attention to this energy, this vitality that comes from the sun and take care of yourself and try to fill in that gap if it’s missing. The 2013 study in current biology found that natural light exposure helps to regulate your circadian rhythm, promoting better sleep patterns and overall health. So some months ago we had a podcast with Dr. Suhas.

who’s a wonderful, Arjuvedic teacher and physician. And he has a book about resetting your rhythms. And this is such a core part of Arjuvedic Dinacharya, daily rhythms and routines, which then starts to regulate our digestion, our immunity, our endocrine system, all these different functionalities in the body really work like a clock when we have rhythms and routines.

And so there is research that shows that getting some sunlight in the morning before nine o ‘clock, that gentle sunlight I was mentioning, and definitely before noon, but just some sunlight in the morning when possible will help to set that rhythm so that you will actually be able to get a better night’s sleep. So we don’t really think about sleep usually in the morning, but this goes back to the natural intelligence of rhythms, which we see in nature. We see the birds.

are practicing their rhythms and there’s so many birds in Hawaii and I usually wake up in Hawaii because I stay in LA time, you four or five in the morning. So there’s this rhythm to when the roosters start to crow. There’s this rhythm to when you hear the bullfrogs come alive and awake. There’s this rhythm to even the wild pigs that live around our land and tear up a lot of our bushes right now. We’re trying to build a pig fence to

very kindly keep them away without harming them or trapping them. We just want them to go over into the nature preserve, which is right next door. But anyways, there is this beautiful rhythm which we can start to tap into. So it doesn’t feel like such a struggle to have energy and to feel your potential of aliveness and vitality, which really is our birthright. You can reset your energy at any time.

Kimberly Snyder (11:58.618)
And you may be in a slump right now, as we all go through. You may be in a period where maybe you’ve been drinking a bit or eating more sugar than usual or more caffeine or your rhythms off. Maybe you did a trip. My friend went to Europe and she said she had so many croissants and so much glue and she was feeling super bloated. It’s okay. Take your detoxi every day for a week or two and get back on track. Clear out your system or do your waterfall cleanse. But we can reset and

more than these grandiose bigger things that we can do like taking a retreat or whatever. The smaller steps really add up. So in terms of morning routine, we talk a lot about having your glowing green smoothie, ideally with your GGP or powerful glowing greens powder, which contains Amalaki, a very rejuvenative plant, which I love to consume every day.

for just keeping your body and your organs so healthy and full of life flow. And I also encourage you to try to incorporate a couple minutes outside in the sunlight. So this could mean if we stack our morning routine, this could mean drinking your lemon water on the porch or meditating in the sunlight, or if you have an early Zoom call. Sometimes I do really early morning shows. So I’m here right in this spot.

But if you could do a Zoom call, if you have a table on your porch or outside, just to get some light, start to make it part of your rhythm or walk in the morning, take your dog on a walk in the morning, whatever it is that will get you outside. And so it starts to build as a really powerful element in your life. The light is spiritually speaking, you know, this is written about in the Bible and the Vedas and all the texts. Energy is essentially light.

frequencies. And in this new book, The Hidden Power of the Five Hearts, there’s this, for those of you watching this, I’ll actually pull up this beautiful graphic, which comes from the Heart Math Institute on page 45 of the book. It says, Measuring the Taurus Field of the Heart, which is so powerful. It means that we are not contained by the skin in our bodies. This field extends eight to 10 feet outside of us. So we are emitting light frequency.

Kimberly Snyder (14:24.108)
And we shift our frequency based on the foods we eat, based on the emotions we’re having, based on our lifestyle, based on our environment. And so this powerful source of light bringing in a different kind of energy into your day, into your body, into your bones is so powerful. So I wanted to start our show off today by talking about this power of the light.

And having, you know, we’ve had shows talking about house plants, which are green, they’re containing sun energy. The chlorophyll is bringing that sun energy through photosynthesis into this physical form. So you guys could come into my kitchen. I’ll show you a little video. There are so many plants in my home. You can see one behind me right now.

There’s more research about how houseplants can actually make people feel more fulfilled and satisfied in their home environment. We covered some of that research. And also, you know, speaking about just this amazing sunlight that, you know, it’s just part of living, it’s part of life. Now on the flip side, let’s talk about some of the research about risks of overexposure before I get into my recommendations.

So a 20, a 2001 study in the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology outlined how excessive UV exposure and sunburn can increase the risk of skin cancer, including melanoma. This is probably something we all know. There’s so much research around this. There can be too much of a good thing, right? And this can be true if you eat, you know, 20 million pounds of tofu every day or spinach, or even you can drink too much water.

in some rare cases or have way too much ashwagandha and not cycle it. There are certain things that in our culture, which tends to favor more and more and more versus balance and discernment, of course can be harmful. So a 2014 study in the Journal of Clinical Optomology supported the connection between UV exposure and cataracts, emphasizing the importance of protective sunwear.

Kimberly Snyder (16:45.71)
where we can have a little bit of self -expression. love sunglasses, a lot of us do. I love the brand Roca, which is pretty durable and comfortable. That’s the brand I wear a lot right now. know, different shape sizes, of course, make sure that you’re getting those polarized lenses, really protecting your beautiful eyes. Research from a 2017 study in the Journal of Tissue Viability further concluded that overexposure to UV radiation accelerates premature skin aging.

and causes most of the visible signs of photo aging, leading to wrinkles, loss of skin elasticity, and pigmentation changes.

This word keeps coming up in these research studies, which is over exposure to UV radiation. So we know we’re going to answer that question in just a moment. What does it mean to be overexposed versus getting an of healthy sunlight on your skin? So hold tight. We’re going to cover that in just a moment. Now, first I want to talk about some ways to safely protect your skin. Now, for me personally, I have a huge

hat that I have here in California. And I have another huge hat that I wear in Hawaii. Day in and day out, I’m taking my kids on morning walks. We go to the neighbor’s farm and we feed the goats carrots. I always have my hat on. I walk here in the mountains. I always have my hat on and my sunglasses. And I go, you know, pretty much

you know, wherever, walks with my husband or playing out in the yard. It’s something that’s become such an integral part of my day and my life and my routine to grab my hat, which sits in my kitchen on a shelf and put it on. So I really encourage you to protect your face and your neck. Now at Saluna, we have a really incredible high potency vitamin C serum, which is made of stabilized ASE2P. It’s really wonderful to protect.

Kimberly Snyder (18:49.802)
and against and repair your skin against the sun, overexposure and environmental toxins and to keep your skin really elastic and beautiful and glowy and healthy. So that’s something I also use twice a day. If you’re really sensitive, you may just want to use it in the evening because it’s quite powerful. But I just want to say that I always cover up my face. Now, not little moments I’m getting into the ocean or whatever, but I encourage you to get hats.

because just that full shade is something I recommend. We want to have beautiful, healthy skin on our face and necks. We don’t want to have premature wrinkles and fine lines. So yes, healthy sunscreen, which we’ll talk about in a moment, but I definitely recommend full coverage. Now, 2011 study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that regular use of sunscreen significantly reduces the risk of developing melanoma. No surprise there.

A 2018 study from the University of Sydney found that sunscreen use can reduce melanoma risk by 40%. So here we go. What kind of sunscreen should we use? So let’s get into this research and then I’ll talk more about my general recommendations. So we hear about all different sorts of sunscreens on the market. A study in the Journal of Toxicology from 2011 talked about

the importance of zinc oxide, provides longer lasting protection compared to some chemical sunscreen agents. We have actually had full conversations on this podcast. Some of them have been a few years old, but about the difference between nonchemical sunscreen, which is essentially repelling the sun off your skin versus chemical sunscreen. And there’s been

you know, talk and discussion about both types. If you are going to choose, I would definitely recommend the nonchemical types, the zinc oxides. And also this different study from 2012 is talking about from the Journal of Science of Total Environment, how non -nanoparticle types of zinc oxide do not penetrate.

Kimberly Snyder (21:08.59)
aren’t getting into the blood brain barrier, right? So you see different things on the labels. What I would recommend, to be quite honest, because you may be listening to this and saying, okay, this is pretty confusing. I don’t know what’s going on here. I don’t know if there’s hidden chemicals. There is an organization I really trust called the Environmental Working Group. We recently had Ken Cook back on here, who’s the president. He’s incredible.

Please listen to that podcast. will list it in the show notes. So, Ken was part of the original lobbying to better the farm bill in the 1980s to create environmental protection, to benefit small farmers. He has been a long -term advocate for the environment. He’s of the heart. He’s a hero.

And the environmental working group has created their skin deep database. So you can basically put in any skin sunscreen brands that you’re thinking about choosing. And they have a rating. So they actually evaluate the ingredients. They evaluate the nanoparticles and the levels of chemicals and certain things that you definitely want to make sure that you’re avoiding. for instance, things like oxybenzone and

octanozate, I think I’m saying that correctly. These are the chemical sunscreens, which can actually have harmful effects in the skin over time. And you want to look for those ingredients, even in tinted moisturizers, certain creams that you may put on your face that can contain these chemicals. We just have to really read labels is what it comes down to.

but if you can get the zinc oxide instead, which is the sunscreens that I put on my kids and on myself, then that’s preferable. Now that’s the research. So we know that the sun is incredible. It could go on and on about the light, how important it is to get some sun. And then we know that overexposure is very harmful. It can lead to skin cancer, can age your skin.

Kimberly Snyder (23:24.046)
can totally dry out your hair. And we know that some sunscreen, non -chemical sunscreen is recommended. But how much sun do we want to use? And where do we want to use the sunscreen? So everybody’s skin is different.

I talked about this at length in the radical beauty book with Deepak Chopra, which you can also check out and read if you’re looking for another book. This came out a few years ago and there was research that I found that talked about getting sunlight on your limbs for about 10 minutes. Now, if you have really sensitive skin, maybe you can only tolerate 30 seconds or two minutes, just a little bit of light penetrating your skin.

Before you’d want to cover up, maybe wear long pants and long sleeves, get out of the sun, put that sunscreen on. Me personally, and I’ll share my personal experience, I do wear sunscreen on my face and my neck, non -chemical, and I do wear a hat and sunglasses. But I like to get sunlight on my limbs, as I just mentioned, especially in the early morning or the late afternoon, and I don’t put sunscreen on my limbs. Now, my children.

especially my older son is very light skin. So there’s sunscreen on his face. We go to the beach. They’re wearing full rash guards, full barrier protection on their backs and their chest and their arms and their legs. so of course, use your intuition and be discerning for your children and for yourself. And

stock your home with sunscreen that you feel really good about. Now, there’s many different brands. I know some of you are probably wondering some of the brands that I choose and recommend. And the truth is that I’m often trying new and different brands. So for instance, I’ve tried that. I mean, there’s so many different brands out there in this, in this, in the skin deep. There’s the tinted moisturizer.

Kimberly Snyder (25:38.11)
from Ilya, which is a beauty company, which may be drier or too oily for certain skin types. There is the sun badger sunscreens that you can get at Whole Foods and places like that. But I really recommend doing research because certain ingredients can be irritable to certain skin types. So my kids,

Do really well with some sunscreens and not with others. It may be very different for your family, but of course keep it around. Find some hats that you love. And also don’t be scared of the sun though. And again, I’m not advocating for burning yourself, but a little bit of sunlight can be incredible. Again.

Get out of the sun as much as you need to. Don’t overexpose. Look for the zinc oxide or titanium dioxide is the other nonchemical sunscreen. But just to remember that in nature, the light is such a powerful way to create those rhythms, to activate the vitamin D, to just change your moods and your energy. So Saluna, the name of our brand is the sun.

and the moon and we need both. That’s why the sun in the morning helps to optimize your circadian rhythms so that you’re able to sleep better in the evening.

I love the sun so much and I’m such an advocate for it. Although again, my skin type is of course darker. So, but even if it’s 30 minutes or wearing protection and getting in the sun, I’m sorry, 30 seconds and just getting a little bit, I think it’s really wonderful and important. I think it’s also important to eat plants that are grown in the beauty of the sun, the lemons when you have your hot water and the lemon.

Kimberly Snyder (27:35.67)
in the morning, just think about that beautiful vitamin C and that sunlight which is directly contained from the sunlight and that’s a way to bring sunlight into your body is through these greens and these plants and the GGS and things that we are eating. Fruit is so powerful in this regard. So I hope this helped to inspire you to get more sunlight but in a healthy way to choose healthier non -chemical sunscreens and to check out that skincare database for more specific recommendations and brands.

And to check out my podcast with Ken Cook, which we’ll link to in the show notes. Perhaps Dr. Suhas would be of interest to you as well. I forgot. I remembered another brand that I wear on my face. It’s called Suntegrity. So thank you so much for being here in our community. I’m really excited for you to read the new book as well, The Hidden Power of the Five Hearts, and to hopefully join our four -week heart reset to check out those new Heart Awakening Recipes.

so can get all the information at mysaloon .com slash five hearts buck. We’ll be back here Monday as always for our next show. Till then sending you so much love right from my heart. Let me know how I can continue to support you. Keep the questions coming and see you back here soon.