Does raw food nutrition help to make the skin more resistant to sun damage and UV radiation?

It probably provides a protection factor of 2-4. But that won't stop you from getting damaged. Studies on animals exposed to less than 1 minimal dose for first reddening have found that a factor of at least 8 in uva and uvb is required to minimize damages, and the damages accumulate.

So on the days you aren't deliberately sunning, you need at least protection factor 8 in both uva and uvb,

On the days you do deliberately sun, you need much more than that, depending on where you are (altitude, location, cloud cover).

Even the darkest Africans can show sun damage if they get enough exposure in too short a time.

This is why I suggest that people still wear wrap sunglasses and protective hats and put sunscreen on their hands and necks at least. Faces, too. I don't want neck rings and jowls, to say nothing of wrinkles.

My experience is yes. My own opinion is that sun is an accellerant. If there are healthy practices and cleansing going on inside you.....and a PURGING of internal blockages, then sunlight will accellerate this. It is a powerful tool, and should be used intelligently. Just as someone who is used to eating 'junk' food might eat an apple and have it 'go right through them' Ha! ha! Fruit can also be a powerful tool for cleansing. ANY of these tools must be used intelligently and reasonably by the person at the level that is right for THEM.

In any event, avoiding sunglasses, wearing protective clothing and limiting sun exposure to non-peak hours should allow a beginner to get used to greater portions of sun, and the subsequent cleansing reactions....while avoiding chemicals.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Here I thought sun glasses made sunburn come on more quickly; The theory being that your eyes can't process the intensity of the sun which hinders your body's protective reaction (tanning). Bunk? Merit?

No, there is no merit. The skin will get burned or not independent of how much light enters the eyes. When they test SPFs of new sunscreens they often use the skin on the buttocks where the face gets no exposure and people still burn or tan as expected. UV is bad for your eyes. Your corneas can get sunburned, cataracts, and worse.

pdf here
[www.cancer.org.au]

But there was one study on the effects of UV radiation and depression--the researchers found that a little bit had to penetrate the eyes for depression to lift. It was a small scale study.

The above posts are great. In my own experience, having been all raw for many years........when I wear no sunglasses and get sun in my eyes, I absorb the sun much better...with little burning. It is my opinion that allowing sun into the eyes helps regulate your absorption of it. This is just my take.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

My experience with/without sunglasses:

I've worked outside in the summer for 3 years in a row, and there was one year that I wore sunglasses. That year, my sensitivity to the sun increased remarkably and I couldn't handle bright sunlight well at all without my sunglasses. Since I stopped wearing sunglasses, I no longer squint in bright sunlight and I'm very comfortable even on a really sunny day.

Hate to refer to Dr. Mercola again (he's wrong on some things, but seems to do his homework on many health issues), but he warns that wearing sunglasses is detrimental because we need to assimilate light through our eyes for optimal health, and sunglasses also wreak havoc on our eyes' ability to respond to light properly.

With regard to sun damage to skin,
My experience has been that I have had a little bit of damage (mostly on my arms) from too much sun, but I refuse to wear long sleeved shirts or sunscreen on hot, sunny days. I think the damage is minimal if you have been raw a long time and are really healthy. One thing I do every spring is go out and get a controlled amount of sun (starting w/10 min., working up to 20 min.) to gradually get my body used to sunlight again, so that when I work and go camping I won't suddenly burn. Seems to really help-- I never get burnt, even when I spend hours outdoors.

Sharrhan:


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