Thanks for that article Kwan.

I always feel a need to be in the sun. I always have. From the time I was very little I would lay out on the lawn with my cat or sprawled out on the back of a horse soaking it up. It feels like getting a dose of needed medicine for me. When you see every other animal on the planet doing it you gotta think it is a natural thing. I am giving my kids a gradual tan this year to protect them from the sun. I have always reluctantly used sunscreen in the past out of fear of skin cancer. The theory that the skin filtering toxins being pulled out by the sun causes skin cancer made sense to me. After reading past threads on the subject I am nervous about my choice but I felt the article Kwan posted rings true. All we can ever do is educate ourselves and make the best decision based on that.

My personal rules -- and I'm a person who works outside a lot in the spring, summer and fall -- are that I

a) go slow at the beginning of the season, getting used to the sun in small
doses

b) get a nice glowing tan (not dark), but try to never burn

c) wear a hat to shade myself if I think I'm getting too much sun

d) (most importantly): eat raw and detoxify periodically so that my body's
skin cells don't turn into skin cancer cells

Last year I discovered an article by a guy who had a full-blown melanoma on his shoulder. He tried various things -- he was macrobiotic to begin with -- but it always came back (itched and bled), until he water fasted for 3 days, at which point it disappeared! I thought that was pretty cool, that he only had to fast for 3 days to get that kind of a result. Fasting is much more powerful than people realize.

Fasting periodically to prevent unwanted conditions -- is a practice I strongly believe in. We live in a polluted environment and our food supply isn't quite as pure and nutritious as most of us would probably like, so it might make sense.

Just my two cents' worth.

Sharrhan:


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Im against sunscreens. I read somewhere that they cause cancer, not sure how true that it.. not sure how true anything is, for that matter.

I dont like putting any chemicals on my skin. I use aloe after being in the sun for long periods. Aloe reverses any damage if applied within 24 hours(another thing I read, oh no!) But at least its not a chemical, I have the actual plant.

I do the same with my son, who is now 5. He gets aloed up after and he doesnt stay in the sun for hours and hours on end.

I bought a book on additives, so now that I know what they are, Im afraid to use any supplements. I see the whole thing as a magic pill phenomina. Far as I know, there have never been studies on what a half vitamin/mineral does to the body when ingested over long periods of time. vitamins or minerals in supplements are not 'complete', another false Idea I think companies want us to believe. complete would be a whole food.