Protect Your Skin with Nature's Sunscreen

All-natural SPF solutions that don't involve aerosol sprays and chemicals

It’s mid-July, you’re laying out on the beach, soaking in the rays of the sun. You’re both energized and tired. The feeling of lying there is addicting. Beads of sweat are forming on your skin yet all you want to do is continue napping, reading, and frolicking in the waves.

Does this sound familiar? This is almost every Saturday and Sunday for me in the months of July and August. I crave the sunshine and the salty ocean water. I don’t mind the humidity because I am perfectly content with the sand in between my toes, the sound of waves in the distance, and the hot sun overhead.

As humans, we need the sun for survival. Our body depends on large amounts of sun in the summer to store enough vitamin D to last through the winter. Vitamin D helps us absorb calcium into our bones, boost our mitochondria, and reduce inflammation.

I’m not sure where the latest trend of villanizing the sun came in. Maybe it was made up by some large corporation to sell us a sludge of toxic chemicals to lather on our body to “protect it”. Or, with the rise of skin cancer, the sun became the obvious victim to blame.

However, nature has so many built-in mechanisms to protect us from the sun during the months when it is the strongest. It’s not that we should avoid it entirely, but instead, be strategic about when we are spending time in the sun and what we are eating during these months.

Believe it or not, Mother Nature offers us all the “sunscreen” we need. She offers it in the form of food and circadian patterns. We modern-day humans tend to ignore the gifts she gives us instead of embracing them. We eat foods that aren’t in season, sleep in because we stayed up late the night before, and shield our eyes with tinted coverings.

Hundreds and thousands of years ago, the sun was still around. In fact, the sun is what allowed life to form on Earth. Without it, the Earth would be well below 0 degrees cold without a plant, animal, or human in sight.

The funny thing is, we weren’t getting skin cancer back then, and we were probably out in the sun then more than ever. In fact, skin cancer was extremely rare until the 1980s when rates began to double. So why is the sun now to blame for skin cancer?

Lifetime Risk of Developing Invasive Melanoma in the United States 

Interestingly enough, if you look at the timeline of sunscreen, it was first invented in the late 1940s. It was then popularized and made “water-resistant” in the 60s, and then began booming at the end of the 1970s. It looks to me like that aligns pretty closely with the graph above…

Keep reading to discover what our ancestors did to prevent them from getting sunburnt, despite all of the sun exposure they probably got. Our bodies and nature are smart- they inherently know how to protect us and utilize the life-giving force that is the sun.

Our eyes as protectors (ditch the sunglasses!)

Sunglasses might actually be the reason you get burnt in the sun. Our eyes act as a protective mechanism for our bodies, adjusting the amount of melanocyte-stimulating hormone we produce depending on our sunlight exposure. This melanocyte-stimulating hormone signals our skin to thicken and darken in order to protect us.

When we cover our eyes with UV-blocking sunglasses, our bodies have no idea that we are being exposed to a large amount of UV rays, preventing this hormone from being produced. If this hormone isn’t produced, our skin can’t flex its protective mechanisms, causing us to burn.

In fact, preventing light from entering our eyes affects our entire endocrine system. Sunlight exposure and the release of organ-protecting hormones are directly correlated. Lack of UV light in particular causes hormonal imbalances and skin sensitivity.

Unfortunately, you won’t find much research on this topic. The eyewear industry is a $140 billion industry with 30% of the market share overtaken by just one company. Imagine the devastation of people realizing sunglasses do nothing but harm them. Although, I am the first to admit I occasionally rock a pair for strictly fashion purposes.

Following the patterns of the sun

You’ve probably heard every wellness person and their mother telling you to go outside and get sunlight within the first 30 minutes of being awake. Not only does this help set your circadian rhythm up for success and signal your body to wake up, but it also helps prime your skin for the day ahead.

Morning sunlight contains high amounts of infrared and blue light with virtually no UVA and UVB light. This exposure helps lessen the damaging effects too much UVB exposure later in the day can cause. By doing this, your skin is more primed for the harsher UVB light that comes later in the afternoon.

So, by getting more sunlight in the morning, your body is better able to handle more sun in the late afternoon without getting burnt.

There’s a reason that you don’t see burnt surfers or hikers too often. These people get up early in the morning to beat the heat, exposing themselves to those early morning protective rays. In turn, their skin is sunkissed and not burnt. Whereas if you see a typical beachgoer that steps outside for the first time at 10 or 11 am, they will instantly burn after an hour or two in the sun.

Work in the morning, nap in the afternoon

Let’s tie this back to how our ancestors lived. Heck, even how farmers and ranchers STILL live. They got up early in the morning, at dawn, ready to perform their physical labor for the day. They had to start early in the morning while it was coolest and most bearable, or they would drive themselves to exhaustion.

Our ancestors would hunt at dusk and dawn because this is when the animals were out. Animals are smart- they look for food and water when the day is the coolest. Humans would use this to their advantage and hunt them when they were moving around. In fact, this is a strategy hunters like Sebastian still use.

Our ancestors knew it was smarter to follow the natural patterns of the animals they were trying to kill, in turn following them themselves. After a morning of hard work, at the hottest part of the day, they would rest and spend time out of the sun. They weren’t out baking like little cookies in the midday sun because they knew that wasn’t the way to survive and preserve their energy.

Their bodies were naturally exhausted at the hottest time of day.

If you’re not a hunter, but rather a gardener, this also applies to you. The best time to harvest fruits and vegetables is in the early morning. This is because the plants are refreshed and renewed from the cool night, leading to the best flavor and condition. Hunters and gatherers have always been in the sun early in the morning while resting in the afternoon.

Eating seasonally

Believe it or not, the foods in season during summer contain compounds that protect you from getting burnt by the sun. Nature is inherently intelligent and provides us with exactly what we need in the season that we are in. This is why eating with the seasons is so important.

Tomatoes contain a carotenoid called lycopene which prevents UV damage by depositing itself in your skin. Research has shown that mice who eat a tomato-rich diet have fewer incidents of skin cancer.

Watermelon also contains high amounts of lycopene in its deep red flesh.

Eating 2 1/4 cups of grapes a day has been shown to reduce UV sensitivity by 75%. It’s also been shown to reduce DNA damage and the number of dead skin cells.

An antioxidant high in berries, called ellagic acid, has been shown to reduce the skin’s inflammatory response to UV rays when applied topically.

Avoiding seed oils

Seed oils are never welcome here. However, I’ve recently learned that seed oils could be connected to the rise of skin cancer. If you look at the chart of skin cancer risk included at the beginning of the article, this also correlates with the trend in seed oil consumption.

Really Tan Man

has an article on seed oils and how they cause skin cancer that I recommend checking out.

Instead of consuming canola, sunflower, and grapeseed oil, choose high-quality olive oil, beef tallow, and grass-fed butter instead.

Sunscreen recommendations

I’ll be the first to admit that there are some instances when you need some extra sun protection. Do I believe aerosol, chemical-laden sprays are the best option? Absolutely not.

Instead, opt for a tallow-based mineral sunscreen. I’m lucky enough that Sebastian made us some using local grass-fed beef tallow, extra virgin olive oil, Zinc powder, local beeswax, and essential oils. When I know I’ll be out in the sun for a long time, I apply this to my chest and shoulders. I don’t think it’s necessary to cover your entire body in it- just areas with high exposure.

If you’re interested in this homemade tallow sunscreen, reply to this email and we might be able to send you some.

I also recommend investing in a linen or cotton (natural materials only!) sunhat with a wide brim to protect your face. This adds an extra layer of protection from the sun when needed without the use of any chemicals.

Take action: If you plan on spending the day in the sun, wake up early and get at least 30 min of early morning sun. Incorporate tomatoes, berries, watermelon, and grapes into your diet. Ditch the sunglasses and opt for a linen sunhat instead.

And most importantly, enjoy the sun! There’s absolutely no need to fear it. The sun's rays are way more beneficial than the artificial lighting of the indoors.

☀️ Madison