Forget About Toxic Sunscreens and Activate Your Body's Own Internal Sunscreen Instead by Al Sears, MD.

One of the biggest hoaxes of our time is that the sun is bad for you. They tell you to avoid it at all costs and to protect yourself with sunscreen lotion if you dare to venture outside.

Here's the real truth...
Sunscreen lotions block the sun's UV rays, but your skin needs exposure to these rays to make vitamin D. This is a huge problem because vitamin D is a critical nutrient for your body. It's a powerful antioxidant and mood booster that your skin cells make with the help of sunlight.

Research shows that vitamin D is the most potent cancer fighter there is. In fact, a report from Nebraska University shows that vitamin D has the potential to lower the risk of all cancers in women over 50 by 77%.1

Not only do sunscreens block your body's ability to produce vitamin D, their ingredients are toxic and have never been safety tested or safety approved by the FDA.

A study in the April 2004 Journal of Chromatography found that the carcinogenic agents found in sunscreens penetrate the skin. This means that when you use most sunscreens, you absorb toxic chemicals. And with so-called experts telling you to generously apply it every few hours, you are likely absorbing a dangerous amount.
The Centers for Disease Control also reports that 97% of Americans are contaminated with a widely used sunscreen ingredient called oxybenzone. It's linked to allergies, hormone disruption, low birth weights, cell damage, and more. It is also a chemical that helps other chemicals penetrate the skin.2

Other dangerous chemicals found in most sunscreens, such as octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC), kill skin cells. And PABA, also known as octyl dimethyl and padimate O, attacks DNA and causes genetic mutation when it's exposed to sunlight.

Luckily, there's a safer way to protect yourself from sunburn. It's a way to tap your body's own natural sunscreen.

Your body has the ability to protect itself with antioxidants. They fight off the free radicals that attach to cells and create damage from premature aging to cancer. And when it comes to protecting your skin, the most beneficial antioxidant enzyme your body makes is called superoxide dismutase (SOD).

SOD is your first-line of defense against free radical damage, including sunburn. It's an incredibly potent free radical scavenger that wards off cancer, inflammation, and the effects of aging. It's also a potent immune booster with the ability to remove toxins from tissues.

In fact, it's so important to your health that some call it the "enzyme of life." SOD is the first antioxidant your body makes after you're born to protect against free radicals. You can't live without it. In one study, mice whose bodies couldn't make their own SOD died within days after birth from massive free radical damage.3

SOD works with your skin cells from the inside, offsetting the damage that comes with sun overexposure. But, your body's ability to make SOD declines as you age.
Researchers proved SOD's effect in a recent study where they split 50 healthy people into two groups, with one taking a new form of SOD per day and the other a sugar pill. After a month, the SOD group could withstand eight times the amount of exposure to UV rays without developing sunburn -- an 800% increase in protection.4

And unlike chemical sunscreens, SOD won't stop the sun from helping your body make essential vitamin D while you're out walking or gardening or spending time with your family outdoors. You get all the sun's benefits and none of the risks.

The good news is there are ways to easily boost your SOD levels. The best food source comes from goji berries, also called wolfberries. These amazing berries have the ability to boost the production of SOD to more youthful levels. Studies found that treatment with wolfberry increased SOD activity in red blood cells while decreasing levels of harmful compounds in the skin.5

You can now find goji berries in some specialty stores or online. But make sure you get them from a reputable source. Goji berries are grown in several different areas around the world, but the berries that you purchase will probably be from China where it has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years.6

You can also find SOD in capsule form in health food stores. I recommend 500 mg a day.

To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD

References
1. Lappe et al. Journal of the American College of Nutrition. 2006; 25(5):395-402.
2. Gouldin, C. "CDC: Caving to Industry, FDA Delays Safety Standards for Decades", Environmental Working Group, http://www.ewg.org, 3/25/08.
3. Li, et al. 1995. Nature Genetics. 11:376-381.
4. Mac-Mary, M. et al. "Evaluation of the Effect of GliSODin on the Intensity of Actinic Erythema," presented at the CARD (Annual Congress of Dermatological Research) meeting.
5. Barclay, L. Replenishing the aging body's antioxidant defenses. Life Extension Magazine. Jan 2007.
6. Cole, J. Goji Berries: What you need to know about this superfood. www.naturalnews.com. Viewed 2/31/09.

[Ed. Note: Dr. Sears is Chairman of the Board of Total Health Breakthroughs. He has written over 500 articles and 7 books in the fields of alternative medicine, anti-aging, and nutritional supplementation.]

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