Sunscreen vs. Vitamin D

[crunchy_mommy]

Not sure if this is the best place to post this, please move if it's not!!!

Do you use sunscreen (particularly on your kids)? What kind? Do you use it all the time? My biggest concern is that using sunscreen every time we go outside would block Vitamin D absorption. But it's only April & DS (14 mos) has already gotten a (very mild) sunburn twice. He has very fair skin. I also tend to burn more easily the last couple of years. So what to do? Do you use sunscreen & then supplement with Vit D? Do you use sunscreen sometimes, or use a lower SPF? And what brands of sunscreen are natural/no chemicals? (or is there something else we can use to do "homemade sunscreen"?)

We can't just stay in the shade all the time, the playgrounds are all in the sun, our backyard is mostly sun, etc. plus then he still wouldn't be getting any D!

[Marnica]

This is an issue for us too, being very fair skinned and burn easily.

So the first 15-20 minutes I try to have us be au natural without any sunscreen (myself and DS), This will generate a good amount of d and usually is not long enough to get a burn. After this though, especially if the sun is very strong, the sunscreen has to go on, or clothing (and when its hot who wants long sleeves and long pasts on??)

We DO NOT use conventional sunscreen. It is loaded with toxic chemicals that actually increase one's risk of skin cancer. The chemical you want to avoid are Benzophenone, Disodium EDTA, and Padimate O. You want a natural sunscreen that uses zinc oxide and natural minerals to block uva and uvb rays. There are many natural brands on the market. Avalon organics, Badger, Burts bees to name a few. Just make sure you read all the ingreients and make sure there is no hidden crap in there. It should just be the minerals and essentials oil, shea butter or other natural moisturizers.

The Environmental Working Group did a report on sunscreen safety. It has along of info
http://www.ewg.org/cosmetics/report/...ry-of-findings

Thats not to say all the natural ones are great. Many use nano-technology whoch may not be safe. Check here for results as to what brands are the safest. http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/bro...reens=1&best=1

[deditus]

We don't use sunscreen unless we will be in water for an extended period of time. We have used UV Natural Baby brand (the same tube, I think it is expired now!) for the last couple years and it has worked great. I use ewg.org's research to guide my choices, I see there are products rated safer now.
I did find that with adequate saturated fat intake, we burn way less.

http://www.ewg.org/cosmetics/report/...type=sunscreen

[kjbrown92]

I found that once I started eating more fat (at least I eat a lot more fat than I used to, coconut oil, animal fat, nuts, etc.) and started supplementing D (I was low), I don't burn anymore (very fairskinned; my only colors were red and white for years). I put sunscreen on my kids and me IF we're going to be out on the water. Otherwise, we don't use it. And they don't burn.

[MountainMamaGC]

I am fair skinned too and I rarely get burned. I dont put sunscreen on us unless we are going to the lake for the day. DD has a sunshade on the pack we carry her in on hikes so she doesnt get burned, plus the shade from the trees helps. We dont go to the park long enough to get burned. Maybe an hour.

I use mineral sunscreen when we do use it.

[Addy's Mom]

I let my son play for 1/2 hour to an hour before putting on sunscreen, precisely for the Vitamin D benefits. However, he's medium-complexion and does not burn. I'd probably reduce that to 15 minutes or so if he were fair, but sunburn prevention comes first in my book.

We use Blue Lizard. It has 5% zinc oxide and titanium oxide and they just came out with a paraben free version. It's super-waterproof too.

We also supplement with Vitamin D through the diet, but everything I've read said it's just not as good as from sun exposure.

[tanyalynn]

Google for studies that increased the amount of time it takes to burn in the sun by supplementing omega-3s. Given that typical diets are really imbalanced between omega-3 and omega-6, and it takes quite a while to change the fat composition of your body, it seems to have a lot potential, albeit not so much for next week or next month. But the studies saw improvements within a few months. I don't know of any studies that looked at reduction of omega-6s, but that may be a different approach to fixing the same issue.

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/search?q=sunburn

Here's a series of blog posts, with some linked citations, discussing related issues.

And anecdotally, since I significantly changed our diet, really upped our saturated fat and reduced sources of omega-6s, it takes a lot longer for me to burn. Being a white person living in Texas, that's been really useful. It took a while, I didn't supplement anything with omega-3s, I don't know how long it would take for most folks to see a change without supplementation.

[KimPM]

I am extremely fair skinned (I have red hair). Between my freckles, I can't tan at all...there's just no pigment there. Therefore, I have no natural protection. So, I use sunscreen...but not all the time. If I'm going out for 15 minutes or 30 minutes, I don't bother. If I'm just going out to the store, I don't bother either. It normally takes me about 30 minutes to start noticing a burn and I'm in Maryland. But if I was in Florida or similar, I'd have to use sunblock if I was just going out for 5 minutes or more. That's how short it took me to start noticing a burn when I visited Florida. (I have always wished I could have a nice olive complexion that can tan well.)

DS has a little ability to tan, but is still probably what everyone else is calling fair skinned. So I let him get a little bit of sun, but if we will be out for long I use mineral (titanium dioxide) sunblock on him (SUN by Alba Botanica) He gets supplementary vitamin D. I am also on high-dose vitamin D.

[mom61508]

Originally Posted by deditus

We don't use sunscreen unless we will be in water for an extended period of time. We have used UV Natural Baby brand (the same tube, I think it is expired now!) for the last couple years and it has worked great. I use ewg.org's research to guide my choices, I see there are products rated safer now.
I did find that with adequate saturated fat intake, we burn way less.

http://www.ewg.org/cosmetics/report/...type=sunscreen

This us us too. I rarely use it and If I'm out for a long time I will get in the shade or have umbrellas at the beach. DD doesn't burn easily If at all but I will put a natural sunblock on her If we are you for a long period(1 hour or longer) of time but I think it's important If you're not super faired skinned to get at least 15-30 mins without sunblock for your D

I also think it depends on where you're at. For example we were in FL the past 3 weeks the sun is very strong there so I'm a little bit more careful but now we are in VA and the sun isn't as strong so I'm more lax about it.