| The sun cycles endlessly around our planet, or so it | | | | Here are three truths about the sun that also will not |
| seems. Perhaps it makes little difference that it is the | | | | forever be hid: |
| other way around. No matter how much we know | | | | - The truth is that not only does science tell us |
| about it, the sun is a vital part of our lives. | | | | through population studies that cancer increases with |
| Savior or Villain? | | | | less sun exposure but science also tells us how. The |
| It powers up all the essential systems that are | | | | very sunscreen that claims to keep us from cancer |
| necessary for life. It elevates our moods, warms us, | | | | blocks the rays that produce vitamin D in the skin. |
| and gives us light and life. In light of the unending list | | | | Vitamin D has been shown in numerous studies to be |
| of vital good functions, where does this negative | | | | a major line of defense against not just skin cancer |
| charge of evil come from-this charge of causing | | | | but all cancers. |
| cancer? Is the sun really a traitor that, having given | | | | - Add to this the long list of unpronounceable |
| us life abundantly for millennia, turns around and | | | | chemicals in suntan lotion ending in -one, -ene, and |
| betrays us, delivering death in the end? | | | | -ate - that actually cause cancer - and it is no wonder |
| A Simple Answer | | | | fair-skinned populations are cursed with more cancer |
| The most logical answer to this question is simple. All | | | | than their counterparts closer to the equinoctial circle. |
| population studies have shown us that the farther | | | | - Finally, the real cause of sunburn isn't merely |
| we are from the intense sun of the equator, the | | | | exposure to ultraviolet radiation. It is primarily a |
| more cases of skin cancer there are per capita. Go | | | | nutrition problem. When we are deficient nutritionally, |
| figure! A man in Columbia, who works his entire life | | | | the sun's blessing becomes a curse. We need to eat |
| under a relentless sun, has less chance of getting skin | | | | more antioxidant foods like berries and algae. This |
| cancer than a guy who grows up in the fogs of | | | | gives us a natural resistance to sunburn from the |
| Great Britain? | | | | inside out. |
| Another Cycle | | | | The Sun Is Good For Our Health |
| Where did this idea of a cancer causing sun come | | | | Sure, it is not good to go out and burn our skin |
| from then? It comes from another cycle. The | | | | repeatedly through life, as that can cause problems |
| sunscreen industry donates money to non-profit | | | | later in life. We should protect ourselves by staying |
| groups like the American Cancer Society, who | | | | out of the sun at the most intense times of the day, |
| increase their revenues by encouraging people to use | | | | wearing protective clothing and, if we must be in the |
| suntan lotion to prevent cancer. This cycle of "you | | | | sun at the most intense times of day, using natural |
| scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" benefits | | | | sunscreens that have ingredients that are not toxic. |
| everyone but the public. | | | | But we need to remember that the sun is not our |
| "There are three things that cannot forever be hid: | | | | enemy. Moderate exposure to the sun cycle is |
| the sun, the moon, and the truth." -Buddha | | | | healthy. |