Sun Exposure | S2E6 (E016)
The sun. Is it good for you? Is it bad for you? These days it feels like its all or nothing on most topics and the sun is one of those that gets divided really quick. Listen to this refreshing take on how to find a personal balanced approach with the sun, and how you can optimize your exposure to benefit your health, yet not damage your health at the same time.
In This Episode
Tanning Beds & Fear of the Sun (03:32)
Vitamin D Synthesis and levels (09:07)
Magnesium helps with Vitamin D Synthesis (see magnesium recommendation below) (10:12)
Best times of day for sun exposure (12:21)
D Minder app (15:48)
Sunscreens (21:11)
Personal Care products and lack of regulation (22:46)
Our favorite sunscreens (24:30)
Resources Mentioned
Transcript
Toréa Rodriguez 0:08
Welcome to the Wildly Optimized Wellness podcast. I am your host, Toréa Rodriguez. And I'm joined by the lovely co host, Evie Takacs. Both of us our Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioners and we love working with women from all over the world, through our virtual programs, helping women not only feel better, but actually achieve that vibrant, no holds barred version of themselves, they've been missing for a long time, and how we actually get there. Well, that is what this show is all about. Now, please keep in mind that this podcast is created for educational purposes only and should never be used as a replacement for medical diagnosis or treatment. And if you like what you hear today, we would love for you to hit that follow button, leave a review in Apple podcast, share with your friends, and keep coming back for more. Let's start today's adventure shall we?
Okay, welcome back, everybody. So today, Evie and I want to talk to you about sun exposure. I think this is an important topic for me. So for anybody who is watching on the video, you'll notice that I have blonde hair and fair skin. And some exposure has been something that I have been not berated but definitely like told a lot about like people have I've been mansplained to I've been like told and advised things about sun exposure my entire life. So I wanted to talk about sun exposure and how it can be used as a way to optimize our wellness and our health and increase health. And, you know, maybe give some practical tips. So Evie, when you were young, when was the first time that you recall being aware of sun exposure, sunburn, and that kind of thing, and how that could cause a problem?
Evie Takacs 2:10
For me, it was fairly early I not in terms of like mansplaining, or anything like that it was more just my parents being very cautious. Because really, when I was younger, in the summers, we spent most of our summers in Greece visiting family. So we were in when my mom, she would take us there by herself, usually because my dad stayed back to work. So we'd be with my cousins or my aunt or my grandparents and we'd be at the beach all day, what else are they going to do with three little kids? So we would be in the sun most of the day. And so I remember just having like constant re application of the sunscreen and, you know, trying to go sit under a tree, because if you didn't have an umbrella, like at least get in the tree or go in the water or do something so you're not laying out in the sun all day. Yeah, so it was pretty apparent early on that the sun is good for us. Right. And I think a lot of people in the Mediterranean value that but also like being cautious about it to have, you don't want to be in all day. And there was a lot of like, you need to wear a hat and make sure you have a hat when you go outside. And yes. So again, it was early on. And it wasn't honestly until like high school when I actually started to question like, is this actually like a bad thing? Because that's when I started hearing about skin cancer. And I started hearing about, like the tanning beds and all these things. And so it's been this roller coaster of not being afraid of the sun and then being afraid of the sun. And then where I'm at now, which is like, I'm not afraid, but I'm aware type of thing.
Toréa Rodriguez 3:32
Yeah, yeah, I would say I had a very similar upbringing as you minus the Greece trips, of course, but just growing up in the summer things to do almost always involved water, a lake or playing by the river or going to the pool, those kinds of things. And it was great. But I also remember the being the oh gosh, I was that kid in the little kids swimming class, right with the bucket hat on my head with my swimsuit in the water, like being told, hat stays on, even if it's wet. And not just my nose, but like my whole face was white from the zinc oxide cream that was put on my face. Like, I was mortified. Because I was the only kid that was that way. And then you know later on just learning about things like UVA and UVB and tanning beds were super popular when I was growing up in high school, like, you gotta be tan, you got to be tan. And everybody was looking for that golden tan. So they were going to these UV beds, which kind of creepy actually. And I think I'd got into a place like you where I started to become very afraid of the sun because skin cancer became somewhat prevalent in my family and so, you know, everybody was talking about the sun as if it was this damaging horrible thing. And I kind of went the opposite direction. And didn't, I wouldn't go outside during the day or I'd seek out shade purposely or I'd be the person who's wearing, you know, long sleeves and the big hat and maybe not quite zinc oxide, but definitely layers and layers of sunscreen and not getting any sun whatsoever. It isn't a surprise to me that my vitamin D status when I got sick was like 18 was really low. Right? Yeah, it's really low. So, you know, you would think that there? Well, I guess I don't, I can't say you would think that there would be a balance established by then. Because I think at that point, I still had this fear of the sun.
Evie Takacs 5:47
Well, I think it's, it's like the same thing. The tanning beds were big. I mean, they weren't. I remember, like, my, my brother and my sister in law are about eight to nine years older than me. And so I remember when they were in high school, they were really, really popular. Because, you know, she'd go for prom, and homecoming, and you know, all these things. And so I know a lot of the girls were doing that, who were older than me. And then as I got older, and I got to that age, people were still doing it. And I mean, I've done that too, occasionally. But I don't feel like they're as popular. But it was like I did it. And then I learned like, wow, this is really bad for you. And so then I got scared. And then also what I'm seeing with the women, my age is, you know, I don't know if this, to me, this is new, this is new in my world, but a lot of women, late 20s have started doing like Botox and filler. And they're going to do like these, like nurse practitioners who are doing esthetics. And so I learned and picked up on like, they're being taught by these people, that sun is really dangerous and damaging to your skin. So like, if you're doing all these treatments, you're paying all this money for these creams, and these lotions and this like stab at the sun. So it's like, it's funny, because I've worked with people and then I have friends personally who, like, do all that stuff. And so they are like really, really cognizant of not ever being out in the sun, like, you know, always checking into cats and all the sunscreen and this, but to the point where now they're freaked out by the sun. Yeah. And so every time we go out somewhere, I'm like, well, I'll get the seat that's in the sun, like, that's fine with me, or, you know, I'll be in the pool chair that doesn't have complete shade. Yeah. And so it's been interesting for me to see that of like, just this big transition of like, again, being afraid of it or being not aware of it, and then now being aware of it, and then you're getting it from multiple parts of your life, depending on what you're into what you're investing your money into. So that's been interesting. And then again, there's like this, this pool of like, well, we also do need sunlight, we need that vitamin D. So I don't know that I think this is totally something that a lot of us are kind of contemplating.
Toréa Rodriguez 7:44
Yeah, you know, it's, it's, it's one of those things where I got to this place of being totally afraid of the sun, and then kind of flipped a little bit where, okay, I can't be afraid of the sun because the sun being out in the sun, I feel good when I'm out in the sun. Right? It's like, I don't have to be out all day long, right? I remember growing up where I grew up in Colorado, we were around a bunch of ranchers and farmland, and the guys that were on these ranches, like the people that lived on these ranches for a long period of time, like they would be the ones with the like leathery skin, right, they would work out in the sun all day long at altitude, because almost all of Colorado is at altitude. And so, you know, they were really bearing the effects of it. And I didn't know like, did they have skin cancer or not or any of those things, but you could see the changes in the, the skin from it. So I kind of went back and forth because I knew that I felt better in the sun. Like when I go and spend 20 minutes in the sun at a time of the day where it's not super like heavy duty UV index. You know, I feel good. It helps my mood. So I know that that's a good thing. And then I also know that it helps us synthesize vitamin D through our skin, like how magical is that, that our skin can create this hormone vitamin D, which helps us balance our immune system. And it took me a long time to build up vitamin D because in the beginning, I mentioned that, you know, when I first got sick, we tested my vitamin D It was like 18 It was super, super low. So I started dosing a bunch of vitamin D supplementation, but it wouldn't budge. And finally, it started to budge when I added both the sun exposure and vitamin D supplementation. And so now it's definitely at a much healthier level. But yeah, I think I've waffled back and forth with this, like fear of the sun and loving the sun and Ooh, maybe that's a little bit too much. So I'm going to be afraid of the sun. It's been a weird relationship, actually.
Evie Takacs 9:48
Yeah, I know. And I'm glad that you mentioned that. Okay. dosing it you know, with oral supplementation for vitamin D sure, that might have helped a little bit but you started to notice a big difference when you were actually out in the sun because I've heard that from a lot of people there, yeah, they'll say, Well, I take vitamin D, and it's still, you know, I'm still not feeling like I think I should and, and so I think that's a big component to remember is that, okay, that's great that you're taking it, but synthesizing it is different. And actually, magnesium can help that as well. So magnesium is a wonderful mineral, and that can actually help your vitamin D in your body too. So I think that's really cool that that works. In conjunction with, you know what, most people are taking vitamin D, at least in America. Yeah. So I just thought that was really cool. When I learned that I was like, wow, like magnesium is something that most people are taking either on their own, or it's already in like a multivitamin. So I'm like, well, that's also cool, because it's, it's working synergistically in that way.
Toréa Rodriguez 10:40
Yeah, it's really fun when we find these cofactors right, to help things be a little bit more effective. Very cool. We'll post that in the notes, we'll find this study, because I know you I know, you saw a study somewhere, so we'll find it, we'll post it in the show notes. So yeah, you know, I think a lot of it does come from balance. And I think one of the things that I learned about sun exposure was this UV index, right. And now you can get a UV index on a typical weather app, like almost all of them have a UV index, which is awesome, because then you can see that the intensity of the UVA and the UVB rays are less, from sunrise to about, I'm going to use very generalized times of day here, but to about 10am, then they get really intense until about 2pm. And then it starts to drop off and depending upon where you are, and your relationship to the equator, and the angle of the sun and the sky. And I'm sure you don't want to do that level of cartography and astrology. But you know, that will really help you get an idea of when can you spend more time outside versus less time outside. So as a rule of thumb, Evie, what's your like, time outside meter without any protection?
Evie Takacs 11:56
I feel comfortable with about like, 30 to 45 minutes for me personally. And also, that depends on time of day, like you were just talking about. If it's early in the day, I'm pretty comfortable without sunscreen for longer periods of time. If it's later if it's like that 12 to 2pm than if I'm out there for about 2030 minutes. I'm like, Okay, it's time to get some stuff on me. Yeah. And also not just time of day, but time of year. Good. So for example, here in Cincinnati, this past weekend was an absolute tease of you know, summer and just it was gorgeous. And like you said, you feel better out in the sun. I I literally feel like my batteries are charging in the sun. Yeah, like I like, like I could do a little like shimmy a whole body shimmy of like, my batteries are charged now. Which I do I go inside. And I tell my husband like I think my batteries are charged and I'll shimmy. But being out there. I was outside for quite a few hours this weekend. And since it's been gray for months here, you know, more so than sunny. I started to feel not as good earlier than I would have maybe in July when I'm used to that sunlight. Yeah. So it really depends like early in the spring. And in the late spring, early summer, when the sun's starting to come out and you're really starting to get higher UV rays or UV index, I will be very cautious of how much time I spend consecutively outside versus in the summer. I can usually handle it because I'm used to it by then.
Toréa Rodriguez 13:20
Yeah. And the process of tanning is us building up melanin in the skin cells, right. So some of us have a lot more than others. But that process does take exposure to build that up. And that's it's a protective mechanism. It's part of how our bodies have been resistant to UV radiation is through increasing that melanin. And so you bring up a really good point because I remember, you know, growing up, well, how many times do I have to learn this lesson? Which is in the spring, right? The sun is out. It feels amazing. I love being out there and I push it a little bit too hard. And guess what? I get a nice sunburn. Yeah. And that's not what I was going for. And that's my reminder of Oh, right, I need to make sure that I've set a timer and I don't forget and stay out too long. Or that I need to start using sunscreen a little bit more. That kind of thing.
Evie Takacs 14:19
Yep. And I actually this is something that I learned recently as well. As you know, I've been really into red light therapy. Yes. And I did learn and we'll put this in the show notes as well. I learned that if you red light before you got in the sun, you decrease your chances of actually getting sunburn. You actually awesome. Yeah, you're essentially you know, put it in layman's terms. You're you're priming your skin for that exposure so that you're not going to burn either at all or as much. I was speaking to the owner of a red light therapy company and he was sharing that with me and he said that he takes his lights everywhere obviously and when they go to the beach a lot and he said that we'll all do red light before we go on the beach. Ah, and he said, if we do happen to get sunburned, we do red light at night. And that really significantly helps get that pink down. And it's not it's not as hot or as red to the touch, right? Like you can actually lay on your side or whatever. So I thought that was really interesting to really cool how that affects you from a cellular level to prepare your body to get that sort of exposure.
Toréa Rodriguez 15:19
That's kind of nice, because slathering with aloe vera gel right before you go to bed. It makes your sheets stick to your skin. And that's kind of annoying. So yeah, I like the idea of being able to do red light, in addition to maybe some cooling aloe vera gel on top of a burn. That's really cool. Yes. Yeah, that's really cool. I think one of the tools that you and I both love so much, is an app that we use on our smartphone called D. minder. Do you want to tell people what D minder is all about?
Evie Takacs 15:48
Yeah, D minder is an app that you can download on any phone. And when you first set up your account, you tell them where you are, right? So you put in your zip code, though you can have them use, you know, the, like the map to find you and like look, turn on location services, so they'll know exactly where you are, they know the elevation at which you are. So they have all this information geographically where you are. So it's very accurate. They'll also ask about your skin tone. So you know, do you burn easily? Do you not burn easily? How much time do you spend out in the sun? Do you supplement orally, so they get all this information that's applicable. And what it does is it actually tracks UV index, and it tracks your sun exposure. So you could see how many IUs of vitamin D you absorb or that you're getting exposed to in the sun. It'll also send you notifications, if you turn them on of like the sun is that 30 degree elevation or solar noon is happening in 10 minutes, which is what Toréa was talking about, which is like the highest UV index of the day. So that's like the you know, maybe 10, or I'm sorry, 12 to 2pm or something like that. And then it'll tell you when the sun is dropping back down. So it tells you how strong that UV index is all day long. So that you know when you're out like hey, do I need to put some sunscreen on or am I gonna need to take this with me to reapply. And it's nice because you can track your sun exposure. So you might start a what they call a sun session. And you can say I'm going to be out in the sun starting now. And you said that said literal timer on the app, and you can put how much skin is exposed. So you know, 30% to 100%, if you're completely nude or 70%, whatever it is. And again, it knows where you are given the information that you've provided. So it knows what that light is and that exposure that you're getting. So it knows how many IUs you're getting in that time and then you stop the timer. And then it'll tell you you've accumulated this much IU of vitamin D. And again, if you don't actually do a sun session, and that way you can go back and backlog. And that's what I often do, I don't usually take my phone out and have it sitting in the sun with me. But I'll usually say I was outside for 30 minutes from this time to this time. And it'll calculate how many IUs I got. And that's been really helpful. Because the way that I use that is I will start decreasing my oral vitamin D in the summer time because I do tend to be outside more frequently. Yeah. So as long as my levels are looking good with testing and all of that, and I double check that with my doctor, then I feel comfortable decreasing my oral because I know that I'm getting it outside. And that again is synthesizing that vitamin D production from the from what I'm getting in the sun with what I'm taking orally.
Toréa Rodriguez 18:14
I love it. D minder has been really helpful for me as well, because I tend to burn easily unless I have really slowly you know, gotten myself the sun exposure have been out 15 minutes a day for a good portion of the summer, I won't burn. But definitely in the spring I burn, right so when I burned easily is when I use it the most to help me kind of gauge how much time I should be in the sun and how much sun exposure I'm getting. And I love that it shows me much more detailed information about the UV index than, say a weather app. But it does give me a lot more guidance in terms of okay, I've gotten this many IUs vitamin D generated, it's calculated, of course, it's not going to be fully accurate, but it's enough. And at that point, I can say okay, great if I want to continue being in the sun, same gardening or doing something outside and I want to stay out in the sun, riding the bike or playing with the dog or whatever that happens to be, I can then choose to then put on sunscreen so that I can extend my time in the sun or choose to wear longer sleeve clothing. If it's not hot as like Dallas, Texas hot, you know, or wear hat or find shade or whatever that happens to be it helps me make choices and balance that sun exposure. A lot more than this, like all or nothing fear based place that I used to be in. Right.
Evie Takacs 19:40
Yeah, yeah, definitely. It's helpful to make the in the moment decision and kind of plan out your day. So I know that if today's going to be sunny and I do have a time block to get outside but it's going to be high UV and I already am a little red from this weekend or whatever. Then I'm going to go out prepared actually, maybe I will already start out with some sun screen on. Yeah. So I do like that you can kind of titrate your, your dose of sunscreen and also a vitamin D in that way.
Toréa Rodriguez 20:07
Yeah, it's really, really nice. I mean, some of my rules of thumbs that I will use is really just thinking about what are my activities that I've got going on today, maybe it's a weekend. So maybe I want to throw in some gardening and a bike ride, and maybe go with some friends to the beach, or whatever it looks like it's going to be a day, all of sun, I will try and target some of those activities to be in the morning where I'm not wearing sunscreen, and then just commit to the sunscreen for the rest of the day. Sometimes it may not be nearly that much. So depending upon what that task is, maybe it's just weeding the garden or picking some vegetables out of the garden. And it's only going to take me 20 minutes, I may just choose to do that at a lower UV intensity, just because I'm the one who tends to fair skin, burn a lot. Right. So that helps me manage it without using a ton of sunscreen. Maybe we can talk about sunscreens a little bit. I think so might be some better options versus Coppertone?
Evie Takacs 21:11
Yes. Thank you. Yeah. And that has got I mean, I think the whole concept or conversation of sunscreen has gotten pretty popular in the past few years, especially in the community of I mean, even just, I mean, yeah, I think in the community of, you know, non toxic products and wanting to be more careful about what we're exposing ourselves to in our kids to absolutely, that's important too, because I mean, we all have seen the kids that just are just white at the pool or at the beach, it's like a little little Toréa's running around. Yeah, like glowing in the sun because of this white sunscreen. And so, you know, it's just, I think a lot more people are aware of, hey, wait a second, we're putting these things on us to protect us from the sun. But the actual product itself is harmful in certain ways to absolute. So yeah, I think definitely, there's a lot of confusion. And so it'll be good to talk about that.
Toréa Rodriguez 22:04
Yeah, you know, I think sunscreen falls into that camp of a personal care product, or a beauty product, right. And here in the United States, there is very little regulation around safety of the compounds that go in these products. And there are several documentaries out about this now. So maybe we'll link to some of them one that I just recently watched was called Not So Pretty on HBO max. And you know, it highlights these issues once again around the the beauty in the personal care product industry and how it's just not regulated and how companies have been able to put whatever the F they want to put in these products. And you know, sunscreens you know, I grew up in the 70s sunscreens were pretty basic back then, like zinc oxide was the full on white, pasty zinc oxide. Yet, then they started to add things into them like tanners, right, the copper tone, bronzers. And like, all of those extra things, the scent, the fragrance like all of this stuff, and it's slowly over time morphed into a product that now we know is linked to killing off the reefs, and Hawaii and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, like it's destroying the environment. And if it's destroying the environment, you can wonder like, the stuff is soaking through our skin, right, we absorb a lot of things to our skin. So it does bear to talk about this, because I want to make sure that if people are going to be getting really healthy exposure to the sun and spending more time out in the sun instead of being afraid of it. Let's also make sure that we're using sunscreens that are both good for the environment and good for us.
Evie Takacs 23:55
Yeah, definitely. That's something that I've had to pay more attention to, and that I share with my family because I have nephews and you know, I've, I have family members who are a little bit more cautious than I am in the sun or at least more conservative, right? And so I share with them like, Hey, I get that and that's fine. But if you are going to be using this, here are some things to look for. Yeah. And one of my favorite things and that you and I both share with clients is, you know, there's a couple resources on how to look for products that are going to be non toxic for the human body good for the environment. So what is your favorite type of sunscreen?
Toréa Rodriguez 24:30
I have two brands that I love and you were saying that there's different resources. Now there's the Healthy Living app that EWG does. There's a couple other ones and we'll link to those in the show notes but one brand is called COOLA. One of the reasons why I picked these two brands is because they're both oxybenzone free. Now I don't expect anybody to like know what oxybenzone is but I will say it's the compound that has been linked to destroying the reef ecology. And so oxybenzone free sunscreens is something that I look for as well as the other ingredients too. But that's just a easy rule of thumb is you can find those. But COOLA is a brand that has that. And then Beautycounter also has a brand of sunscreen that I really love due to its like ease of portability, they've got a stick, and they've got a spray. And those are super easy. Coola has got a spray that I like to use. So those are my two favorite brands. What about you?
Evie Takacs 25:30
Those are actually my two as well, you introduced me to quit Awesome. Yeah, so I am going to have to re up on sunscreen for the summer. So I might end up trying the other option from them. I've used beauty counter as well. And I like that too. Yeah, I like their face one. I'm very particular with things that I put on my face. Because I tend to break out and so I'm I like that Beautycounter that's worked for me as well. I don't feel like it's like greasy or anything or shiny or anything like that. So that makes me feel comfortable. But yeah, those are my two as well.
Toréa Rodriguez 26:01
And another resource, a guest that we've had on the show previously MAK, she actually did a whole blog post on environmentally friendly and human friendly sunscreens. And so we'll link to that blog post as well. And you guys can figure out because MAK is doing so many sports and stuff and watersports, that she's got a lot of like waterproof sunscreens that she's found that are environmentally friendly and healthy for humans as well. So we'll link to that. But yeah, those are my favorites. And I think like you having something that I can put on my face, because my face is usually the thing that I'm never really covering up. I'm such a rebel when somebody says, Hey, you should wear a hat. I'm not a hat girl. So I tend to almost always use face sunscreen and having something that isn't too thick and goopy, has minerals in it that will still reflect the UVA and UVB but not make me look like a ghost complete ghost with the the zinc oxide, right? That is something that I'm using almost every day, spring to fall when I'm in a sunny environment. And then I'll use the other types of sunscreens in other locations, depending upon the activity that I'm doing. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So hopefully, this was a helpful episode for you. So that you find a way to balance your sun exposure, I think that's really the the, if there was one takeaway at all, it's find a way to balance your sun exposure, because it's not all bad. And it's not a free for all, you can be in the sun all the time without any protection whenever you want, either. So, you know, finding that way to balance and using I think D Minder is one of the most amazing apps there is, you know, to help us manage that and just really kind of be cognizant of when to use the sun and set yourself some limits. So you know, every talked about her limit, I would say that my limit is probably about 20 to 30 minutes, and then I'm reaching for, you know, some kind of cover of some sort. So that would be my takeaways. Anything else Evie?
Evie Takacs 28:07
Yeah, again, I just I think it's important that we're not demonizing the sun, because again, I feel like in some of the circles of friends or circles of networks that I have, I hear a lot about that. And so it's really hard to, I understand that there's a lot of fear around it for good reason, because it can definitely be, you know, harmful to health, but it's also extremely life giving and very beneficial to us. And so it's all about that balance and finding out what that means to you. And I hope that D Minder can be a kickstart for you, if you don't know what that balance is for you. I mean, I certainly feel much more in tune with what's appropriate for me, thanks to that app. So I do recommend using that so that way you don't feel like you're scared to be out in the sun or you don't know how much to do. So hopefully that's helpful as well as a takeaway.
Toréa Rodriguez 28:52
Yeah. And as a like preview, we've got an episode coming up in Episode 7. We're going to talk about the light spectrums in detail that come from the sun, so stay tuned for that in episode 7.
Evie Takacs 29:05
Yeah, I can't wait for that. Thanks, everybody.
Toréa Rodriguez 29:13
Hey, thanks for joining us for this episode of the Wildly Optimized Wellness podcast. If you're ready to dig deeper into your health, stop playing the Whack-a-Symptom game, start testing to get better guidance, you can find more about Toréa at torearodriguez.com and you can find Evie at holisticallyrestored.com. Want a peek into what it's like to work with us? Come join us at our Optimized Wellness Community. You can find the invitation link in the show notes below. And if you have a question for the show, you can submit your question under the podcast section of torearodriguez.com. Finally, if you found something helpful in this episode, don't forget to leave a review, hit that follow button or share it with a friend. They're gonna love that you thought of them. Until next time, see you outside!
