Sunshine: Good or Bad?

As the temperatures soar to over 30 degrees and the sun shines above us, millions of people in the UK are currently enduring that inner debate: Shall I, or shan't I?

While the sound of the sea, a gentle breeze and a freshly squeezed orange juice would make the experience even better, most of us still find it hard to resist a lazy day in a deck chair enjoying the feel of the sun on our bodies. But with so many warnings on the damage sun can do to your skin - from premature aging to skin cancer - more and more of us are choosing to stay inside when the sun shines, and look longingly at the bright reflections on the window instead.

But is it definitely healthier to stay inside and cover our bodies up when we have to go out? For many months of the year, we have no choice in the matter - the sun rarely comes out or when it does, on those beautiful winter days, the air temperature insists that we stay wrapped up. So from June to August, when the sun is stronger, this is our only chance to really take advantage of the sun's rays. Are we right to turn that down?

The sun is our best natural source of Vitamin D and Vitamin D has been linked to many health benefits. In the old days people were prescribed sunshine and rest to recuperate from tuberculosis and a recent study by Adit A. Ginde, MD of the Children's Hospital in Boston, seems to endorse that point of view. He found that people with low levels of Vitamin D had a 36% greater risk of developing an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (URTI). People with asthma AND low Vitamin D had a 6 times greater risk of developing a URTI.

But are the apparent benefits of sunshine enough to swing back the pendulum and have us all stripping down to our bikinis with reckless abandon? Well, of course not. Skin aging is a big negative for every 25+ female and skin cancer is quite rightly a very serious condition to avoid. But in this day and age, where we can catch up on Eastenders on our mobile phone or chat to Australia for free on Skype, surely there's a compromise?

The obvious answer to that question is sunscreen. But the anti-sun brigade would say that the low and medium factors don't give us the protection we need, while the pro-sun crew would say that sunblocks will stop our bodies being able to absorb Vitamin D too. So what do we do?

Fret not, I have the answer. We search high and low until we find clever sunscreens - the ones that can filter OUT the bad and keep IN the good. Take Environ's RAD Anti-Oxidant sunscreen as an example. This was formulated by a South African doctor called Dr Des Fernandes, whose early career brought him in contact with skin cancer patients. RAD Anti-Oxidant only has an SPF of 16 so that's thumbs up for the pro-sun crew. But it also has high levels of titanium dioxide which is naturally reflective so deflects the UV rays. And it has lots of anti-oxidants. As "aging" is a result of oxidants, it's not a great leap of faith to think anti-oxidants are going to protect against it. Add to that the fact they absorb into the body, rather than sit on the surface, and suddenly their protection seems a lot "cleverer" too - so that's a thumbs up for the anti-sun brigade.

So sunshine is good AND bad. You just need the tools to manage it. Bit like children really.

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