Diving into the sunscreen issue can make you feel less than “sunny” about your day and definitely put a “cloud” into your investigative efforts. While some scientific and dermatologists will urge you to avoid sun like the plague, some other equally sound evidence may point to the fact than avoiding sun altogether may be causing more damage than good.

So what is our approach?

We recommend, especially living in Chicago with such long winters, as much sun exposure as possible. We ALL need to be outside and we need to do it often. There are many ways to reap the benefits of the big o SUN than just the use of sunscreen (for example, avoiding sunburn by getting in the shade during mid-day scorching sun).
However, if your plans are to spend an entire day outside in the pool or beach, then yes, a little sunscreen could be used. In this case, make sure you use a use a good quality one!. Just like food, not all bananas are created equal (organic or non-organic), not all sunscreens are made with healthy ingredients.

This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but here are some brands we have personally used or are planning on incorporating during our 2019 summer adventures:

1. California baby
2. Bare Republic
3. Beautycounter (we can connect you to one of our patients that sells it!)
4. Coola Suncare
5. Raw Elements

There are many DIY recipes online that you can reference and quite frankly, we are the strongest advocates for this approach. Not only you can make a big batch for less $, but you can know for certain what you apply on your skin. If you do a batch, make sure you share it with your family and your friends! It would be a great way to brighten up their summer : )

Make sure you spend plenty of time outdoors this summer! Vit D in a jar is no fair substitute for naturally occurring, readily available sun!

” Turn your face towards the sun, and all the shadows fall behind you”.

 

Warm hugs to all,
The McKinley Family Chiropractic Team