Your risk of sunburn and other skin-related diseases increases with repeated exposure to the sun’s harmful rays. Some of the skin problems that over-exposure to the sun can cause includes rough spots, dark spots, dry or wrinkled skin, and even melanoma which is skin cancer.
Wearing sunscreen is a common practice that can provide protection from the sun’s harmful rays. However, this alone may not be enough to protect your skin from the sun and avoid skin-related problems. The good news is that you can increase your level of protection in the sun by using some natural sun protection remedies. These natural remedies or natural ways to protect your skin from the sun are discussed here.
4 Natural Sun Protection Remedies
Here, we will look at some natural remedies to protect your skin from the sun. However, before we get to that, here’s some advice to find a good sunscreen. When choosing a sunscreen, the first thing you’d want to ensure is that it provides protection from both UVA and UVB rays of the sun.
The next most important thing is choosing a sunscreen with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) rating of 30. SPF 30 is recommended because it blocks more than 95% of the sun’s UVB rays. This will help to avoid sunburn. Now, we can start with the 4 natural ways to protect your skin from the sun.
1. Avoid All Inflammatory Foods
Repeated or excessive exposure to the sun’s UV rays can cause sunburn. Sunburn is basically an inflammation of the skin. Therefore, it would be wise to avoid all inflammatory foods, like processed foods, vegetable oils, sugars, and grains. We should be avoiding these things anyways but especially during the summer.
2. Eat Foods High in Carotenoids and Lycopene
Another natural way of protecting your skin from the sun is eating foods and vegetables that are high in carotenoids and lycopene; these are basically fruits and vegetables that are dark orange and dark red. Think carrots, tangerine, pumpkin, grapefruit, etc.
Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory that prevents environmental agents from harming the skin. More importantly, it blocks UV penetration to protect the skin from sun damage. On the other hand, carotenoids contain antioxidants that help to protect the skin from UV light exposure.
Tomatoes are really high in lycopene. However, tomato paste has an even higher quantity of lycopene. So, what you would want to do is take two tablespoons of tomato paste the day before going to do to the beach or on a camping trip to ensure protection from the sun’s harmful rays.
3. Take in a Lot of Vitamin C and Vitamin D
You would also want to get a lot of vitamin C to ensure protection from the sun. When you're taking in a lot of vitamin C, it helps build collagen, which has anti-inflammatory properties. Building collagen helps repair your skin from sun damage.
Foods high in vitamin C include vegetables like capsicums, broccoli, and Brussel sprouts, and citrus fruits like guava, orange, and lemon. You can also try a natural, Australian-made product containing limes like
Australian sea salt body scrub.
The natural product can not only protect the skin from the sun, but it can also repair damaged skin to revitalize and rejuvenate it. The best part? You have to pay only $25.95 for these benefits.
While the Sun provides vitamin D, taking it like this helps to increase sun tolerance and protection against sun damage. Foods that are a good source of vitamin D include egg yolks, fatty fish, salmon, orange juice, and dairy products like cheese.
4. Use Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is rich in saturated fats, medium-chain fatty acids, and vitamin E. The fatty acids in coconut oil can act as a natural moisturizer. On the other hand, the vitamin E in the oil can help to reduce inflammation of the skin caused by UVA and UVB rays; it can do this by acting as a natural antioxidant.
If you have sunburn or sun damage, then apply about 1/4 a cup of coconut oil a day to the affected skin areas. Don’t apply all the coconut oil at once. Instead, apply it at three different times of the day, such as in the morning after waking up, during the afternoon after lunch hours, and in the night before going to sleep. Do this for a few weeks, and you will start to a positive change in your skin.
As seen above, you don’t need to buy expensive sunscreen to protect your skin from the sun. Instead, you can use some natural remedies and natural products that are known to provide protection against the sun’s harmful rays.