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Showing posts from July, 2010

An Exhaustive Search for the Right Sunscreen

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We do need to spend some time in the direct sunlight to absorb Vitamin D. Vitamin D is crucial for many bodily functions to operate optimally, but as a result of our efforts to protect ourselves against the dangerously damaging aspects of the sun's rays, many people are Vitamin D deficient. You really only need about 15 to 20 minutes of exposure per day, but that's out in the direct sun. You won't get the good kind of sun rays through glass or through sunscreens, so many people just don't ever get the rays. That being said... Notice that I said 15 to 20 minutes. If you're going to be out in the sun for longer than 20 minutes, you should wear a sunscreen. It takes about half an hour for the chemicals to soak into your skin and start to become effective, so if you apply ten minutes before you go out into the sun, you'll get your 20 minutes of unprotected sun rays before the screening kicks in. By the way, the term "sun block" is out. It is misleadin

Wear your Sunscreen

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I grew up in Santa Barbara and spent my formative years in the 70's. All I cared about was looking cool and impressing people. In the 70's it was all about feathered hair and suntans. Well, my hair was a disaster. I was cursed with a head of curly locks. Sure, people pay good money to have their hair curled, but that's not what I wanted. I wanted hair like David Cassidy; that flows in the wind and falls back into a perfect feather on the sides. Suffice it to say, I was a disaster on the hair front. So I had to make up for it with a deep, dark, glowing tan. Once again my genes were against me, as I hail from a hearty UK stock on my father's side and German/Dutch on my mother's. I didnt' have a lot of melanin, so I had to spend HOURS and HOURS in the sun just to get the slightest browning. As a kid, surfing, swimming, playing tennis and soccer, I had plenty of opportunity to get tan. And we believed back then that sunscreen was for sissies. In fact, we did

Some Shocking Truths About Cholesterol

We all know that heart disease is one of the leading killers of people around the world, particularly highest in countries such as the US and Australia. But you may be surprised at the REAL causes of heart disease -- and it's NOT saturated fat or cholesterol Did you know that there are several medical studies worldwide that clearly show that higher cholesterol levels in the body actually increases longevity instead of decreasing it? Yes, you heard that right! People with high cholesterol have been statistically shown to live longer and healthier than people with low cholesterol in several studies. There are multiple references for this phenomenon in Shane Ellison's controversial book, The Hidden Truth about Cholesterol Lowering Drugs, Dr. Uffe Ravnskov's (MD, PhD) book entitled The Cholesterol Myths, as well as Sally Fallon and Mary Enig's book, Nourishing Traditions. So why in the world are the pharmaceutical and medical industry pushing for practically everyone on th