Ditch the Toxic Sunscreen; Use Coconut Oil Instead
Summer time is beach time, or at least poolside time. But if you want some protection form the sun’s UV rays, don’t always reach for toxic sunscreens. Instead, pack some extra virgin coconut oil along with your beach towel and umbrella.
That’s right, the same extra virgin coconut oil found in your kitchen pantry will do the trick to protect your skin – minus the toxicity from health-compromising ingredients. Coconut oil has been used as an effective sunscreen for thousands of years by indigenous, pacific islanders. Why slather toxic chemicals on your body when you can use non toxic coconut oil instead?
There are two types of UV (ultraviolet) rays from the sun: UVA and UVB. UVA rays are primarily responsible for skin damage from excessive sun exposure that can lead to cancer and skin aging. However, although UVB rays can also cause damage and sunburn, they are necessary for your body to produce its own cancer protective vitamin D via the skin.
Sunlight is by far the optimal way to produce your vitamin D. Blocking UVB rays may inadvertently be increasing your cancer risk by blocking vitamin D absorption. Plus, sunscreen causes cancer through carcinogenic ingredients.
Avoid Toxic Sunscreens
According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG) approximately 75% of commercial sunscreens contain toxic chemicals that are linked to cancer and disrupt hormones.
Store bought sunscreens typically contain:
- Retinyl palmitate, a known skin cancer hazard.
- Oxybenzone, which disrupts hormones leading to cell damage and cancer.
- Zinc and titanium nanoparticles are in colorless sun screen lotions.
Those and other chemicals rubbed on your skin are readily absorbed into your bloodstream and can be just as unhealthy and toxic as an oral dose.
The Sun Protection Factor (SPF) Hoax
An excerpt from a 2012 CNN article about sunscreens:
“The EWG said consumers should not purchase sunscreens with SPF greater than 50. SPF (sun protection factor) works by absorbing, reflecting or scattering the sun’s rays on the skin. It is very misleading to put high SPF numbers on labels because it gives consumers a false sense of security and doesn’t offer a lot more protection.”
While SPF 85 may sound like a lot more protection than SPF 30, the higher the number doesn’t always offer a higher return. Studies show that sunscreen with SPF 15 can block about 93% of all incoming UVB rays. SPF 30 blocks 97%. SPF 50 blocks 98%. The protective factors plateau from there.
“A product with SPF 100+ blocks about 99.1 percent of the UVB rays. You don’t really need a high number. They end up being expensive and don’t offer more protection than SPF 50. Keep in mind, SPF protects only against UVB rays.”
Coconut oil has an SPF of 10 which means 90% of beneficial vitamin D creating UBV rays are blocked. How many people know that SPF ratings do not indicate any protection from the highly damaging UVA rays?
Yet, the American Cancer Society advises to apply a generous amount of of toxic commercial sunscreen 30 minutes before sun exposure and minimally every two hours thereafter, reapplying after being in the water, sweating, and towel drying.
Choose Coconut Oil for Sunscreen Instead
Daily exposure to the sun is essential to your overall health; it’s the overexposure that could cause some issues. Sunshine exposure is the best way for your body to create health protecting vitamin D. To protect against sunburn, use a non-toxic sunscreen like coconut oil or opt for a low-risk, safe sunscreen that doesn’t contain health-compromising ingredients.
Author of Coconut Cures: Preventing and Treating Common Health Problems with Coconut Oil, Dr. Bruce Fife, C.N., N.D. explains that coconut oil applied on the skin protects against sunburn and cancer.
Unlike sunscreen, unprocessed coconut oil doesn’t completely block the UVB rays that are necessary for vitamin D synthesis. It protects the skin and underlying tissues from damage excessive exposure can cause. Instead of burning or turning red, it produces a light tan, depending on the length of time you spend in the sun.
Fife asserts that “Consuming coconut oil also strengthens the skin and makes it more resilient and less prone to sunburn.” He warns against using hydrolyzed or processed oil. Just make sure the coconut oil is pure and not processed.
Additional Sources:
Its not made up, only unregulated. Anyone can say extra virgin with no consequence… however there is a vast difference in coconut oils that are extracted with minimal heat and time for oxidation and those that are exposed to high heat and extended periods of oxigenation.
In this sense, when picking an oil that says extra virgin, you should research the extraction process. Any reputable brand will tell you how they extract their oil. The thing is that there are very few “processors” in the world… most brands you see on the shelf are brokers of very similar oil.
It is more than safe to assume that any oil that says “expeller pressed” is not extra virgin in the sense stated above. Cold pressed is also a very vague term, and in most cases will not be extra virgin.
Of course now the problem is that people want the best, at the cheapest price. Coconut is a tough fruit to process correctly, take it from me. I see offerings on the market at prices that are rock bottom that can only mean it is refined coconut oil selling as unrefined.
In short, yes the right type of Coconut Oil is miraculous. The less than the right type wont be good for you and can in fact be dangerous to your health.
What to look for: 1. Look for a brand that freely talks about their extraction process and is transparent. 2. Look for Origin. 3. Look at price. (you get exactly what you pay for) 4. Look for taste, the coconut oil that smells the least of coconut and tastes the least of coconut, is the highest quality.
I hope this helps a few of you.
how can oil that smells the least or tastes the least of coconut be the highest quality? Sounds to me like you are trying to sell overly processed coconut oil that has the least of coconut in it.
Sounds ironic, but it is the truth. A strong coconut smell in virgin coconut oil is a dead giveaway for high heat processing. I am not trying to sell you anything. The highest quality oil will have a slight coconut smell. You have to be very well educated on the expelling procedures to understand why… But in short, it is a roasting effect of the solids of the oil before it is expelled that gives the oil the steering coconut scent… The higher the heat during processing, the stronger the scent of coconut, the lower the quality of the oil in every respect.
You can purchase virgin coconut oil that says cold pressed and still be purchasing product that had been exposed to very high heat… Case in point, spectrum, Carrington farms. I would suggest going for a company that is absolutely transparent in their manufacturing procedures… Tough to find but rewarding in the oil that you get by an exponential factor…. But not cheap.
Do you know of any brands that are of this high quality?
Nutiva and artisana are the closest I’ve tasted in the us, but they aren’t exactly transparent in their extraction process so I can’t be sure. Stay away from spectrum, or the generic brands from the retailers… Although cheap, they are of very poor quality…
I like Tropical Traditions Gold Label (which is organic) and Dr. Bronner’s. Nutiva is also acceptable, IMO. Daniel’s right about at least one thing–Spectrum isn’t a good brand, in general. They are owned by a large corporation that isn’t really in business to make people healthy and happy, if you know what I mean. Unfortunately, they’re one of the only makers of non-hydrogenated solid oil, so I do purchase that when needed (which isn’t much–I still have a tub of it in my cabinet that I bought many years ago and I only use it to season my cast iron).
You obviously have never had a really high-quality coconut oil processed the old fashioned way (and with heat–but not to boiling temp) because it does have a very distinct coconut smell; too much sometimes (when you don’t want that distinct flavor). Try Tropical Traditions Gold sometime, and you’ll see what I mean. The anti-oxidant level in this oil is far higher than the oils that aren’t heated, so your statement that heat-treated oil is sub-par just isn’t true.
You are incorrect. Take it from me. If it smells like roasted coconut, it’s been through significant hest, and thus is not virgin in the sense of the word that refers to the oil in its natural state.
No, I’m not incorrect. Why should I take your word for it when I have experienced something for myself? The oil I spoke of doesn’t taste or smell like roasted coconut. It just smells and tastes heavily of coconut and it’s loaded with anti-oxidants. If you have a problem believing my word, go to their website yourself. They are very transparent about their processing methods.
Yes you are and you are providing people incomplete information. I cannot say how I know without it looking like I am promoting my brand, which I won’t do, since my intent is to help educate the public not sell my product.
You really should stop acting like you know everything since obviously you don’t. And stop continuing to tell me that I’m wrong when I have my own experiences that say otherwise. YOU are the one confusing people.
Did you bother to go to the Tropical Traditions website? Did you read about how they process all their different grades of coconut oil? Probably not, since you’re obviously a competitor of theirs….
Well, I’m telling you that I have read their webpages and I’ve also been a customer of theirs for 8 years or more and their Gold label is how I described it. It is processed the old-fashioned, labor-intensive way and its smell is very strong of fresh/fermented (not roasted or burnt) coconut; they heat their oil (under boiling point, though); and its anti-oxidant levels are pretty much the highest on the market (canceling out your statement that heat-treated oil is inferior). They use a wet-milling process for the Gold label that utilizes the *fresh* coconut. So contrary to what you’d like everyone to think, there IS a brand of high-quality VCO out there that is heavily scented and hasn’t come from high-temp-roasted coconuts.
Nutiva’s also smells of coconut. You know, the brand which you have previously recommended. Can you see why I think you’re confusing?
I know TT quite well, you may like it, your choice. However the priori of that pull is not what you think because it uses the fermentation process that’s been around for a very long time. The long exposure to water brings the free fatty acid levels of the oil higher than average. Free fatty acids are molecules that result from the degradation of the original fat molecule. As such, these levels of ffa are a marker for purity. I’m not here to argue with you, I love that you are so passionate about the brand that you like. However, from someone who knows and is trying to get people to get the right oil in their hands, yes you are generally incorrect… A string roasted coconut scent may smell great to you, but without fail that oil will test very high in impurities via ffa. I also did not say to purchase nativa, I said it was the least poor choice in the states. Almost all of the oil in the states is purchased unlabeled and unbranded in the Phillipines. Inbox me if you would to go into a technical discussion of why and how oil gets the scent when the solids are heated to a degree threshold.
I’m not sure how many times I have to tell you this, but my coconut oil does NOT smell like roasted coconuts. They do NOT roast/dry their coconuts at high temperatures (for the Gold label). I do agree that most coconut oil on the market is shameful, but TT and Dr. Bronner’s are okay. I’ve also used Nutiva and find it acceptable. I happen to like TT most because of their practices (fair wages to the farmers, etc) and I like their Gold label because of how it’s processed. And FYI, the expeller-pressed oil doesn’t have as strong of an odor and it *has* been processed more in a way you describe, so really I have no idea how/where you get your information. You seem to have things backwards.
I get my information from decades of experience in the industry, as a coconut plantation owner, a coconut oil processing facility owner and operator, a masters in chemistry and supporting resources related to our agroindustrial operation. I have not recommended any brand, I said nutiva and artisana smell and taste like they are ok. However, this may also be because they are adulterated or ‘mixed’ with milder palm oils. There are no controls in this industry for that, so you really want to find a manufacturer, as you suggest, that is really transparent with its extraction procedures. TT is a great brand and a great choice that fills in all those blanks, but that does not change the fact that they use the fermentation process for extraction. All extraction processes have their pros and cons: if you read what I am trying to say, you might learn a bit more about something you are really passionate about. Trust me, I love to see people passionate about VCO, since it is truly a fabulous natural product.
The fermentation process involves letting coconut milk separate naturally. This usually takes between 24 and 48 hours, depending on the average viscosity of the oil in that particular batch and the enzymatic levels of the solids in the water. From this point, the oil can be roasted or centrifuged. The pros of this process is that you can accomplish it with truly ‘zero’ heat. The cons are that the triglycerides, or fat molecules in the oil, start to break down exponentially faster the longer the oil is exposed to oxidation (water and oxygen). This leads to a product, that although could have been processed with very little to no heat, will have varying levels of purity depending on when it is consumed. Furthermore, this oil will never have the level of purity that an oil that was devoid of water within an hour of commencing the oxidation process. I didn’t want to get too technical on here, but this is hard science.
Is it better to buy TT than nutiva or artisana, OF COURSE, with TT you at least know what you are getting. Artisana and Nutiva, and most any other US brand are BROKERS, which means they buy unbranded and unadulterated coconut oil, which traders (who source the oil for brands) themselves say up to 70% are adulterated (mixed with other oils).
That being said, is TT the purest coconut oil on earth? No. For that you have to find a processor that expels oil at zero heat and in less than an hour (the fastest possible). This is expensive and requires a vertically integrated operation, however, under lab tests, this type of oil is 50 times purer on average, than what you can get like Nutiva, Artisana, etc.
So what is the effect of purity? The purity level directly correlates with the level of lauric acid, which when metabolized by the body and in interaction with sugars in the blood turns to monolaurin. Monolaurin offers the most benefit to our biology in consuming VCO. Nutiva, artisana, barleans, tree of life, most of which is the same oil and we tested in a lab setting, contain between 50-52% lauric acid content. Honestly, we have not tested TT for LA content, however the expelling process that isolates the oil from water and oxygen in less than an hour tests LA levels at 60-62%. This is considered close to maximum, as if the nut were still on the tree. This is a 20% premium on those ‘antioxidants’ you were talking about. In chemical composition terms, this is night and day between one oil and the other in terms of purity.
This is the truth
My sunscreen is Astaxanthin, that protect me from radiation and UV rays. I also use light clothing and use it accordingly as I feel I have received enough vitamin D3.
For those that do not know about astaxanthin; Astaxanthin is a supplement that helps build my immune system. The same ingredient found in Salmon, Flamingos, Krill and other crustaceans.
coconut oil just makes you burn. research shows that oily film on skin increases how we burn (think oil on a steak in a pan).
Coconut Oil has a natural SPF of 4-10.
Folks, not judging anyone’s comments one way or the other, but a straight observation: I am from Scotland, and I burn. I have used various sunscreens over the years, but still burn or turn red, even with commercially available coconut oil. However, the only time I did not burn or turn red, and actually got a tan was in Bali about 30 years ago. What was different? I had a beach massage every morning with pure coconut oil! Stayed there only for the morning (or returned late afternoon). We would walk around in the sun during the day, a singlet and light pants (this was before clothing had an SPF factor). For what it’s worth.
While I love coconut oil, “Produces a light tan” is no better than if you get a sunburn. If you’re skin changes color at all it’s been sun damaged.
Maybe you’re mistaking age with pelvic inlet depth index? Says right in the article you cite that average lifespan 2000 BC to 650 BCE, a rough approximation for the era of ancient Egypt, ranged from 39.6 to 30.9 years, depending on gender and era. Certainly some outliers managed to squeak into old age, but that doesn’t change my point.
Sorry to tell you this Elaine, but that isn’t true. At all. It all depends on the size of the particles.
If sunscreen actives were absorbed into your bloodstream in 28 seconds then they wouldn’t work as sunscreen actives, would they?
‘FDA scientists, in a 2007 study published in The Toxicologist Journal [The Society of Toxicologists], demonstrated in human skin that nano-sized particles, “were found predominately in the stratum corneum and they did not penetrate through the skin.”
Australian and Swiss research teams, using excised human skin in two separate 2011 studies published in the Biomedical Optics Journal, established that neither nano-sized titanium dioxide nor nano-sized zinc oxide penetrated beyond the superficial layer of skin (stratum corneum).’
No it has an SPF of 4 or 5. It has VERY little sun protection.