AlkalizeForHealth
"The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease."
- Thomas Edison
Professor asked to resign because he advocates
moderate exposure to sunlight. For information on
vitamin D, see the website of the
Vitamin D Council. |
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Dear Reader,
The sunscreen industry should be very proud of itself: I can't
think of many other completely useless products that the vast
majority of people are absolutely convinced that they need. But
I suppose it was an easy sell: After a bad sunburn or two, the
idea of preventing another one with a simple slathering of
lotion seems like a welcome solution - - especially since the
so-called experts have also been warning us for years that the
sun will give us cancer.
Of course, you and I both know that there's no proof that
sunscreens prevent skin cancer. What they DO prevent is your
body from absorbing the sun's vitamin-D-producing UV rays. Now,
though, it looks like there might be a way to get the best of
both worlds -- with broccoli. And, in this case, you don't even
have to eat it to get the protective effects.
Recent research from Johns Hopkins University showed that
topical application of a broccoli extract can reduce the redness
caused by UV damage (a.k.a. "sunburn") by more than 37 percent.
But what makes broccoli extract a good alternative to sunscreen
is that it doesn't block the sun's UV rays -- it boosts your
body's own defenses against them. Which means you still get the
vitamin D benefits of the sun with less risk of sunburn and the
resulting skin and cellular damage.
Even better, the researchers found that the effects of the
broccoli extract were much longer-lasting than sunscreens. In
fact, the study participants were exposed to UV radiation
between two and three days AFTER they'd been treated with the
broccoli extract, and they still experienced a significant
protective effect.
The compound in the extract primarily responsible for these
benefits is called sulphoraphane. While it only stays in the
tissues for a few hours after application, the researchers
believe that it stimulates proteins within cells that continue
to protect them against UV damage long after the extract itself
is gone from the system.
Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, topical broccoli extract
isn't available to consumers just yet, but hopefully it will be
in the near future. In the meantime, you still need UV rays to
help your body produce vitamin D. So go ahead and continue to
follow Dr. Wright's advice: Get around 20 minutes or so of sun
exposure per day on your bare face and arms. When your skin
turns slightly pink, head back in.
And for those of you living in areas where it's too cold right
now to go anywhere for 20 minutes with your face and arms
exposed, Dr. Wright recommends taking 2,000-3,000 IU of vitamin
D per day. For more complete details on Dr. Wright's vitamin D
advice, refer back to the November 2003 issue of Nutrition &
Healing, which subscribers can access for free by visiting the
Archives section of the website (www.wrightnewsletter.com)
and logging on with the username and password listed in your
most recent newsletter.
Yours in good health,
Amanda Ross
Editor
Nutrition & Healing
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Sources:
"Broccoli-sprout derived extract protects against ultraviolet
radiation," Science Daily (www.sciencedaily.com), 10/23/07
"Sulforaphane mobilizes cellular defenses that protect skin
against damage by UV radiation," Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences 2007; 104(44) : 17,500- 17,505
Copyright (c)2007 by www.wrightnewsletter.com, L.L.C. Health
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