It is tempting, for us, the Winter Challenged, to soak up the energy giving sun during the gloriously long and light filled summer days. But beware, as I have noted before, the UV rays of the sun are harmful if we stay in them too long.
So we should use suntan lotion, which used to be called "suntan lotion". But no longer. In the constant upgrading of both language and products that we subject ourselves to, boring old suntan lotion has been divided into "sun block" or "sun screen." And there is the SPF.
We have all seen bottles of sunscreen with big SPF numbers on them, 15 or 30 or 45 are the common ones, I think. The higher numbers are sure more powerful and better. Right?
Not so fast, amigo. SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor, and it measures the length of time a product protects us, not the strength of the product. It might take 15 minutes for a skin to redden without protection. SPF 15 protects us 15 times longer than without protection; or, for four hours. But we should reapply sunscreen, at whatever strength, every two hours. So for most of us, most times, SPF 15 is just fine. SPF 30 protects 30 times longer, and blocks only 4% more sunrays. 30 times longer is 8 hours, during which you should reapply three times anyway, so buy the SPF 15.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
Early to bed.....
The long summer days make Ben Franklin's saying about Early to bed and early to rise... kind of hard to carry out. Going to bed early in the long summer evenings means getting down before sundown. The Scaninavians must be used to that, but most of us here in the United States are not.
Similarly, the sun comes peeking up in the morning way earlier than many would like.
For those of us who are winter challenged, it is wonderful. For those who lack our unique characteristic, it can be rather a bore.
But the "fade up" and the "fade down" of the sun is the basis for the SunRise Clocks that BioBrite makes. Our SunRise Clocks fade up and gently wake you in the morning and fade down and help you fall to sleep in the evening.
Just like the sun.
The alternative alarm clocks - the ones that bleat you out of bed in the morning, and don't provide soothing fading light in the evening - seem to us to be unnatural. Or maybe unsunny.
Similarly, the sun comes peeking up in the morning way earlier than many would like.
For those of us who are winter challenged, it is wonderful. For those who lack our unique characteristic, it can be rather a bore.
But the "fade up" and the "fade down" of the sun is the basis for the SunRise Clocks that BioBrite makes. Our SunRise Clocks fade up and gently wake you in the morning and fade down and help you fall to sleep in the evening.
Just like the sun.
The alternative alarm clocks - the ones that bleat you out of bed in the morning, and don't provide soothing fading light in the evening - seem to us to be unnatural. Or maybe unsunny.
Friday, June 08, 2007
The UPside of UV rays
The Deluxe Light Visors we at BioBrite sell are UV free, meaning that you will not be overexposed to UV rays when getting your dose of energy during the SAD months. But, like everything, it turns out there is a downside to UV free. ("UV" means Ultra Violet, a part of the light spectrum that humans cannot see.)
The UV rays are the rays that we filter out in our light appliances are the UV rays that work with your skin to create Vitamin D. Sufficient Vitamin D, a new study at the Creighton University School of Medicine indicates, as reported in the media on 8 June 2007, shows that people with sufficient Vitamin D are 60% less likely to come down with any kind of cancer.
(The study was on 1,200 adult women and is not considered conclusive because of its relatively small size. But the reduction of cancer among those studied was clear.)
Thus, in the grey winter months, when the sun don't shine, it may do you well to take a Vitamin D supplement. The authors of the Creighton study suggest a 1,000 IU's during the winter.
Talk to your health care provider before buying Vitamin D supplements. If you decide to, the tall guy next in line might be me. Say hi.
The UV rays are the rays that we filter out in our light appliances are the UV rays that work with your skin to create Vitamin D. Sufficient Vitamin D, a new study at the Creighton University School of Medicine indicates, as reported in the media on 8 June 2007, shows that people with sufficient Vitamin D are 60% less likely to come down with any kind of cancer.
(The study was on 1,200 adult women and is not considered conclusive because of its relatively small size. But the reduction of cancer among those studied was clear.)
Thus, in the grey winter months, when the sun don't shine, it may do you well to take a Vitamin D supplement. The authors of the Creighton study suggest a 1,000 IU's during the winter.
Talk to your health care provider before buying Vitamin D supplements. If you decide to, the tall guy next in line might be me. Say hi.
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