Fish Oil and Sun Protection
As you may know, I’m not a big fan of sun exposure paranoia (that is, the belief that you should never leave the house without caking on the SPF-15). Many more people suffer much more serious ailments from lack of vitamin D (caused by not getting enough sun exposure) than those who suffer from skin cancer caused by soaking up too many UV rays. Harvard’s Edward Giovannucci has said that for every 1 person who dies from skin cancer, 30 people die from cancers related to vitamin D deficiency. Despite this, there should still be a happy balance between sun exposure and sun protection, and fish oil may just be a healthy way to achieve that balance.
Fish oil, derived from the tissue of pelagic fish, is a natural anti-inflammatory rich in omega-3 acids. These are the fatty acids that your skin needs to protect itself from the sun. Fish oil is also an excellent source of vitamin D itself (after sun exposure, fish are considered the most significant source of vitamin D). Multiple studies have now been performed revealing that regular supplementation with fish oil can reduce sun damage, in some cases as much as doubling a user’s resistance to sunburn.
Fish oil does not block the sun’s rays from hitting your skin. Instead it works by increasing your skin’s ability to ward off the dangerous effects caused by those rays. The omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil reduce the excess inflammation induced by UV tissue damage. This inflammation, visibly seen as sunburns, can otherwise cause further damage to your skin cells, much moreso than the UV damage itself. By inhibiting the production of inflammatory agents, fish oil in effect minimizes the damage to your skin.
While sunscreen is still a good idea if you’re going to be out under the sun for a long period of time, it’s important to get at least 20-30 minutes of normal sun exposure each day, and in many cases when you spend a little more, the added protection of fish oil may be all you need…not to mention taking a fish oil pill is a lot easier than applying all that sunscreen.
