This is an excerpt from "The Daily Dose" ........
Skin creams in new cancer risk
People used to look at me like I was nuts when I told them sunscreen would cause the very cancers they're supposed to prevent.
Today, the National Institutes of Health agrees with me.
Who's nuts now? Anyone still using sunscreen, that's who!
An independent NIH panel recently voted to confirm a damning report published by the National Toxicology Program, which found that a key ingredient in many sunscreens can actually supercharge skin tumors.
The ingredient is retinyl palmitate, a form of vitamin A.
On its own, it's mostly harmless. But once it's exposed to ultraviolet light -- say, I don't know, FROM THE SUN -- it breaks down into free radicals that can damage the skin and cripple your chromosomes.
Put in plain talk, this stuff is basically Miracle-Gro for tumors -- and in animal tests, federal researchers found that skin creams with retinyl palmitate caused more skin lesions and faster-growing tumors.
Side note: If any of my "friends" at PETA still have a problem with animal testing, feel free to volunteer for the next study. I'm sure they'd be happy to have you.
The Environmental Working Group says retinyl palmitate is in 41 percent of sunscreens, including well-known products from Coppertone, Banana Boat, Panama Jack, Hawaiian Tropic, and Neutrogena.
All told, EWG says more than 200 sunscreens sold in the last year contained this stuff.
Some companies are already rushing vitamin A-free versions to the market, but you can skip those, too, because retinyl palmitate isn't the only hazard hidden in sunscreen. These things are just oozing with known carcinogens, hormone-disrupting chemicals, and poorly understood nano-particles.
And if that's not enough, the very notion of blocking the sun is fatally flawed –- because you actually NEED that light to live. Your body uses it to produce essential vitamin D, necessary for everything from bones to brains.
One new study on mice finds that D deficiencies can alter the lungs, diminishing their capacity and causing breathing difficulties -- something that could explain the long-standing link between too little D and too much asthma.
Listen, I've been ahead of the game on this all along and I have the track record to back me up.
Don't wait for the feds to play catch-up -- save your skin, save your lungs, and save your life: skip the sunscreen now, and don't be afraid of spending a little time outside.
And if you really need a little help ducking the sun, buy a hat.
Take Care,
Cris