Otherwise referred to as your sun/solar callus you have natural mechanisms that protect your skin from UV damage.

These mechanisms include

• Thickening of your skin (melanin pigmentation)
• The activation of repair genes in your cells
• Enhanced adaptation to cellular death
• Increased antioxidants

Melanin absorbs 40-75% of light. The light that is not absorbed is converted into harmless heat meaning that your skin + DNA are protected with 99.9% success. This only happens when the production of melanin is not interrupted.

What messes that up?

Melanin synthesis is reliant on unfiltered exposure to UVB. Sunscreen, sunglasses, clothing, and avoidance completely all prevent this.

Red & Infrared Lights

Ever heard of red light therapy?? I have news for you. The most abundant and powerful red light is available to everyone, for free, through natural sunlight. It is present all day. Right after sunrise and before sunset the only spectrum of light available is red and infrared light. This is very intentional. Our bodies need this! Red + IF are the longest wave lengths of light that govern the repair and regeneration of your cells. This allows them to heal not only from damage that would occur from UV exposure, but damage that happens as a by product of bodily functions (that is further worsened by lifestyle factors that stress the body).

How to build these mechanisms

Well, before modern day living they would naturally occur because sun exposure would have been weaved into life. However, since most people are terrified/ removed from maybe the most healing and necessary element to our health we now have to be intentional about the way we build it. This is made easy by gradually increasing your exposure. AKA not getting out in the middle of the day in summer time when you’ve been hidden from the sun for months. As you increase exposure overtime your body naturally builds these mechanisms. Spring time is an excellent starting point because the UVB is by nature lower, building as Summer nears.

This looks like:

• Maximizing time spent in the am before UVA rises and the evening after UVA sets. This is when ONLY healing takes place, and it is not possible to burn.
• Unfiltered exposure to early morning UVB (UVB gradually intensifies throughout the morning, peaking at solar noon (think 12-1 ish pm depending on location). Then it gradually lowers.
• Utilizing an app called D-minder. This lets you enter your skin type and location and will give you a timer that tells you roughly how long you can be in unfiltered light before you will “burn”. Some of us won’t burn at all, but when this is new for you this is an excellent tool. It also gives you an estimate of how much D you have based on sun exposure!
• Circadian is a great app because it will lay out when the sun rises and sets including UVA. It will also educate you on the incredible importance and benefit of the sun, and circadian rhythm, and provide tons of studies to support if you’re someone who enjoys that. Laid out very easily and user-friendly.

A quick note. Your diet is going to massively influence your response to the sun as well. Inflammatory cooking oils (canola, vegetable, seed oils, etc) all increase your likelihood of burning. Families (even very fair-skinned) who cut them out all report zero burning. I will say that I ate ALL of that junk and more as a kid, never wore sunscreen, and was outside 24/7, no burning. My body had these mechanisms on lock. So, it’s not make or break, BUT if you still burn after doing all of the above then its your diet.

The apps mentioned are free and AMAZING. Use them! Circadian alone has enough education to completely dismantle the fear mongering instilled into us. The sun is NOT the enemy. That is f*cking crazy. We have lived under the sun primarily until very recent history. Coincidently we are also the sickest we have ever been. Our cells rely on sunlight… I mean dawgs why would we have clock genes in our cells that only respond to light if we were not meant to be exposed to the sun…

Anywho. What to do when you are still building your solar callus but will be in the peak UVB times? Shade, clothing, and non-toxic sunscreen as needed.

If there is one non-toxic product to invest in, it’s sunscreen. The chemicals in your sunscreen are absorbed into your largest detox organ (skin) and then BAKE in the sun which is by nature going to assist your cells in processing toxins out. This is a big deal. Find our favorite sunscreens here.

Learn more about the magical benefits of the sun (including UVB, UVA, red + infrared light) in our circadian section here🙂

Happy sunbathing!