The Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen, recently made comments that infuriated cancer experts – when she described sun protection creams as 'poison'.

Gisele claims she refuses to use the product because of all the chemicals they contain to absorb UVA and UVB light. 'I cannot put this poison on my skin,' the 30-year-old said. 'I do not use anything synthetic.'

The world's highest paid model - she made €19 million in 2009 - In clarification Bundchen stated that she only exposes herself to the sun for certain periods of time, when she doesn’t do any damage, and hence doesn’t burn.

The Sun is Not Deadly

Ah yes the sun is here, at long last. I love the powerful effect the sun has on all living beings this time of year, the plants wake and begin to grace the countryside and peoples spirits are lifted too.

It’s also this time of year however that we begin to get bombarded with warnings to stay out of the sun and to ensure that if you’re out in the sun to cover up with sun factor etc. all of which instills a blanket fear of the sun into everyone.

Natural sunlight's potential to harm you has really been blown out of proportion. This is thanks to many health officials, advertisements, beauty experts, corporations, and well-meaning friends. They basically tell you that you need to stay out of the sun because the sun will kill you. This simply isn't true.

For starters, there is little scientific evidence to justify the many health campaigns that urge you to completely avoid the sun. Avoiding the sun just doesn't make sense. And it certainly doesn't make any sense when study after study shows that sun exposure and vitamin D is very beneficial to health, physically and mentally.

In my opinion the most beneficial effect of sun exposure on your skin is the production of vitamin D, which we readily produce this way.

Vitamin D plays a crucial role in your overall health and well-being. For example, this superb vitamin is known to:

·             Support your cardiovascular health

·             Has a preventative effect against cancer

·             Enhance your muscle strength

·             Help produce optimal blood pressure levels

·             Help maintain a healthy immune system

·             Support healthy kidney function

·             Promote healthy teeth

·             Help keep your bones strong and healthy

Wearing a sunscreen on your uncovered skin blocks your body's production of vitamin D. In fact, sunscreens reduce vitamin D production by as much as 97.5 to 99.9%. And interfering with your body's production of vitamin D by this amount may have dire health consequences.

gisele bundchen

So is Gisele Bundchen Right?

Until very recently all sunscreens did not filter out the UVA radiation. They filtered out UVB, ensuring that your body could not make any vitamin D, while letting the UVA through. So there was a strong recommendation from the medical community to use sunscreen, but this advice was actually increasing your risk of cancer while eliminating your body's ability to manufacture vitamin D!

The other issue is what type of chemicals does the sunscreen use to create the barrier against the UVA waves?

The synthetic chemicals often used in sunscreen preparations can get into your bloodstream and can cause all sorts of unwanted toxic side effects, including hormone disruption.

Some of these chemicals include:

·         OMC (Octyl methoxycinnamate)

·         Octocrylene

·         Avobenzone

·         Oxybenzone

·         Homosalate

·         Octinoxatre

·         Octisalate

So if Gisele was referring to sunscreens containing these hormone-disrupting synthetic chemicals, then she was absolutely right!

A Better Alternative to Sunscreen

One of the best strategies to protect yourself from the sun is actually not a sunscreen at all, it's wearing clothing or getting into the shade.

Why? Because most sunscreens are loaded with toxic chemicals that can possible accelerate skin cancer, or get into your bloodstream where they can disrupt your hormones. Also, the protection sunscreen manufacturers claim is often misleading due to improper application.

So in my opinion you don't always need to apply sunscreen, and you definitely do want to get some safe sunlight exposure every day, which has also been shown to help protect against as many as 16 different types of cancer, including; breast, colon, endometrial, esophageal, ovarian, bladder, gallbladder, gastric, pancreatic, prostate, rectal, and renal cancers, as well as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Sunburn provides no benefit, and is never good for your skin. The point to remember is that once your skin turns the lightest shade of pink (if you're Caucasian), it's time to get out of the sun. Past this point of exposure your body will not produce any more vitamin D and you'll begin to have sun damage. And sunburn anywhere on your body is never good for your health