Sun Safety from a Holistic Perspective: Benefits, Tips & Non-Toxic Sunscreen Picks
How to navigate healthy sun exposure - with research, real talk, and science-backed tips for your whole family!
(I will not shut up about the sun, however, but this is easily one of my husband’s and my most quoted Office lines)
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I’m a Certified Nutritional Practitioner and recipe developer who helps women feel empowered in their health journey, learn how to confidently eat well, find healing and support during chronic illness, and gain kitchen confidence through simple, delicious recipes for you and your family!
With summer around the corner, navigating sun exposure in a healthy, evidence-driven way can help alleviate so much confusion and fear (and a bad sunburn). We're going to cover the truth of when and how to have safe sun exposure, address the real benefits of sunshine, and round it out with my favorite non-toxic sunscreen picks.
This is not medical advice - mostly a collection of well-informed scientific literature to help each of us make wise decisions!
Wait…I thought the sun wasn’t safe?!
“It is now understood that regular exposure to the sun is not the risk once thought to be; it might be worse to have only intermittent exposure. Sunscreen and sunblock use have increased enormously, but so has incidence of skin cancer. In fact, skin cancer rates have increased the most in places that people use the most sun creams, leading to speculation that something in the creams themselves may be carcinogenic.”
Don’t, worry, I’ll come back to chat about non-toxic sunscreen choices!
Did your mouth just drop?? It's possible the very tool created to keep skin cancer at bay has had the opposite effect - and that sunshine can offer immense health benefits after all. However, there is also good research to suggest that proper use of sunscreen can be beneficial for skin health, so what are we to do?
The answer (as it almost always is) is: be informed, not fearful.
How to Have Safe Sun Exposure: Our Family's Approach
We are no strangers to playing outside, and as a more olive-skinned family we typically fare well. These are the principles we personally keep in mind when dealing with sun exposure!
Because the truth is, we can still be team sunshine and do it wisely. Getting a bad burn is NOT skin-friendly, even if the sun can be!
Before 10am and after 3-4pm, UV rays are not as strong, and these are great windows for less worry around burning; however, for optimal vitamin D production, getting 10-15 minutes of sunshine on larger exposed areas of skin between 10am-3pm is helpful.
If we ARE going to be outside in hot summer months with little to no shade during the windows of 10am-3pm, hats, safe sunscreen, breezy clothing and other skin shading methods are used.
We personally don’t do much additional in non-summer months unless we have a long stretch outside on a warm day, but you can always keep an eye on the UV index for your area each day - the higher (up to 15), the more protection and or shade you may need!
If we are going to a beach, pool, etc, where burn risk is more likely, we also use shade, hats, sunscreen, clothing coverage, etc. as needed and reapply sunscreen on exposed areas (especially those that have not had a build up of sun exposure yet) every 60-80 minutes!
The important thing is to protect from burning especially, which can increase risk for melanoma (source).
How Your Diet Influences Sun Sensitivity
This is one of my favorite (and most under-discussed) topics! A conversation has been gaining traction around how our dietary fats influence our resiliency to sunburn - particularly the rise of polyunsaturated cooking oils in processed foods and even home cooking (vegetable oil, canola oil, etc.).
“Should we avoid the sun as much as possible? The more your diet is full of pro-inflammatory fats and sugar, the more my answer is yes. But if your diet is healthy, then your collagen won't be seriously injured unless your skin actually burns-which I would never recommend. The more vegetable oil in your diet, and the more PUFAs end up in your skin, the more readily you will get burned and the more extensive the invisible damage to the deeper layers of your skin.”
-Shanahan, Cate, M.D. Deep Nutrition. Flatiron Books, 2017.
Dr. Shanahan has conveniently turned that whole chapter into a blog post you can read in full here!
Choosing to pursue a whole foods diet rich in antioxidants - and using stable cooking fats like ghee, butter, and coconut oil instead of canola, vegetable, and seed oils - can be great support in neutralizing oxidative stress and supporting your skin's sun response.
Want recipes built around anti-inflammatory, skin-supporting whole foods - without losing flavor or fun? That's exactly what my cookbooks are for! 👉 Browse the shop here.
"[Your cookbooks] changed our lives." — Kim K. 🥺
Why We NEED the Sun: Vitamin D from Sunlight vs. Supplements
This is where it gets really interesting.
“When the skin is exposed to sunlight it produces corticotropin-releasing hormone…{which} has a wide range of physiological effects, including regulation of immune function and endocrine function.”
-Gaby, Alan R. Nutritional Medicine. Fritz Perlberg Publishing, 2017.
“There is a major difference between supplemental D coming out of a vitamin bottle versus vitamin D that comes via the transactions triggered by sunlight. Vitamin D produced by sunlight exposure is sulfated, meaning that it is water-soluble. It has completely different properties than supplemental D, which are fat-soluble…Fat-soluble vitamin D is incapable of circulating through the body in the same way that the sun-derived natural, sulfated form of vitamin D does.”
-Robbins, Morley. CUre: Your Fatigue. Gatekeeper Press, 2021.
“Sunshine is considered to be the most important source of vitamin D. Due to an increased risk of skin cancer, sun avoidance is advised, but this directly contributes to the high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency.”
-Sunshine is an Important Determinant of Vitamin D Status Even Among High-dose Supplement Users: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial in Crohn's Disease Patients, PubMed link here.
The sun isn't just nice to have - it produces a form of vitamin D our bodies use in a fundamentally different (and superior) way than what comes from a bottle. That doesn't mean we skip supplements when needed, but it does mean we stop treating the sun like the enemy!
Non-Toxic Sunscreen Options We Love
So yes - sunscreen still has its place! Especially for longer sun windows, beach days, or fair-skinned family members. The key is choosing options low in toxic ingredients.
These are all EWG verified for low toxicity — I look for fragrance-free, mineral-based options, and usually EWG certified:
Babo Botanicals - fragrance-free, SPF 50, water resistant for 80 mins
Sky & Sol - (love the ingredients in this one!) - SPF 50, safe enough to eat (but don’t 🤭)
Think Sport - chemical-free, SPF 50, water & sweat resistant for 80 mins
Attitude - unscented, mineral-based, SPF 30, oat extract
(These are my Amazon store links but are not sponsored in any way - just wanted to give some inspiration! The EWG site has plenty of other great options too.)
Frequently Asked Questions About Sun Safety
Is it safe to be outside without sunscreen? Yes, depending on context! Before 10am and after 3–4pm, UV exposure is lower, and short windows of unprotected sun can actually support vitamin D production. The key is avoiding burns, not avoiding sunlight altogether.
How long should I be in the sun for vitamin D? Around 10–15 minutes of sun on larger skin areas (like arms and legs) during peak hours (10am–3pm) is generally considered helpful for vitamin D synthesis. Individual needs vary based on skin tone, location, and season.
What makes a sunscreen "non-toxic"? Look for mineral-based sunscreens (zinc oxide or titanium dioxide) rather than chemical UV filters, and opt for fragrance-free formulas. EWG's Skin Deep database is a fantastic free resource to check any sunscreen's safety rating.
Can diet really affect how I burn in the sun? According to several researchers and physicians, yes! A diet lower in polyunsaturated seed oils and higher in antioxidant-rich whole foods appears to support the skin's resilience to UV damage.
The Bottom Line
Be smart out there, friends. The sun is powerful in more than one way - we neither have to ignore its potential effects nor succumb to fear of what God designed for our good, when approached wisely!
The goal isn't fear. It's information.
👉 Want to eat in a way that supports your whole body - including your skin? Grab my cookbooks here — real food, real flavors, real life!
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This post contains Amazon affiliate links. All opinions and recommendations are my own.
