Health Hotline Magazine | June 2020

Enjoy the Sun Again THIS SUMMER PROTECT YOUR SKIN FROM THE INSIDE OUT WITH CAROTENOIDS SO YOU CAN HAVE YOUR FUN IN THE SUN! Carotenoids to the Rescue, By Lindsay Wilson Humans have a sort of love-hate relationship with the sun. Who doesn’t love to be outside on a sunny day, soaking up the warm rays? Not to mention it’s those UVB rays that produce vitamin D in our skin. What we don’t love so much are the wrinkles, sunspots, and potential cancer that come with excess UV exposure. The good news is that a group of antioxidants called carotenoids can protect your cells from UV-induced damage, potentially halting much of sun’s negative effects. Too much UV exposure generates harmful free radicals in the skin and cumulative exposure to these free radicals contributes to the breakdown of DNA, proteins—including collagen and elastin—and fats in skin cells. The consequence is that skin cells are damaged and cannot create healthy new cells, leading to wrinkles, sunspots, thin, and sagging skin. Excessive UV exposure also increases the risk of three different types of skin cancer: squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and melanoma. All of this may send you running for cover from the sun, but a growing body of research is showing that a class of plant nutrients called carotenoids has photoprotective properties, meaning they protect our cells from the damaging effects of UV radiation from the inside out. There are more than 600 different carotenoids, but the ones that provide the most protection from UV radiation are lycopene, lutein/zeaxanthin, and astaxanthin.

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