One of the things that I do believe is different now than it was 200 years ago is our diet. Now I certainly don’t have any double-blind studies to back this up, but I have a hunch that a poor diet might have something to do with the apparent increase in sunburn vulnerability in our world (if there really is such an increase). I’m fairly convinced that diet has more to do with it than a supposedly new ozone hole.

I recently read an article on Vitamin D and the Sun. Given the relatively small amount of sea food in my diet (I try to serve fish 2-3 times monthly), and the relatively large amount of fish likely eaten by my ancestors (I’m 1/4 Norwegian), I probably have a shortage of vitamin D. That could explain my occasional orneryness.

That said, I’m trying something different this summer. I’m going to use Shea butter as a sun screen. It is said that the natives in the area from which Shea butter comes use this butter as a sun screen. Now the natives are dark skinned and so have quite a bit more natural protection against the sun than I do, but I’m going to give it a try.

My plan is to gradually expose myself to the sun for longer and longer periods (while using Shea butter) till I build up tolerance. Naturally, during extended exposure to the sun I’ll have to resort to the high powered stuff, but I’d like to minimize my use of that.

A while back when I read The Maker’s Diet by Jordan Rubin, he said that you should never put anything on your skin that you wouldn’t put into your mouth. That sounds like good advice.