I do – but only a very few certain kinds and only after I’ve gotten some uninterrupted sun on my skin. Most days that comes from my morning run or workout, but I also make sure I’m getting some later in the day too. We know that Vitamin D is super important for our overall health and that many humans are chronically deficient. The last few years have shown us just how important this magical vitamin is in determining our overall health – and I feel like summer is the perfect time to bring it to the forefront of all of our minds. (More on this in 2 shakes!) Vitamin D is super cool because we can actually make a form of it ourselves! It’s actually pretty tough to determine how much vitamin D that gets made in our skin from sun exposure, but it’s pretty widely accepted that 10-15 minutes of peak sun exposure (11 am – 3 pm) with no sunscreen should do the job for most of us.

In our house, we make it a habit to get some good sunshine time early in the day to help our natural circadian rhythm as well – which is why I mentioned bringing Vitamin D to the forefront right now! We need sunshine for lots of things – and not just in the summer, right? Of course! I always bring this stuff up now because studies show that it actually takes between 18 and 254 days to truly form a habit (crazy right?!), not 21 days… so by sticking this in your face right now and encouraging you to get outside and make the Vitamin D and get the sunshiney goodness, maybe it’ll be a habit by fall and winter!

My crew gets plenty of outside time and I’m not generally super particular about us wearing a TON of sunscreen, but we wear it during peak hours and extended exposure to the sun (ie – those days we LIVE at the community pool – if you’re in FloMo, find us!).

If you’ve been into the office or around me at the pool, you know I’m super loyal to Beautycounter sunscreen. We love this one and it’s non-nano zinc and reef safe. My husband and I recently went on a trip for our anniversary and only took the spray and stick versions – and our friends loved these! My kiddos love the stick version because they can apply their “war paint” by themselves and draw on each other. My kids are weird, y’all. Because getting sunburned stinks.

But, even as much as we try to prevent via being careful with exposure, eating well, covering up, using great sunscreen, sometimes sunburn happens. When it does, I’m quick to dose my crew a couple of times with the homeopathic remedy cantharis to support healing and some aloe from one of my plants. Now that I’ve typed that, I’m also certain that those are darn near the only plants I’ve ever kept alive – Mother Nature knows we need all the ones that we’ve been gifted! Thanks Mom and Kat! I also stick them into the shower on a pretty warm temp right after we realize that one of us got burned – my favorite homeopath swears by this!

What are your go-to prevention and cures?

xoxoxox,

Dr. Jamie

(You all know I’m a Beautycounter consultant, and I make a small commission if you buy anything from the sunscreen links above – but this one I would share with you anyway because that’s how much I love it.)