To reduce the risk of sun damage pay attention to what you put in your body, as well as what you use on the outside. Whilst Broccoli isn’t a substitute for sunscreen, the protection you get won’t wash off in the pool either!
Eating the right foods particularly fruit and veg that contain antioxidants reduce inflammation can keep you looking younger as well as helping to protect from sunburn that leads to skin cancer and wrinkles.
Green leafy vegetables can reduce your risk of a variety of cancers, and protect your skin too. According to the International Journal of Cancer, spinach, kale, and chard may reduce risk of squamous cell cancer by fifty percent. Paul Talalay, MD, from Johns Hopkins University has studied the protective benefits of broccoli for twenty-five years. He and his colleagues have discovered that broccoli sprouts are powerful when it comes to cancer protection.
You can incorporate the benefits of broccoli for protection from skin cancer from the sun by eating one half cup daily. Add broccoli to a salad or put a handful of broccoli sprouts in your sandwich.
Bright Colorful fruits are high in carotenoids and lycopene. Carotenoids offer skin and eye protection from the sun. In fact “The more colorful the plant, the higher its protection against unwanted rays,” Claims Dr. Felder MD, PhD and author of The Bonus Years Diet. He also explains, “When you and I go out in the sun, we put on sunscreen. Plants use color as sunscreen.”
A study, performed in 2001, looked at volunteers who ate 40 grams of tomato paste in addition to two teaspoons of olive oil (for absorption) over a ten-week period. The group was forty percent less likely to experience sunburn when exposed to harmful UV rays.
A great summer fruit choice is watermelon not only is it delicious but it is rich in lycopene, making it a great choice to protect your skin from sunburn and possibly even reduce the risk of developing skin cancer.
NOTE – Don’t forget the outside protection too
-Hat, UV clothing, Sun glasses, UVA & UVB Sunscreen and of course SHADE!
50+UPF Sunny Sleevez
Sunny Sleevez 
Love this! People need to get that you are what you eat, and food from the earth is so full of nutrients and vitamins.
I eat about a bell pepper a day – lots of other fruit and veg as well, but I think it’s the red and orange and yellow peppers that helps most – and I haven’t had sunburn at all for about 4 yeas. Before that, I could be out in the sun only minutes before catching a red neck! It really does work!
Hey, Milla, our cat is called Milla!
OK, I’ve been following your every post, but cheat by having them sent to my email and never stop by to comment, so hear goes: I grew up in an era when a good sunburn followed by peeling and an eventual tan was a badge of honor. Then, for years I called my wife the sunscreen Nazi until my oldest son got melanoma after he returned home from studying abroad in Australia. Now she is recovering from second degree burns from a boiling oil cooking accident and I come across Sunny Sleevez.
Your blog has an incredible amount of useful information. Each post is well-researched, authoratative and well-written. You are doing a great service for so many people. Well done, and thank you! I’m a fan.
Hi Jim,
Thank you so much for your comment.
I’m really sorry to hear about your wife and son.
I hope they are both healing fast.
It was during my time in Australia that I was first exposed to sun protection information with the “slip slap slop’ campaign.
It amazes my Aussie friends when they come to California that people aren’t even wearing hats in the middle of summer
Thanks again for the comment
Dash
Very good info! Would like to add that if one eats the tomato paste for sunscreen (has to be a constant in the diet) it also starts to color the skin. So it is an orange-ish “tan” from the inside out. Sort of a fun thing, I thought.
Cat
Thanks for the follow. What a great concept you have here at Sunny Sleevez. This is much needed information that should be brought to the people.