Wellness Challenge 1.20 - Buy Natural SPF

With the start of summer weather and summer hours this coming weekend, it's important to remember to pack sunscreen in your bag when heading to the beach or outdoors for a picnic in the park. But with the list of unpronounceable chemicals on the back of every tube, how do you know if you're blocking the sun without causing damage to your body?

Supermodel Gisele Bundchen made headlines last year when she claimed that drugstore sunscreen is full of poisons. And while widely used sunscreen chemicals such as parabens, avobenzone, and phthalates has been linked to health hazards, it's important to find something to protect your skin from aging and skin cancer. Dr. Leslie Baumann says there are no sunscreens out there that is truly 100% organic, but that physical sunblock's such as those made from zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are better for you than those laden with the aforementioned chemicals.

By wearing natural sunscreens, you're not just protecting your body; you are also helping to protect the environment. With sunscreen washing off swimmers in the ocean worldwide, the harmful chemicals left behind are affecting the wildlife at the ocean's floor and causes damage to the coral reefs. When you use natural sunscreen, it breaks down in an environmentally sound way and saves Nemo from drowning. Here's a list to get you started.

Overall Wellness Round Up:

Breath Assess

Emotional Impact

Environmental Influence

Heart-Healthy

Mental Effect

Nutritional Value