Your health: Apply the sunscreen

Sunscreen time?

Maybe you’re spooked after hearing about a recent report from the Environmental Working Group, which exposed problems with the U.S. sunscreen supply, according to The Washington Post.

The FDA has announced that it’s taking steps to better regulate sunscreen ingredients and to make sunscreen labels more useful to consumers.

Ali Hendi, a spokesman for the American Academy of Dermatology, says that if you want to protect your skin from cancer and premature aging, staying out of the sun is your best bet. But the next best thing, Hendi says, is using sunscreen. If you’re worried over reports that sunscreen can cause cancer and other bodily harm, Hendi says no human studies have shown that to be the case.

And Hendi points out that “the World Health Organization has recently added UV radiation to its list of known carcinogens.”

And he offers simple criteria to guide your choice — use SPF 30 or higher if you work outdoors. Make sure it’s broad spectrum, and reapply every two to three hours.

Those of us who work indoors can do a morning application of moisturizer with an SPF of 15, Hendi says. Moisturizer for men? Hendi suggests using it instead of after-shave.

Green is good

Look for local green beans and cucumbers later this month and in July. At about 30 calories per cup, green beans are great for snacking and are loaded with vitamin C.

Cucumbers have about half the calories of a similar portion of green beans, and a cup provides almost a quarter of the bone-healthy vitamin K you need in a day.

Try adding a few slices of cucumber and citrus fruit to a pitcher of ice water. Hopefully it will motivate you to drink more water!

Runners’ warning

There will always be people who like pushing their bodies to the limit by exercising outdoors on hot summer afternoons. But unless you pay careful attention to hydration and replenishing electrolytes, you can do your body more harm than good by working out in the heat, says The Washington Post.

As health-exercise columnist Vicky Hallett wrote recently, many athletes are taking to working out in the evening, when the air has cooled a bit.

If you’re like most of us, rejiggering your exercise schedule means overhauling your day. But it’s worth trying.