Should we fear the sun
For years now we have been told to stay out of the sun and to slather our skin with toxic sunscreens, to protect it. So naturally, this is what many people believe.
The sun is a part of our solar system and biological natural world. Without the sun, life on earth would cease to exist. Humans have been exposed to the sun since the dawn of our existence and sunlight exposure is necessary to our bodies for maintaining good health.
Benefits of sunlight
Sunlight helps regulate the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle (circadian rhythm).
The sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays trigger the skin to produce vitamin D, a crucial nutrient for bone health, calcium absorption, and immune function. Vitamin D also plays a role in regulating blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
Sunlight stimulates the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that plays a key role in regulating mood. Increased serotonin levels can improve mood, reduce symptoms of depression, and promote a sense of well-being.
Sunlight can also help improve symptoms of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Otherwise known as the winter blues.
Some research suggests that sunlight may help improve skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis.
Sunlight exposure may also lower blood pressure by stimulating the release of nitric oxide.
Danger Zone
According to scientists, our sun has become increasingly harmful to us due to a thinning of the Earth’s ozone layer.
Scientists say this layer naturally filters out harmful UV rays, and its depletion, primarily caused by ozone-depleting substances like CFCs, means more UV radiation reaches us, increasing the risk of skin cancer, cataracts, and other health problems.
Now, I cannot confidently say whether this is true or false, as there is a lot of speculation these days surrounding these subjects. But instead of debating this subject we are going to look at history and nature to tell us a story.
Natural evidence
In the mornings, the sun is out, the birds are chirping and the squirrels are scurrying. The natural world comes alive.
It’s not uncommon to see deer grazing on your way to work or rabbits munching in your garden. We see many animals and creatures taking advantage of the early morning hours when the sun is loving, warm and gentle.
But if you pay attention and are aware of your natural environment, you will notice that there are rarely any creatures out during the hours of 11pm—3pm. Not surprisingly this time frame correlates to when the harmful UVB radiation is received. And because animals are far more connected to the biological world than we are, this is something to take notice of.
Now that we have learned something from the natural world, let’s look at history. What were our ancient human ancestors doing during this part of the day. Did they too hide from the sun?
Many cultures historically, and in some cases still today, take a break in the middle of the day, particularly during the hottest part of the day, to avoid heat exhaustion and conserve energy.
Traditional African communities still have a midday rest period or a slowdown in activity when the sun is at its peak. This practice is often referred to as “siesta” and is a way to avoid the intense heat and maximize efficiency during cooler periods of the day.
This information is intriguing considering now, we have evidence that both animals, historical cultures and even primitive cultures today still hide from the sun during that time frame.
Obviously ancient humans stayed out of the sun during those hours for a reason, and so do our animal relatives. But does this mean it was because the sun was causing cancer? Or were they simply seeking shade from the heat?
Historical cases
Cancers, specifically tumors, have been documented all the way back to the time of the ancient Egyptians, but skin cancer specifically, wasn’t documented until 1804 when scientific oncology proliferated with the introduction of the modern microscope. Laennac a french physician at the time, made the first description of melanoma in 1804.
Now what makes this interesting is that a cancer such as melanoma is known to spread rapidly. These obvious skin changes would have been noticed and documented, especially if it occurred not long before death. In fact, most skin cancers are noticeable and change color, texture, etc. And because our ancient ancestors weren’t stupid, it seems likely that if this was occurring, it would have been documented.
What changed
Around the same time we find the first skin cancer being documented, butter and animal fats we’re being replaced for a cheaper, more shelf stable replacement—seed oils.
In the late 1700s—early 1800s the invention of mechanical oil presses revolutionized the mass production of industrial seed oils like rapeseed oil (canola oil). This oil was followed by the creation of flax, sesame, and cottonseed oils, with cotton seed, becoming one of the most popular.
By the mid-1800s, scientists began to adopt the use of solvents derived from crude oil, such as petroleum ether and hexane, to facilitate more efficient extraction of seed oils. This innovation boosted yield and broadened the applications of seed oils in industrial settings.
Thanks to the invention of the cotton gin, by the late 1800s, cotton production was booming, despite one major nuisance to producers. Cotton production resulted in the buildup of unusable, toxic waste from cotton seeds. With the help of new technology, the duo was eventually able to transform (or partially hydrogenate) liquid cottonseed oil into a solid fat that was creamy and butter-like.
In reference to cottonseed oil, the magazine Popular Science wrote: “What was garbage in 1860 was fertilizer in 1870, cattle feed in 1880, and table food and many things else in 1890.”
By the 1950s, seed oils were a staple in every home and strangely around this same time, we find a huge increase in skin cancer cases.
Today, seed oils have become a popular ingredient for almost all food products. We are told that seed oils are the healthier option to animal fats because they are high in unsaturated fat, but are they really?
The hidden danger
Linoleic acid is an essential omega-6 fatty acid that humans must obtain through their diet. It is a polyunsaturated fatty acid found in various nuts and seeds, but is also found within meat, eggs and dairy products.
Nuts and seeds are naturally high in linoleic acid. To give you an example, one tablespoon of sunflower seeds is 3 grams of linoleic acid and a half-ounce serving of pecans, nearly 3 grams of linoleic acid. As where something such as venison meat contains around 0.4 grams of linoleic acid.
In nature, it is extremely hard to find foods that are high in linoleic acid, aside from seeds and nuts. The Hansa tribe of Tanzania for example, who still live a primitive lifestyle eating meat, fruit, plants and honey, consume a diet that contains less than 2% linoleic acid.
NIH research recommends a daily limit for linoleic acid at— 12 grams per day for women and 17 grams per day for men. Obviously a little higher than a true hunter gatherer diet, but still within reasonable range.
Here’s where the problem begins…
Most modern humans are consuming extremely high amounts of linoleic acid on a daily basis. Way higher than we ever have before in all of human history, and this is solely due to the consumption of seed oils.
A good example is something like corn oil, which is used in many restaurants for frying. If you eat 3 tablespoons of corn oil, you would have to consume 65 ears of corn to be comparable. No human could ever sit down and eat this amount of corn. You would vomit before finishing.
The high consumption of foods that we wouldn’t have been consuming naturally, is what’s destroying our bodies, from the inside out.
Skin cancer connection
Aside from being linked to many other health disorders like heart disease and insulin resistance, high intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), like linoleic acid in particular, has been linked to increased melanoma risk. Yet, a high intake of fat and of fish (which we are told to avoid) rich in n-3 fatty acids, has been associated with reduced risk of the disease.
Sunlight contains UV rays, which is ultraviolet radiation needed to produce vitamin D, but it also causes lipid peroxidation, which damages skin cells and our DNA. But UV rays cannot initiate lipid peroxidation without a catalyst, which is seed oil.
In fact, the degree of skin damage can be measured by the amount of lipid peroxidation present in the skin. The higher your consumption of seed oils, the higher your risks of melanoma and skin cancer.
Laboratory studies have reported toxic effects of fatty acids such as linoleic and arachidonic acid on cell types such as leukemia cells, human endothelial cells, and murine and human melanoma cell lines. Administration of linoleic acid resulted in increased epidermal oxidative damage, leading to accumulated mutations and increased risk of skin cancer, especially melanoma.
Humans sensitivity to sunlight hasn’t changed because of the ozone and UV rays. It changed for two reasons. First is less sun exposure. Modern humans are not outdoors all day every day, like we used to be, and this does indeed affect how the skin reacts to the sun. The second reason is because of our Standard American Diet (SAD), which is full of toxic oils and synthetic ingredients.
Avoiding UV rays is not the solution to avoiding cancer. In fact, your risks of skin cancer actually increase with less sun exposure, not decreases.
Oils to avoid
Below is a list of the oils with the highest amounts of linoleic acid and should be avoided:
• Canola oil (rapeseed oil)
• Corn oil
• Cottonseed
• Grapeseed oil
• Soybean oil
• Sunflower oil
• Safflower oil
• Rice bran oil
• Peanut oil
I strongly recommend against using these oils or any food products that contain them.
What about avocado, coconut and olive oil? These are not made from seeds, so they must be healthier, right?
Sadly not necessarily. Out of those three, coconut is going to be the healthiest option because it contains the lowest amount of linoleic acid, around 2%.
Olive Oil: 8—12% linoleic acid
When it comes to olive oil, we find a few things that could be concerning. First, many olive oil brands are diluted with other harmful seed oils. Second, most olive oil produced today goes through a refining process (which wasn’t being done historically) and this affects the purity of the finished oil.
Lastly, like many other seed oils, olives can’t be consumed by the pounds, and it would take something like 5 lbs of olives to get 3 tablespoons of oil. Now, with this being said, ancient cultures throughout the Mediterranean consumed olive oil quite often. But this oil was made by pressing the olives, and extracting the excess oil. And because olive oil was considered a delicacy, it also wasn’t being overconsumed in the way we use olive oil today.
Personally I think if you’re able to find a good quality, cold-pressed organic olive oil, it would be fine to use in moderation. Overdoing however could eventually become problematic.
Avocado Oil: 8-14% linoleic acid
We find the same issues with avocado oil that we find in olive oil. It really boils down to how it’s processed and the amount that is consumed. Avocados are extremely nutritious for us and are a good source of healthy fat, but not if we sat down and ate 20 of them at once. This is the amount of avocado’s required to make three tablespoons of avocado oil.
Coconut Oil: 2% linoleic acid
Coconut oil has the lowest amount of linoleic acid out of all the oils, so this alone makes it a healthier option. Now the only thing that could be concerning again, is the amount consumed.
It takes around 3 coconuts to make 3 tablespoons of oil. And technically, it could be possible that a human could sit and eat three coconuts. But this would be pushing it and most likely the maximum they could consume. This means anything more than 3 tablespoons of coconut oil, would be unnatural for your body.
I think it’s safe to say that this is certainly a healthier option then any of the seed oils, but they should still be used in moderation due to unnatural amounts of linoleic acid.
Animal fats & butter
Animal fat was the oil of our ancestors. The oldest records of animal fats being used for cooking dates back to around 500,000 years ago, and potentially as early as 1 million years.
In ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, we find documented use of specific animal fats like lard (pig fat) and tallow (beef fat), which were commonly used for frying, food preservation, and in the production of candles and soap.
In the mid-20th century, research began to associate high saturated fat intake, often found in animal fats, with an increased risk of heart disease. This led to a public health focus on reducing saturated fat consumption.
Experts say that animal fats are high in saturated fats, which can raise LDL cholesterol, often called “bad” cholesterol which is often linked to heart disease. But is the rise and heart disease really linked to animal fats or could it be a result of the seed oils?
The intake of omega-6 vegetable oils, particularly soybean oil, began to increase in the USA starting in the early 1900s at a time when the consumption of butter and lard was on the decline.
This caused a more than two-fold increase in the intake of linoleic acid, the main omega-6 polyunsaturated fat found in vegetable oils, which now makes up around 8% to 10% of total energy intake in the Western world. The amount of linoleic acid in adipose tissue, but also in platelets, is additionally positively associated with coronary artery disease (CAD). This evidence supports the notion that it is not animal fats increasing the risk of heart disease and skin cancer, it is the seed oils and linoleic acid.
But don’t animals contain linoleic acid as well? And should we be concerned about these levels?
Yes they do, and there are some factors to consider.
Omega-6 fat linoleic acid should not be confused with conjugated linoleic acid found in pastured animals. Ruminants, have enzymes in their digestive system that convert the omega-6 fatty acids like linoleic acid to CLA.
Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), is a healthy trans fat related to linoleic acid, and is found naturally in the meat and dairy products of ruminant animals like cows, sheep, goats and deer. CLA has been linked to various potential health benefits, including weight loss, reduced inflammation, and improved bone density.
The diet of the animal however significantly impacts the CLA content in their meat. Grass-fed animals or those raised on pastures, tend to have higher CLA concentrations compared to those fed grain or other concentrates.
Studies have reported that grass-fed beef showed 62% lower fat content, 65% lower SFA, and greater concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) compared to grain-fed beef.
Non-ruminant animals however, like humans, pigs and chickens, do not have the same ruminal bacteria and therefore cannot synthesize CLA directly from linoleic acid. This means, when our diet is too high in linolic acid, it builds up in the system, eventually causing health issues.
Cooking does not affect the fatty acid profile, therefore, if we eat meat that is high in linolic acid, we are still consuming it in high unnatural amounts.
Let’s use pork as the example. A wild hog contains around 2% linoleic acid, because it’s diet consist of roots, plants, insects and other types of foods that pigs naturally eat in nature. All things low in linoleic acid. As where a farmed pig is going to contain around 12% linoleic acid, because it’s being fed a diet high in corn and soy, which are not foods pigs would instinctively seek out in nature.
Let’s take a look at the linoleic acid content in some of these animal fats.
Butter: 1%—2% linoleic acid
Grass-fed butter: less than 1%
Beef tallow: 1—4 % linoleic acid
Grass-fed beef tallow: 1% linoleic acid
Bison tallow: 1%—3% linoleic acid
Pork lard: 11%—14% linoleic acid
It is easy to see that grass-fed and pasture raised animals have a lower content of linoleic acid compared to farmed animals. We also see the huge increase when we get to pork, and this is because, again, non-ruminant animals cannot synthesize linoleic acid.
Evidence here shows that animal fats are certainly the healthier alternative to seed oils. After thousands of years of use, they only became bad for us after the creation of seed oils. Go figure.
With this being said, choose your animal fat wisely. Grass fed is going to be the healthiest option, but sticking with ruminate fats such as tallow and butter is going to be better than using lard, unless you are sourcing from a wild hog.
Final Thought
Judging from my extensive research, seed oils are one of the main culprits to the skin cancer pandemic and one of the contributing factors to the health crisis we face here in the united states (sources below).
Do yourself and your family a favor and start replacing the seed oils for healthier options like coconut oil or animal fats. Purchase grass-fed if possible and avoid pork lard unless it’s from a wild hog or has been pasture raised. Eliminate products that contain seed oils such as salad dressings, cereals, snacks etc. And be picky about the ingredients. Give up these unnatural foods that your ancestors wouldn’t have eaten.
Lastly, avoid toxic sunscreens which have also been linked to skin cancer. If you feel the need to use any, purchase a natural product, made from minerals like titanium dioxide and zinc oxide.
Making these mindful changes may require some effort initially, but the long-term benefits are well worth it. Remember, small consistent choices can lead to significant improvements—your body will thank you for prioritizing real, nourishing foods over processed and potentially toxic seed oils.
Stay Wild
Kayce Heister
Kayce is an Author, Clinical Herbalist, Naturopathic Practitioner (HHP), Active Forager, Wild Food Chef and Mother of three. She has spent the last 20 years practicing herbalism and natural health, and spends most of her time educating others on the amazing potential the natural world can offer.
Sources Below
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3569884/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916523005737
https://aacrjournals.org/cancerres/article/62/2/433/509216/n-6-Polyunsaturated-Fatty-Acids-Increase-Skin-but
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/populationbased-casecontrol-study-of-diet-and-melanoma-risk-in-northern-italy/2449A763C30EDDD59C663B6C500F011A
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234930/
Seed oil, sunscreen, and sunlight: the facts you need to know
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17657227/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6196963/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16183568/
healthprimitive(https://healthprimitive.com)