You might probably be thinking of something else right now; perhaps you are thinking this is going to stop you from making that delicious meal of yours. You also don’t have to worry about your diet ration or your diet plates portion control. But “Don’t Fry Day” is absolutely referring to something very different from your thought anyway. It’s simply a wake-up call to warring against skin cancer resulting from overexposure to the sun. So you don’t have to worry about altering your healthy eating habits in anyway. In the bid to help curb the rising rate of skin cancer which results from overexposure to ultraviolet rays coming from the sun, the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention has designated every last Friday before Memorial Day to be the “Don’t Fry Day”.
It all started in 2008 when the motion was moved to designate a day (Friday) as a day to emphasize avoidance of overexposure to the sun and to therefore, encourage and remind everyone to prevent their skin while enjoying the outdoors. The proposal was accepted and the Friday before Memorial Day was chosen to observe this every year.
The “Don’t Fry Day” for this year, 2017, was May 26 but it is still hot and sweltering out there. We care for your healthy lifestyle and so please stay aware…
What about skin cancer?
Skin cancer is now the most common type of cancer around us today. It is increasingly tending to the high side every year, especially in the United States. Skin cancer is usually caused as a result of too much exposure of your skin to ultraviolet (UV) radiations from the sun or sunbeds.
Though there may be a couple of other causes of skin cancer, the most serious type of skin cancer (Melanoma) has its cause from sun or sunbeds.
What is UV and Sunburn?
UV (ultraviolet rays) could be of three types and all of them are capable of damaging our skin resulting in cancer; the UVA; UVB; and UVC. The last of them (UVC) has been completely prevented from reaching the earth’s surface by a strong ozone layer serving as a barrier against it. However, having sunburn doesn’t necessarily put you on the list of people going to get skin cancer, but it’s definitely sending out a signal to you.
Just like some people say; “healthy eating habit is a key to all health issues”. Anyway, that may be correct in some way. Developing a healthy eating habit could help you reduce the growth of skin cancer; foods rich in antioxidants and Omega-3 fatty acids have being found to be very promising. However, what is the need of going through ‘healthy eating habits’ to suppress skin cancer, when we can actually prevent it in the first place. You don’t need to have nice healthy eating habit, the below recommendations are only measures to protect you from UV rays and be on the good side.
Tips for protecting yourself:
1. Don’t forget to use sunscreen whenever you are outdoors. Always make sure you apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen with SPF (Sun Protection Factor) of at least 30 before you set out for outdoor activities. Make sure you apply the sunscreen 15 minutes before setting out and don’t forget to reapply again after every 2 hours when outdoors. A broad-spectrum sunscreen usually provides protection against both UVA and UVB.
2. Is the sun too strong? ; stay indoors.
When you notice the sun is at the strongest, it’s advisable you stay indoors.
3. Be more careful with sand and water.
The sun’s rays are stronger and burns faster when they reflect off sand and water. So you should be careful when around one.
4. Cover up more skin as much as possible.
Endeavor to cover up as much skin as you can; either by wearing a long shirt, wide brimmed hat for your face and sunglasses for your eyes.