Physical Sunscreen or Chemical Sunscreen – Which is Healthier?

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Our Verdict

When comparing physical sunscreens to chemical sunscreens, we picked the physical sunscreens.

Why?

It’s easy to vote against chemical sunscreens, because it has “chemical” in the name, which tends to be offputting PR-wise no matter how healthy something is.

But in this case, there’s actual science here too!

Physical sunscreens physically block the UV rays.

  • On the simplest of levels, mud is a physical sunscreen, as you can see widely used by elephants, hippos, pigs, and other animals.
  • On a more sophisticated level, modern physical sunscreens often use tiny zinc particles (or similar) to block the UV rays in a way that isn’t so obvious to the naked eye—so we can still see our skin, and it looks just like we applied an oil or other moisturizer.

Chemical sunscreens interact with the UV rays in a way that absorbs them.

  • Specifically, they usually convert it into relatively harmless thermal energy (heat)
  • However, this can cause problems if there’s too much heat!
  • Additionally, chemical sunscreens can get “used up” in a way that physical sunscreens can’t* becoming effectively deactivated once the chemical reaction has run its course and there is no more reagent left unreacted.
  • Worse, some of the reagents, when broken down by the UV rays, can potentially cause harm when absorbed by the skin.

*That said, physical sunscreens will still need “topping up” because we are a living organism and our body can’t resist redistributing and using stuff—plus, depending on the climate and our activities, we can lose some externally too.

Further reading

We wrote about sunscreens (of various kinds) here:

Who Screens The Sunscreens?

And you can also read specifically about today’s topic in more detail, here:

What’s The Difference Between Physical And Chemical Sunscreens?

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  • Black Coffee vs Orange Juice – Which is Healthier?

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Our Verdict

    When comparing black coffee to orange juice, we picked the coffee.

    Why?

    While this one isn’t a very like-for-like choice, it’s a choice often made, so it bears examining.

    In favor of the orange juice, it has vitamins A and C and the mineral potassium, while the coffee contains no vitamins or minerals beyond trace amounts.

    However, to offset that: drinking juice is one of the worst ways to consume sugar; the fruit has not only been stripped of its fiber, but also is in its most readily absorbable state (liquid), meaning that this is going to cause a blood sugar spike, which if done often can lead to insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and more. Now, the occasional glass of orange juice (and resultant blood sugar spike) isn’t going to cause disease by itself, but everything we consume tips the scales of our health towards wellness or illness (or sometimes both, in different ways), and in this case, juice has a rather major downside that ought not be ignored.

    In favor of the coffee, it has a lot of beneficial phytochemicals (mostly antioxidant polyphenols of various kinds), with no drawbacks worth mentioning unless you have a pre-existing condition of some kind.

    Coffee can of course be caffeinated or decaffeinated, and we didn’t specify which here. Caffeine has some pros and cons that at worst, balance each other out, and whether or not it’s caffeinated, there’s nothing in coffee to offset the beneficial qualities of the antioxidants we mentioned before.

    Obviously, in either case we are assuming consuming in moderation.

    In short:

    • orange juice has negatives that at least equal, if not outweigh, its positives
    • coffee‘s benefits outweigh any drawbacks for most people

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    Take care!

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  • Future-Proof Your Brain

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    This is Kimberly Wilson. She’s a psychologist, not a doctor, and/but her speciality is neurophysiology and brain health.

    Here’s what she wants us to know…

    Avoid this very common killer

    As you’re probably aware, the #1 killer in the US is heart disease, followed by COVID, which effectively pushed everything down a place. Thereafter, we see cancer, followed by accidental injuries, stroke, and dementia (including Alzheimer’s).

    Over in the UK, where Wilson is from, dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease) is the #1 killer, followed by heart disease and then respiratory diseases (including COVID), and then stroke, then cancer.

    As ever, what’s good for the heart is good for the brain, so many of the same interventions will help avoid both. With regard to some of the other differences in order, the reasons are mostly due to differences in the two countries’ healthcare systems and firearms laws.

    It’s worth noting, though, that the leading cause of death in young people (aged 15–19) is suicide in the UK; in the US it’s nominally accidental injuries first (e.g. accidental shootings) with intentional suicide in the second spot.

    In other words… Young or old, mental health is a serious health category that kills literally the most people in the UK, and also makes the top spots in the US.

    Avoid the early killer

    Given the demographics of most of our readership, chances are you’ve already lived past your teens and twenties. That’s not to say that suicide is no longer a risk, though, and it’s also worth noting that while mental health issues are invisible, they’re still physical illnesses (the brain is also an organ, after all!), so this isn’t something where you can simply “decide not to” and that’s you set, safe for life. So, please do continue to take good care in that regard.

    We wrote about this previously, here:

    How To Stay Alive (When You Really Don’t Want To)

    Avoid the later killer

    Wilson talks about how a recent survey found that…

    • while nearly half of adults say dementia is the disease they fear most,
    • only a third of those thought you could do anything to avoid it, and
    • just 1% could name the 7 known risk factors.

    Quick test: can you name the 7 known risk factors?

    Please take a moment to actually try (this kind of mental stimulation is good in any case), and count them out on your fingers (or write them down), and then

    When you’re ready: click here to see the answer!

    How many did you get? If you got them all, well done. If not, then well, now you know, so that’s good.

    So, with those 7 things in mind, the first obvious advice is to take care of those things.

    Taking an evidence-based medicine approach, Wilson recommends some specific interventions that will each improve one or more of those things, directly or indirectly:

    Eating right

    Wilson is a big fan of “nutritional psychiatry” and feeding one’s brain properly. We wrote about this, here:

    The 6 Pillars Of Nutritional Psychiatry

    As well as agreeing with the obvious “eat plenty of fiber, different-colored plants, and plenty of greens and beans”, Wilson specifically also champions getting enough of vitamins B9, B12, and D, as well as getting a healthy dose of omega-3 fatty acids.

    She also recommends intermittent fasting, if that’s a reasonable option for you—but advocates for not worrying about it, if it’s not easy for you. For example, if you are diabetic, or have (or have a history with) some kind of eating disorder(s), then it’s probably not usefully practicable. But for most people, it can reduce systemic inflammation, which means also reducing neuroinflammation.

    Managing stress right

    Here she advocates for three main things:

    1. Mindful meditation (see: Evidence-Based, No-Frills Mindfulness)
    2. Psychological resilience (see: Building Psychological Resilience)
    3. Mindful social media use (see: Making Social Media Work For Your Mental Health)

    Managing money right

    Not often we talk about this in a health science publication as opposed to a financial planning publication, but the fact is that a lot of mental distress, which goes on to have a huge impact on the brain, is rooted in financial stresses.

    And, of course, it’s good to be able to draw on financial resources to directly fund one’s good health, but that is the secondary consideration here—the financial stress is the biggest issue, and you can’t CBT your way out of debt, for example.

    Therapists often face this, and what has been referred to informally by professionals in the field as “Shit Life Syndrome”—and there’s only so much that therapy can do about that.

    We’re not a financial publication, but one recommendation we’ll drop is that if you don’t currently have budgeting software that you use, this writer personally uses and swears by YNAB (You Need A Budget), so maybe check that out if you don’t already have everything covered in that regard. It’s not free, but there is a 34-day free trial.

    Therapy can be very worthwhile nonetheless

    Wilson notes that therapy is like non-invasive brain surgery (because of neuroplasticity, it’s literally changing physical things in your brain).

    It’s not a magic bullet and it’s not the right choice for everyone, but it’s worth considering, and even self-therapy can yield benefits for many:

    The Gym For Your Mental Health: Getting The Most Out Of Therapy

    Sleeping right

    Sleep is not only critical for health in general and brain health in particular, it’s also most of when our glymphatic system does clean-up in the brain (essential for avoiding Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s, amongst other diseases):

    How To Clean Your Brain (Glymphatic Health Primer)

    Want to know more from Kimberley Wilson?

    We reviewed a book of hers recently, here:

    Unprocessed: What your Diet Is Doing To Your Brain – by Kimberley Wilson

    However, much of what we shared today was sourced from another book of hers that we haven’t reviewed yet but probably will do one of these days:

    How to Build a Healthy Brain: Reduce stress, anxiety and depression and future-proof your brain – by Kimberley Wilson

    Enjoy!

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  • Better With Age – by Dr. Alan Castel

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    This one isn’t about the biology of aging, so much as (as the subtitle promises) the psychology of it.

    Dr. Castel first covers the grounds of what “successful aging” is, and the benefits that can be expected from doing it right. Spoiler, it’s not just “reduced decline”, there are numerous things that actually get better, too.

    We also learn how our memory works differently—it can be worse, of course, but it can also be just different, in a way that tends to tie in with vastness of the accumulated knowledge over the years, allowing for easiest access to the things the brain thinks are most important—ranging from expertise in a certain field, to life-experience “wisdom”.

    There’s a lot of advice that’s mostly not going to be anything new to regular readers of 10almonds, in terms of staying sharp with an active lifestyle and a well-nourished brain.

    The style is very soft pop-science; there are citations dotted throughout, but mostly this is more of a “curl up with a book” book, not a textbook.

    In the category of subjective criticism, it can be a little repetitive (but for those who like repetition for ease of learning, you will love this), and his name-dropping habit gets quite eyeroll-worthy quite quickly.

    Bottom line: if you’d like to learn about the very many ways in which “over the hill” is simply defeatist pessimism, then this book can help you to ensure you do better.

    Click here to check out Better With Age, and get better with age!

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Related Posts

  • Salmon vs Tuna – Which is Healthier?
  • Mineral-Rich Mung Bean Pancakes

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Mung beans are rich in an assortment of minerals, especially iron, copper, phosphorus, and magnesium. They’re also full of protein and fiber! What better way to make pancakes healthy?

    You will need

    • ½ cup dried green mung beans
    • ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
    • ½ cup chopped fresh dill
    • ¼ cup uncooked wholegrain rice
    • ¼ cup nutritional yeast
    • 1 tsp MSG, or 2 tsp low-sodium salt
    • 2 green onions, finely sliced
    • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

    Method

    (we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)

    1) Soak the mung beans and rice together overnight.

    2) Drain and rinse, and blend them in a blender with ¼ cup of water, to the consistency of regular pancake batter, adding more water (sparingly) if necessary.

    3) Transfer to a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients except for the olive oil, which latter you can now heat in a skillet over a medium-high heat.

    4) Add a few spoonfuls of batter to the pan, depending on how big you want the pancakes to be. Cook on both sides until you get a golden-brown crust, and repeat for the rest of the pancakes.

    5) Serve! As these are savory pancakes, you might consider serving them with a little salad—tomatoes, olives, and cucumbers go especially well.

    Enjoy!

    Want to learn more?

    For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:

    Take care!

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  • Behind Book Recommendations

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    It’s Q&A Day!

    Each Thursday, we respond to subscriber questions and requests! If it’s something small, we’ll answer it directly; if it’s something bigger, we’ll do a main feature in a follow-up day instead!

    So, no question/request to big or small; they’ll just get sorted accordingly

    Remember, you can always hit reply to any of our emails, or use the handy feedback widget at the bottom. We always look forward to hearing from you!

    Q: What’s the process behind the books you recommend? You seem to have a limitless stream of recommendations

    We do our best!

    The books we recommend are books that…

    • are on Amazon—it makes things tidy, consistent, and accessible. And if you end up buying one of the books, we get a small affiliate commission*.
    • we have read—we would say “obviously”, but you might be surprised how many people write about books without having read them.
    • pertain in at least large part to health and/or productivity.
    • are written by humans—bookish people (and especially Kindle Unlimited users) may have noticed lately that there are a lot of low quality AI-written books flooding the market, sometimes with paid 5-star reviews to bolster them. It’s frustrating, but we can tell the difference and screen those out.
    • are of a certain level of quality. They don’t have to be “top 5 desert-island books”, because well, there’s one every day and the days keep coming. But they do have to genuinely deliver the value that we describe, and merit a sincere recommendation.
    • are varied—we try to not give a run of “samey” books one after another. We will sometimes review a book that covers a topic another previously-reviewed book did, but it must have something about it that makes it different. It may be a different angle or a different writing style, but it needs something to set it apart.

    *this is from Amazon and isn’t product-specific, so this is not affecting our choice of what books to review at all—just that they will be books that are available on Amazon.

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  • Not all ultra-processed foods are bad for your health, whatever you might have heard

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    In recent years, there’s been increasing hype about the potential health risks associated with so-called “ultra-processed” foods.

    But new evidence published this week found not all “ultra-processed” foods are linked to poor health. That includes the mass-produced wholegrain bread you buy from the supermarket.

    While this newly published research and associated editorial are unlikely to end the wrangling about how best to define unhealthy foods and diets, it’s critical those debates don’t delay the implementation of policies that are likely to actually improve our diets.

    What are ultra-processed foods?

    Ultra-processed foods are industrially produced using a variety of processing techniques. They typically include ingredients that can’t be found in a home kitchen, such as preservatives, emulsifiers, sweeteners and/or artificial colours.

    Common examples of ultra-processed foods include packaged chips, flavoured yoghurts, soft drinks, sausages and mass-produced packaged wholegrain bread.

    In many other countries, ultra-processed foods make up a large proportion of what people eat. A recent study estimated they make up an average of 42% of total energy intake in Australia.

    How do ultra-processed foods affect our health?

    Previous studies have linked increased consumption of ultra-processed food with poorer health. High consumption of ultra-processed food, for example, has been associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, and death from heart disease and stroke.

    Ultra-processed foods are typically high in energy, added sugars, salt and/or unhealthy fats. These have long been recognised as risk factors for a range of diseases.

    Bowl of chips
    Ultra-processed foods are usually high is energy, salt, fat, or sugar. Olga Dubravina/Shutterstock

    It has also been suggested that structural changes that happen to ultra-processed foods as part of the manufacturing process may lead you to eat more than you should. Potential explanations are that, due to the way they’re made, the foods are quicker to eat and more palatable.

    It’s also possible certain food additives may impair normal body functions, such as the way our cells reproduce.

    Is it harmful? It depends on the food’s nutrients

    The new paper just published used 30 years of data from two large US cohort studies to evaluate the relationship between ultra-processed food consumption and long-term health. The study tried to disentangle the effects of the manufacturing process itself from the nutrient profile of foods.

    The study found a small increase in the risk of early death with higher ultra-processed food consumption.

    But importantly, the authors also looked at diet quality. They found that for people who had high quality diets (high in fruit, vegetables, wholegrains, as well as healthy fats, and low in sugary drinks, salt, and red and processed meat), there was no clear association between the amount of ultra-processed food they ate and risk of premature death.

    This suggests overall diet quality has a stronger influence on long-term health than ultra-processed food consumption.

    Man cooks
    People who consume a healthy diet overall but still eat ultra-processed foods aren’t at greater risk of early death. Grusho Anna/Shutterstock

    When the researchers analysed ultra-processed foods by sub-category, mass-produced wholegrain products, such as supermarket wholegrain breads and wholegrain breakfast cereals, were not associated with poorer health.

    This finding matches another recent study that suggests ultra-processed wholegrain foods are not a driver of poor health.

    The authors concluded, while there was some support for limiting consumption of certain types of ultra-processed food for long-term health, not all ultra-processed food products should be universally restricted.

    Should dietary guidelines advise against ultra-processed foods?

    Existing national dietary guidelines have been developed and refined based on decades of nutrition evidence.

    Much of the recent evidence related to ultra-processed foods tells us what we already knew: that products like soft drinks, alcohol and processed meats are bad for health.

    Dietary guidelines generally already advise to eat mostly whole foods and to limit consumption of highly processed foods that are high in refined grains, saturated fat, sugar and salt.

    But some nutrition researchers have called for dietary guidelines to be amended to recommend avoiding ultra-processed foods.

    Based on the available evidence, it would be difficult to justify adding a sweeping statement about avoiding all ultra-processed foods.

    Advice to avoid all ultra-processed foods would likely unfairly impact people on low-incomes, as many ultra-processed foods, such as supermarket breads, are relatively affordable and convenient.

    Wholegrain breads also provide important nutrients, such as fibre. In many countries, bread is the biggest contributor to fibre intake. So it would be problematic to recommend avoiding supermarket wholegrain bread just because it’s ultra-processed.

    So how can we improve our diets?

    There is strong consensus on the need to implement evidence-based policies to improve population diets. This includes legislation to restrict children’s exposure to the marketing of unhealthy foods and brands, mandatory Health Star Rating nutrition labelling and taxes on sugary drinks.

    Softdrink on supermarket shelf
    Taxes on sugary drinks would reduce their consumption. MDV Edwards/Shutterstock

    These policies are underpinned by well-established systems for classifying the healthiness of foods. If new evidence unfolds about mechanisms by which ultra-processed foods drive health harms, these classification systems can be updated to reflect such evidence. If specific additives are found to be harmful to health, for example, this evidence can be incorporated into existing nutrient profiling systems, such as the Health Star Rating food labelling scheme.

    Accordingly, policymakers can confidently progress food policy implementation using the tools for classifying the healthiness of foods that we already have.

    Unhealthy diets and obesity are among the largest contributors to poor health. We can’t let the hype and academic debate around “ultra-processed” foods delay implementation of globally recommended policies for improving population diets.

    Gary Sacks, Professor of Public Health Policy, Deakin University; Kathryn Backholer, Co-Director, Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition, Deakin University; Kathryn Bradbury, Senior Research Fellow in the School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau, and Sally Mackay, Senior Lecturer Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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