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W.i.g.'s Summer Health Guide! -Sunscreen, Hydration, Smoothies
Compiled by the Wiggers
Sunscreen-Cover Up!
Vogue magazine recently reported that "using a sunscreen with an SPF [sun protection factor] of 8 is as useless as using a condom with a hole in it." This, personally, was big news. After reading this, I dropped my magazine on my lawn chair and ran indoors to my bathroom to checkout my tube of Banana Boat. It said "SPF 8." Like a condom with a hole in it, I threw it away in a hurry and buried it under other trash, so as never to be used-or abused-again.
If you're like me, and the millions of girls who are stoked on summer sun and that hint of color that makes one look and feel healthy and outdoorsy, then heads up! It's time to take another look at your sunscreen and what summer fun in the sun truly means in the long run.
Melanoma, a dangerous type of cancer that starts on the skin and spreads to vital organs, killing it's host, accounts for one person's death every hour. There will be 44,200 new cases by the end of 1999. Rates are on the rise, and it's not just for those girls who live in sunny southern California. In Australia, which has the world's highest melanoma rates, they've launched a "Slip, slap, slop" campaign: Slip on a T, slap on a hat, and slop on sunscreen. It's working-new cases have leveled off nationwide.
Even if you're conscious of using sun protection now, do you remember ever getting burned as a child? I vividly remember my sisters and I playing on the beach on Nantucket Island when I was 12 and my mother running out of the cottage with a tube of sunscreen and a bundle of hats and T-shirts in her arms screaming at us, "There's a hole in the sky! There's a hole in the sky!" Because of a diminishing ozone layer, harmful rays are more intense and damaging than during the days of Gidget.
Skin color doesn't make one immune to skin cancer. Bob Marley died of melanoma at the age of 36 from a spot on his foot that spread to his brain. But those with fair skin and light-colored hair and eyes are at substantially higher risk (OK Barbies?).
Here are some tips for protecting your precious skin:
1) Avoid being in the sun, if possible, during peak hours of 11-4 p.m.
2) Don't skimp on how much sunscreen you use. Slather on waterproof sunscreen with a SPF of 15 or higher and a UV rating (30 is recommended by some doctors) as often as you can remember. Even if it says "sweat-proof" or "waterproof," it'll still come off more often than the tube directions admit. After your surf session, apply another coat.
3) Don't assume it's cool to spend more time in the sun because you have sunscreen on. Harmful rays are harmful rays.
4) Even clothing has an SPF rating: According to researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, dry, tightly woven, dark clothing works best. T-shirts only have a SPF of 7-9. Sun Precautions offers sporty clothing for cycling, running, hiking with a UV-blocking of 98 percent. Call (800) 882-7860.
5) Those of you who live closer to equator or at altitude be super cautious-both are particularly high sun-damaging-zones.
6) Finally, although societal trends may indicate that tans are cool, cancer is not. Think before you fry.
Drink Up
What's Up With Water?
Given that it's about 102 outside our office, we thought we'd give a few tips on the importance of keeping hydrated. The sun can sap your energy, but one of the best ways to counter it (along with sunscreen) is to drink plenty of fluids. Even though diet sodas may be tasty, the best recourse for dehydration is good old H2O. On average, active girls need a half a cup of water for every 100 calories we burn. So, if we're expending 2,000 calories a day (which most of us do), you should be downing 10 cups of water daily. But if you're swimming, surfing, skateboarding, or adding other exercise, bump-up the intake to 12 cups per day.
Water and Weight Loss
Although drinking more water will make you pee more frequently, it won't make you gain weight. Water helps reduce weight by flushing waste products generated when fat is broken down at a quicker rate. Unless you eat a lot of salt, most people do not bloat with additional water intake. Use water as a substitute for nibbling between meals. Try sparkling water with a squeeze of lemon or lime while you're working or hanging out at the pool. It's juicy and a no-calorie filler. Or, try fruit. Most fruit is 95 percent water. Not only will fruit help stop in-between meal cravings, but also increase your hydration level.
Forget the Diet Coke and Ketchup:
Research shows that diet sodas, some teas, alcohol, salsa, ketchup, and many salad dressings (other than oil and vinegar) cause fluid lose. Basically, drinking a Diet Coke to quench your thirst is only a Band-Aid treatment that works for a short time. It might satiate those initial thirst pangs, but you're going to be peeing it out before it has a chance to do any good. And there are no nutritional benefits to most diet soft drinks. Natural sodas, noncaffinated teas, and sparkling juices are the next best thing to plain old water.
Water and Exercise:
Did you know that when you swim you sweat? Unless we're engaged in a game of volleyball, most of us think of beach-time and swimming around in the waves more as a relaxing pastime than a sweat-producer. The sun alone can dehydrate the human body more than you'd think. If you swim for even 15 minutes, you're body sweats the same amount as running for 15 minutes. So don't forget to pack one of those big water bottles with your towel when you head to pool or beach. And if you plan on tossing the Frisbee or checking out your new surfboard, bring a couple of water bottles (or the equivalent to 12 glasses of water).
Hydration Tips in a Nutshell:
-Forget table salt, unless you enjoy bloating
-Stop Diet Coke now-it's a water-depleter
-Cigarettes will turn your facial skin into an Apple Doll quicker than the evil Water and Power men in "Tank Girl"
-Eat lots of watermelon and other fruits
-Become a Sipper, Not a Nibbler-Sparkling water with lemon and lime are good substitutes for nibbling between meals
-Peeing a lot isn't a bad thing-it rids the body of wastes
-10 cups a day for active girls is the name of the hydration game!
Smoothies-They Go Down Easy
The best thing about smoothies is that they're delicious and good for you. On the gross side, they help the body cleanse accumulated waste by collecting it and speeding up the process of disposing it. But they also provide nourishment and energy without your body having output more energy to digest it. In other words, they go right into your bloodstream, allowing the rest of your body to concentrate on the stuff you're already doing. Because of this, smoothies make the perfect detoxification treatment, even when you're about to go workout. Word of advice: Drink smoothies slowly. Mix them with the saliva in your mouth before you gulp them down. It'll help process all those vitamins and minerals.
When it comes to athletes who drink smoothies, we talked to a couple of women whom had some very interesting concepts on making THE perfect smoothie. By all means, add fruit you enjoy most. Be creative: The art of smoothie making can be as fun and challenging as you make it. Start a smoothie contest with your friends to see who can come up with the most tart, most sweet (without adding sugar), or most… green. The only definition of a true smoothie is that it be pureed (a blender or juicer will accomplish this) and usually include a banana for thickness and consistency. If you're into melons, you might want to mix an all-melon smoothie rather than combining melons with other fruits. Strawberries and melons together can sometimes cause bloating.
According to former X Games Boardercross Champ, Leslee Olson, smoothies are all about having fun in the morning. "I drink them almost every day," she says. "I make them with orange or apple juice, frozen bananas, frozen strawberries, and raspberries. I might add a little protein powder [she's an athlete, after all], and spirulina powder and maybe a little soy milk. Or, if I'm a little lazy, I'll just head off to the health food store in Bend [Oregon] and they'll whip up a yummy one for me."
When we asked snowboard bronze-medallist, Shannon Dunn, what she thought about smoothies, she got back to us right away with a recipe we just had to try. "I LOVE smoothies! I freeze the fruit I like, such as bananas, strawberries, papaya, raspberries, and blueberries. I put a little apple juice in the blender with a handful of my favorite frozen fruit, add spirulina or other "green food" with protein powder and bee pollen on the top. The bee pollen is kind of crunchy and sweet, so I like that on the top. Also, I think that putting protein in it helps level out the sugar ups and downs-sort of smoothes out the smoothie."
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