August 13, 2019
In this Q&A session, Dr. Michele Burklund, Puriya’s Chief Science Officer, talks about the essentials for every beach bag.
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Right below, you will find the transcript of this video.
Transcript:
(00:00) – Hi, everyone. Dr. Michele Burklund here. I’m the Chief Science Officer at Puriya, and today we are talking about the top beach essentials to stay healthy, hydrated and protect your skin at the same time. So besides researching and formulating new products, part of my role as Chief Science Officer is to help answer your questions and educate you on natural health and botanical medicine. So while we are waiting for more people to join in on this Friday morning, be sure to follow us on Facebook, so you can stay in the know and find out when our next interview is and what our next topic is for next week. And for those of you who haven’t been able to sign up for our new e-book, you can sign up in the description above, which will give you a lot of great information. Even on this talk, too. We’re talking about some things that have to do with looking at what is in your skincare products on the Environmental Working Group’s website, and we have a link in our e-book to that, and we go into a little more detail. So I highly recommend that. And this is August, this is the time of year where everybody is trying to stay cool and you’re going to the beach. No, we’re just gonna go over some basics and go a little more into detail as to the why and the how-to to keep you healthy all summer long and your skin healthy.
(01:21) – Now, the first thing I want to talk to all of you guys about is hydration. It’s incredibly important, especially when you’re outside and you’re sweating, and you’re in the hot sun, bringing water is incredibly important. And I’m sure all of you know this, but what I want to talk to you about in particular is the importance of keeping your plastic water bottles cool or if you need to bring glass or aluminum or something else. Because when you bring plastic and you leave it in the hot sun and it gets warmed up, some of the plastic can actually leak into the water, leach into the water. So a study in 2014 in China looked at 16 different brands of bottled water and found them at temperatures that went on to 158 degrees and found that the plastic bottles created increased levels of chemicals inside the water, including BPA. So now, another study from Arizona State University found that leaving water bottles in hot places, like hot cars during the summer, hot garages, and enclosed storage areas also could lead to leaching of plastics into the water. Because when you have hot environments and you have plastic, the plastic gets weaker and it can get into the water.
(02:40) – So what I advise is to, if you have to use plastic, if you’re on-the-go, if you don’t have another source, obviously you need to stay hydrated, that is number one, but keep your water bottles in cool places. Put them in the shade, put them in areas where they’re not going to heat up or bring in different source, like, take your plastic bottle and pour it into a different type, like glass or aluminum or something, before you go to the beach, so you can have… Then you know that you can stay cool and hydrated and have great clean water. So that’s just a tip I’d like all of you to be aware of, not only when you’re going to the beach, but don’t leave your plastic bottles in hot cars because this is the time of year when that can easily happen in a lot of different scenarios, so pay attention to that. I think it’s incredibly important, but we want you to stay hydrated as well.
(03:34) – So, sun protection. I’m sure sun protection is all around you right now. You’re thinking about it a lot, but there are some tips and some things I wanted to discuss that I think is very important. Did you know that without sun protection, the sun’s UV rays can damage your skin in as little as 15 minutes? So, here at Puriya, we love nature, we want you to go outside. We want you to enjoy everything nature has to offer, and we want you to protect your skin.
(04:02) – So not only is it important for your skin, but it’s also important for the natural environment to use clean, non-toxic, sun protective products. In particular, a chemical called oxybenzone is commonly found in a lot of commercially available sunscreens, but it has proven to be harmful to aquatic environments, especially the coral reefs. So at different places or mainly in Hawaii, this specific chemical has been banned to use in sunscreens because it’s been damaging the environment. So just think about this, what it’s doing outside when we put it on our bodies. We don’t wanna put these chemicals in our body, we wanna put different clean things on our body to help us too, to protect our skin and to protect it from the sun at the same time. So we like mineral-based sunscreens. Now, when I use that term “mineral-based,” that’s actually a marketing term where a lot of companies use this and when they say “mineral-based,” they mean it contains minerals and it contains chemicals too. So we actually want to use mineral-only sunscreens. Something that contains mainly like zinc oxide, which is a great mineral that protects, sunscreen.
(05:13) – So make sure when you’re looking at the bottles too, if it has zinc oxide, take a look and see if there is any other chemicals. And of course, make sure it doesn’t have parabens or different ingredients like sodium lauryl sulfate or fragrances. So make sure it just contains minerals on the sunscreen because some of them can have a little bit of minerals and other things too. So pay attention to that. And you can also go on the Environmental Working Group’s website and enter the sunscreen that you have and take a look at what exactly is in it. You know, I love this I think it’s great information, especially if you don’t quite know if it’s natural or plant-based or what it has in it. The Environmental Working Group is a great website to break down everything that’s in there and say, Is this healthy? Is this carcinogenic? What studies have been on it? So much great information.
(06:11) – And I wanted to bring up an interesting study too. So a study published in JAMA had 24 people apply four very common commercially available sunscreens that contained chemicals like oxybenzone, the one we just talked about. And the study had the people apply the sunscreen four times a day to their body. So if you’re at the beach, if you’re doing something active, if you’re camping, this can be a common scenario. And what they did is, they tested these people’s blood 30 times over a period of seven days, and what they found is that the blood levels of the chemicals they were looking for in the blood exceeded the FDA established guidelines. So what this means, what we put on the body, especially chemical based sunscreens, can get into our bloodstream, especially if you’re applying the recommended amount while you’re outside on the go in different scenarios. It’s important to know what we put in our bodies because we do absorb it. I wanna remind all of you guys of that, that focus on learning how to read your bottles, look it up on the Environmental Working Group’s website and look for zinc oxide with no nanoparticles. So nanoparticles, ’cause we don’t want it go deeper into the skin, we want something natural in its natural element.
(07:32) – Also, when you’re at the beach, when you’re on the go, it’s amazing outside, you can easily burn a lot of calories without knowing it, so you can easily burn 300 calories by swimming, kayaking, surfing, snorkeling in just one hour, so it’s incredibly important to stay nourished. My advise, hacking foods rich in fats and protein like nuts, avocados, even cooling foods like watermelon. It’s a little large, so maybe just bring that to the beach or grapes that… Different foods that are water dense or are nourishing with oils or high protein, all of these can keep you nourished while you’re at the beach. So it’s important to stay hydrated, protect your skin, and stay nourished. Another thing I wanna talk about is covering up. So the days are long gone where people purposely lay in the sun to get that perfect tan. We now associate laying in the sun with premature aging, increasing the risk of skin cancer and sun spots. So I want to talk about, we want you to go outside, enjoy the sun and do anything you want, have fun. But the idea of purposely laying in the sun just to get that tan is a concept that I feel like all of us have moved past at this point. There’s so many healthy ways to get a tan, even natural ways.
(08:52) – So I would advise not directly laying in the sun for the tan aspect, but doing activities, enjoying nature and then being aware of protecting your skin from the sun as well. You know, in fact, a study published in JAMA Dermatology lists indoor tanning as a known carcinogen, and every year it lists over 10,000 cases of melanoma directly caused from indoor tanning. So today, it’s just… It’s so important to do activities, get out, exercise and then rest in the shade, give your body a break and cover up because it can really take a toll on your skin. Now, we had an interview with Summer Kramer, who owns amazing clothing line focused on sun protection and she advises a UPF of at least 50. So what I found interesting during that interview we had with her is, she compared a standard white t-shirt. And even though you don’t get a tan because it blocks sun rays, some of the rays go deeper and it actually is very little protection on your skin. So it’s important to pay attention to clothes that have a thick weave, a high UPF, covering up your head. So your head and your shoulders are a huge area where a lot of people overlook, and those areas can get burned quite easily. So just some basics, bringing a great hat with you, brining a shawl, all of those things can make a really big difference for the health of your skin.
(10:23) – And another easy thing you can do is finding shade. So every time you’re going to the beach, or you’re gonna go out swimming, take a look at your environment and try to find the perfect spot that’s near a tree, so you can take shade, you can cool off, you can relax and you can give your skin a break. Or if there aren’t any trees nearby, you can always bring an umbrella, or if you’re at a tourist location, make sure you get a seat with an umbrella. Finding shade is a very important and easy way to give your skin and your body a break. Also, while you’re at the beach, it’s a great time to relax and to read a book. One of my favorite things, if I’m out there, is for me just a great book that I haven’t had time to read. And over the last couple of months, we’ve interviewed some pretty amazing people on our looking well series and a lot of them are authors. So I wanted to bring up some books that we talked about in the past that great reading material, especially at the beach.
(11:21) – We had Liana Werner-Gray’s earth diet, which talks about her journey of just eating foods completely based from the earth. We had Dr. Michael Murray. He’s written over 40 different books, but one of my favorites is “The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine.” It answers so many questions, it’s a great read. We have Dr. Paul Anderson, who wrote “Cancer Outside The Box” too, which is a great book of just educational material. And we have Dr. Elena Zinkov coming on our interview series on Tuesday next week, and she’s going to be talking about her book, Crave Reset, which goes into why all of us have sugar cravings, the psychology and the physiology, and how to get over them. So, lot’s of great information out there. It’s a perfect time to just sit back, relax, and read a book, and keep your skin healthy and happy. So in the past topics, we talk about soothing botanicals, different botanicals that help with sunburns and also hydration and nourishment, so here at Puriya, we have the mother of all creams which is great to nourish your skin. And it has a lot of great oils in them, avocado oil, jojoba oil, shea nut butter, and soothing botanicals like calendula, so it’s a great addition to keep your skin happy and nourished.
(12:44) – So just some great take home messages for today: Be aware if you have plastic bottles to not keep them in the sun or have them heat up. Ideally use different sources like glass water bottles. Sunscreen should be your number one accessory, keep an extra bottle in your backpack, in your car, in your purse, make sure that it has zinc oxide. Stay nourished, bring a nutrient packed snacks like nuts while you’re on the go. Don’t forget your head and shoulders, some of the most common areas that can burn, bring a hat and a scarf. Always opt for places close to the shade when you’re searching for the perfect beach spot. Take time to relax, work on yourself, find your favorite book, and keep your skin happy and nourished. So I hope this has helped. And when you guys go out on into the beach this weekend and enjoy nature, just remember these simple things, and don’t forget about our interview next week with Dr. Elena on sugar cravings. So I’ll see you next week, have an amazing weekend, take care.
