The founder of health-information web site Total Health Breakthroughs slammed the chemical sunscreen industry for burying what appear to be the true root causes of skin cancer on his web site this month.

In an essay titled, “The Skin Cancer Myth” John Herring spells out very clearly that the sun-melanoma connection doesn’t make sense the way those who sell chemical sunscreens would like us to believe.

“Our sun is billions of years old – has it suddenly changed in the last 80 years? Not likely,” Herring writes. “Or are the growing rates of skin cancer because we spend more time in the sun than we used to? No, that’s not it either. In fact, we spend far less time outdoors today than we used to. At the start of the twentieth century, more than 75% of people in the U.S. worked outdoors. Today, only 10% of the population works outside. And not only do we spend less time in the sun, we now cover ourselves in sunscreen. In the last 30 years, the use of sunscreen has increased by orders of magnitude. Chemical-based sunscreens are now a $6 billion-a-year industry.”

Herring is one of several scientists who are now looking beyond the sun for better answers. Diet in the 20th Century has changed considerably, he points out, putting us at greater risk of many diseases, including skin cancer.

“The increase in skin cancer is not the result of changes to the world around us. It is the result of changes within us. Because of alterations that have occurred in the human diet – particularly in the last 100 years – we have become far more vulnerable to all types of cancer, including skin cancer,” he writes. “Science has proven that some foods can promote skin cancer. As a population, we now eat these foods in great abundance. On the other hand, there are other foods that strongly prevent skin cancer. Unfortunately, we now consume far too few of these foods.”

“In other words, we have artificially raised our risk factors for skin cancer, while simultaneously removing our natural defenses against it. Is it any wonder that the rates of skin cancer have increased?”

He continues, “Sunlight is simply a cofactor that comes into play only after our defenses have been compromised. But what if moderate sun exposure can actually protect us from cancer? In the case of melanoma (the deadly form of skin cancer), that appears to be the case.”

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