Training & Nutrition - Interesting study on skin cancer

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/07/30/caffeine-skincancer.html

Sorry if this has been linked and is old news already.
I knew there was a good reason I drink coffee on my morning commutes and why my Sunday group rides meet at a coffee house ! :D

Cool! Both my caffeine intake and quantity of exercise are high!! :D


BTW - I just read a few interesting comments about skin cancer in a magazine ... you know how the occurance of skin cancer has been on the rise over the past 30 years or so (says so in the article above, as well as all over the news etc.) ... well, the use of suntan lotion has also been on the rise over the past 30 years or so. The comments suggested that perhaps suntan lotion contributed to skin cancer. Some comments even elaborated on that by say that the bottles of suntan lotion say it has to be reapplied frequently because it gets absorbed into the skin ... so .... is it healthy to have a product like that absorbed into the skin?

The study used 15-30min of sun exposure…few of us ride that little. Even with sunscreen I think a 3-4 hour ride would still make you come out net negative in terms of risk. Cycling may improve health and wellness in many ways, but I seriously doubt that reduction of skin cancer risk is one of them.

Machka I agree with some of your concerns about transdermal absorption of sunscreen and other body lotions. If you think of the huge surface area covered, and that the skin is the largest organ, the intake could be significant. With face creams and hand lotions the area covered is much smaller, which may be why they get away with so many new fangled additives and fragrances. I think chronic body lotion users should consider using the product only on problem areas instead of all over.

However, the cancer sunscreen correlation you were alluding to I believe is the vitamin D link, not lotion toxicity. Vitamin d is hot with the anticancer folks right now and some believe the sun exposure paranoia has lead to widespread vitamin d deficiency, particularly in northern areas.

I've limited my sunburns in recent years, mostly be avoiding the sun (err, excersise too unfortunately) and generous usage of SPF30 or higher. I swear I can get the start of a burn in 15 minutes though; I can't imagine going without sunblock. These days, though, I think I get windburn more easily.

But I tend to drink a couple cups of coffee per day. Does that mean I need to drink a cup before heading out on the bike for safety? :)