Is it ok to use the flax seed oil in place of sun screen?

Alama, Gary and Alofa cycling in Tonga 2011
Gary's sun protection provided by a very
fashionable white shirt!

Hello, I wanted to know is it ok to use the flax seed oil in place of sun screen? Was looking for a healthier option. I work outdoors here in the USA.
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Gary:
Flax oil is wonderful for the skin, as is coconut oil.  Both can be used to maintain skin health.  However, they offer no protection at all against sunburn.

For about ten years now I have been exploring ways to reduce my reliance on sunscreens and I can advise that I have been able to reduce my sunscreen use by at least 50% while improving my skin health.  This is despite being out in the sun a lot more nowadays (I used to avoid the sun in compliance with the skin cancer terrorism warnings).  We are about to go on a cycling tour in the tropics and this will include hours exposed to blistering sun.

Here's what I do in anticipation of being in the sun for long periods:

• I take Astazan daily.  Astazan is a potent fat-soluble anti-oxidant that soaks up neutralises the free radicals that are produced when UV radiation strikes the flesh.  This prevents the free radical damage that causes cell damage.  Astazan needs to be taken daily for at least a few weeks prior to the sun exposure.  What you will notice is your skin will tan much quicker and the tan will last much longer.
• You can support the Astazan with Algotene which is another potent source of anti-oxidants, including astazanthin.  Algotene is a marine phytoplankton which has adapted to survive in the harshest of UV conditions.
• Wear a broad hat and a long-sleeve shirt and use judicious amounts of sunscreen on areas like the back of the neck and front of the thighs.

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The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation.  Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Product feeedback from a satisfied customer

A bit of feedback: 

The Back Pain book is terrific. An easy read for us non medical types yet you feel like you are getting a better understanding of the problem as you read. The exercises are easy to remember and it is easy to check up you are still doing them correctly after a couple of days. I have been doing a few on the floor watching some great rugby in the ITM Cup. Notice I feel less angst about my back. Such a simple solution to avoid potential problems.

The Salter Scales are also very clever. I think I weighed myself more times in the first week I had them than in the last decade. (I have never had a problem with weight although must admit I weigh a few kilos more than I thought I did in 2001). I will start keeping a record of the results and let you have a look in 2-3 months. I am 188cm 52 years old and weigh 78-79kgs have bone density between 2.6 & 2.8, body fat normally in the 13's somewhere (occasionally drops into the 12's), Body water around 63 on average (never below 60) and muscle maybe an average of about 42 but never less than 40?? (I used the athlete mode but then doesn't everybody!!)

Algotene. Somewhere on your site I read on the holy grail to health and fitness you go through periods of improvement and plateaus. After 3-4 weeks of taking Algotene I think it has me moving off the plateau not in measured performance but just a general feeling of well being, more good advice, 

Thanks Paul.  

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How to treat road rash and bruising naturally

I had a serious crash two weekends ago while competing in a mountain bike race. I was going well, taking it easy in 3rd place when I hit a rut at speed, wiping out and landing heavily on the rut. Ouch! It is best described as being like having your thigh whacked with a softball bat.

Although one leg was dead-as I still managed to finish 6th, the consequence was severe bruising and gravel rash affecting the right side. I was in trouble. Of considerable concern was the fact I was covered in cow shit and mud - INFECTION!

Putting on my Sports Medicine Hat I resolved to pull out all of the big guns to fight the impending infection and to mitigate the damage of the deep bruising of the thigh muscles. This was not going to include antibiotics, antiseptic creams or ice on the bruising.

Upon finishing, I avoided the first aid service on hand and went straight home and then down to the gym where I spent several minutes under a warm shower scrubbing the wounds with soapy hands to remove every bit of grit and muck from the wounds, including blood and dead tissue. Bacteria are like flies: remove the food source and they do not thrive.

I dosed up on Reparen and Algotene which are remarkable supplements that promote tissue healing while preventing oxidative damage to stressed tissues. The intention was to take these for the next two weeks in quite high doses.

Then it was into the sauna for a continuous hour of frying the wounds. Anaerobic bacteria and viruses do not like heat (this is how your body kills infections). See my earlier article about using the sauna for health.

I kept the knee flexed while lying down. By keeping the thigh muscle taut and slightly elevated relative to the body, fluids and blood tended to be squeezed out of the crushed muscles and further

bleeding is pretty much impossible. Given enough time, the blood clots will take hold and further bleeding will stop.

Then it was back under the shower for a further thorough scrubbing of the wounds.

Once home I had a much needed cup of tea and to lie in the afternoon sun to use the natural UV as an antiseptic and to use the warmth and wind to dry the wounds as much as possible before bedtime.

The first two photos show my right thigh and elbow just five hours after the accident. You can see they are clean and already beginning to dry out and all bleeding has stopped. You can see some evidence of swelling in the thigh; but not much considering the force involved.

I slept with great difficulty under a light duvet with no dressings. If you can get away with them, dressings can irritate the flesh,

are a breeding ground for bacteria and they tend to stick to the wounds, causing more damage when attempting to remove them. I

had great difficulty walking the following day due to the corked thigh.

I gave the wounds a good soak in the bath and a further soapy clean and did so daily, taking care not to damage any scabbing.

The next two photos are of the wounds just three days after the wipe out. You can see there is minimal bruising and no sign of infection. Healing is remarkable when one considers my age (56 yrs). I was walking without a limp and squatting fine and back on my bike that day.

Gentle massage, mostly effleurage, commenced by day three, taking care to work around the damaged skin.

The final two photos are just 10 days after the injury. What you can see is excellent healing and resolution of the muscle damage. At 14 days I competed in the Grand Final of the PNP mountain bike series with a sprint finish against the overall winner of our age group, Marco Renalli, finishing 4th in that race and 4th over the series.

I did not use any dressings, no antibiotics, no antiseptics - just soap and clean water.

There is no need to use ice on a bruise - it can irritate the skin and underlying tissues. As if those poor cells were not under enough stress already! I know, I know - you will be wondering how on Earth I can say this. Well I am because the evidence that ice it is unnecessary is right in front of you (refer the photos).

The Algotene and Reparen are what I think made all the difference, additional to the measures like cleaning, sauna, exercise and massage.

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A marathon runner with a pelvis stress fracture

Hi Gary

I have been diagnosed with a stress fracture in my inferior pubic ramus. I am not having any treatment. I was simply told to rest.
I got the fracture approximately 5 weeks ago whilst training for the Auckland marathon and am now taking flax seed oil (omega 3) and Glucosomine Chondroitin.

And here is what I have had to eat in the last 24 hours:
Handful of almonds x2
Lamb curry with rice
Apple
Chi
Water x 6
Rice bubbles with banana and skim milk
Coffee
Tuna sushi
Coke zero

Regards T

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Gary responds:

This kind of injury happens when the normal biological responses to stress fail to keep up. In the

case of bone, special cells are stimulated to first remove the bone damaged during exercise. These are called "osteoclasts". Other cells get to work producing new and stronger bone to replace that which was damaged earlier on. These cells are called "osteoblasts". A healthy response to exercise stress is complete in just a couple of days - hence the wisdom of training hard only every 2nd or 3rd day - not every day. Running is particularly hard on the skeleton.

For these cells to do their work, they rely on a rich and continuous supply of minerals, fats and proteins. If just one of dozens and dozens of nutrients are in short supply, the end result is an incomplete and weak job. If there is also inadequate rest of a day or two between workouts, the strengthening response to a workout may further be compromised. In this case, the consequence is a stress fracture.

Two terms worthy of understanding are:

Catabolism

The process by which tissue is broken down in the body.

Anabolism

The process by which tissue is built within the body.

Please go here for marathon training advice including more about these terms.

Here is an article I wrote earlier about stress fractures.

In T's case, rest alone is not nearly enough to ensure she makes a full and final recovery and able to resume training pain free and with vigour. Toni's diet is one that is actually conducive to catabolism, including bone breakdown. It will not aid the process of healing that is necessary to be completed well before any attempt is made to resume running. Let me explain why:

• Even bearing in mind she is resting at the moment, the total calories in her diet are far too low for anybody attempting training for a marathon. This daily total is about what my 50kg partner, Alofa, will eat in a single meal. A calorie and nutrient poor diet will lead to a state of ongoing lean tissue catabolism.
• The total protein is inadequate for bone health and clumped into two lots over 24 hours. She needs more protein spread in small lots over the day.
• While there may be a little fat in the lamb curry, there is woefully little in the way of fats and oils. The body must have a wide variety of fatty acids to be healthy. In her case, fats should make up about 40% of her total calories.
• There appear to be no unprocessed carbohydrates. Rice bubbles and white rice are barely different from eating plain sugar and have no appreciable nutritional merits. They are best left out. The diet requires a generous intake of carbohydrates from sources like taro, kumara, pumpkin, lentils, hummus, chick peas, whole grains, lightly cooked carrots and so on.
• While there may be a little minerals in the lamb, the almonds and the sushi, this is just not enough for even the most sedentary person to survive on. She needs to ensure every food that enters her mouth is rich in minerals and other nutrients - such as the foods mentioned in the above bullet point.
• Skim milk has no nutritonal merits worthy of mention and best replaced with highly nutritious full cream, non-homogenised silver top milk.
• Unless she is working in an industrial boiler room, there is too much water from all sources in this diet and may lead to flushing precious minerals out of an already depleted body. It is a commercially driven myth that one must drink beyond the signals of thirst in order to be healthy (This is called "brain-washing"). More people die nowadays in sports events from too much water than from too little. In fact I can not recall a single case of a person dying of dehydration during a sports event. Please read this to understand why drinking water can be harmful to your health.
• Coke and coffee are acidic and by this fact alone are mineral robbers. Minerals like magnesium, calcium and zinc are drawn out of the tissues to neutralise the acid found in these drinks. They have no place in an athlete's, diet, let alone one recovering from a stress fracture. Please read this article here. While coffee is not all that bad, coke sure is alongwith horrible drinks like Powerade. These also rot your teeth out. These drinks are best replaced by a good mineral water (tap water for example) and only drinking as required as per the guidelines in the articles linked above.

Action to take to assist bone healing

Your inquiry is timely, T. I have just returned from another Practitioner's course that

covered this health issue and I have only just received delivery of two products from Inter

Clinical Laboratories (ICL) that will greatly assist your recovery and full return to running.

• ICL Alogotene
• ICL Reparen

Please refer to the product information pages, including the PDF files for details of their actions.

You may also need to take additional vitamin D if you are not a regular sunbather.

Additional protein can be conveniently added to the diet with whey protein if need be.

Please be guided by the advice of your doctor or therapist and the many articles and E-Books on this site about running, nutrition and injury prevention as to how and when you resume running. The Reparen and Algotene, along with the dietary changes should expedite your recovery.

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