iodination for the fair-skinned

Although my skin tanned well as a small child, I have been fair skinned all my life. As a teen and through adulthood, I have a history of burning pretty badly, which fades in a couple of days right back to fair. Even when gradually exposing myself to the sun (e.g., taking in afternoon sun for an hour or less starting in late spring/early summer, gradually working up to build a base) I have ALWAYS burned. Red, pink, then white again. By the end of the summer I may be a few shades darker, but I am never by any means "tan" like others. In addition to this, I live in an overcast midwest area and I am deficient in vitamin D. So my attempts at building a tolerance to sun are not just about vanity but also necessary for my health.

I have been following the protocol for almost 9 months now, and for about the last 3 months I have been at pretty high doses of SSKI + Lugol's. I also eat lots of nutrient dense foods, essentially a Weston A Price type of diet.

Well, I was invited by a friend to tag along on her family beach trip to South Carolina. With only minimal base sun this early in the season (basically the few hours from planting my gardens, and an hour of sun bathing a couple of weeks ago) I still hadn't had my "first burn". So I expected a bad burn on the first day, to the point I was nervous about going out into the hot Carolina sun and playing on the beach. By the end of the trip, I had spent at least three hours a day in midday, direct sun (beach/pool/boardwalk) for four consecutive days. You know what? I tanned. No burn. Everyone else on that trip (darker skinned than I, I should add) burned. I can't believe it. I was never uncomfortable, never got that sick, tired feeling after being out in the sun.

I got home last night. After saying our greetings, the first words out of my husbands mouth were "You got a tan?!?!?". Since today is his birthday, my gift to him is tan lines ;) Tweet