One day my friend, husband of a medical practitioner, told me that he had sunburnt his nose, forehead and cheeks during an afternoon walk he took along the beach in Melbourne. He was not happy at all, blaming himself for not applying a sun protection cream. I asked him, whether he had his sunglasses on. "Of course", he replied, "why did you ask that ?".  "Because your sunglasses are responsible for your sunburn." I said.  "??", he couldn't hide his surprise. "Our eyes are very important sensors for our body. By wearing dark sunglasses in the presence of a bright sunlight you just fool your entire body, so it thinks that it is really dark and adjusts its entire metabolism to perform in the dark", I explained. "As a consequence, your skin is not at all ready for any exposure and you get your sunburn", I continued.

The truth of the matter is that the Sun and its light are absolutely essential to any form of life on Earth, including us. Consider, that diseases currently attributed to the Sun could be caused by a great multitude of factors, including toxic diet and careless lifestyle.

There are two things, you need to know to take benefit from solar radiation and protect yourself from its dangers :

• Don't overexpose yourself. Sun radiation is very intensive during certain hours of the day. The damage our "civilization" does to the Earth's atmosphere, especially the ozone layer, doesn't help either. Make sure that you are in a shade or wear a shirt and a hat during that time. Remember, that your body needs time to adapt to any condition, including a high intensity radiation and to change its metabolism to prepare your skin. Gradually, you can train your body to cope with full sun for the entire day, but be very patient and careful, observing what your body is telling you. If your skin is sensitive, you have to be extra careful.

• When wearing sunglasses remove them every 3-5 minutes for 10-30 seconds to let your body know about the complete spectrum of solar radiation. For example, on a ski lift remove your goggles. Note, that if you wear a proper hat you may actually not need sunglasses, because your eyes are in a shade. If you wear correction lenses in a bright sunlight, you should remove them too from time to time, exactly like sunglasses. Most lenses do not transmit any uv rays, so by wearing them you seem to misinform your body.