“I find my sun resistance varies more by region than diet.
In the Persian Gulf areas, I’d tan, but I don’t recall ever getting a sunburn (my ancestors were Vikings – my blond hair is darker than my skin, and I cook like a lobster). Further inland, in northeastern Iraq (Zagros Mountains), I developed a minor tan but only burned a little when some of my buddies got the bright idea to suntan on the roof of a bunker and fell asleep. Even in the Empty Quarter of Abu Dhabi, we’d spend hours on quads or trying to snowboard down sand dunes… no burn.
There’s a lot of dust and other particulate in the air in those regions – I don’t know if that made the difference, but there was a noticeable difference in how little I’d burn in 120° sun in the ME vice the scaly hell from the 65° sun at the Ren Faire near Phoenix last week.”
Mark Sisson is the founder of Mark’s Daily Apple, godfather to the Primal food and lifestyle movement, and the New York Times bestselling author of The Keto Reset Diet. His latest book is Keto for Life, where he discusses how he combines the keto diet with a Primal lifestyle for optimal health and longevity. Mark is the author of numerous other books as well, including The Primal Blueprint, which was credited with turbocharging the growth of the primal/paleo movement back in 2009. After spending three decades researching and educating folks on why food is the key component to achieving and maintaining optimal wellness, Mark launched Primal Kitchen, a real-food company that creates Primal/paleo, keto, and Whole30-friendly kitchen staples.
In the Persian Gulf areas, I’d tan, but I don’t recall ever getting a sunburn (my ancestors were Vikings – my blond hair is darker than my skin, and I cook like a lobster). Further inland, in northeastern Iraq (Zagros Mountains), I developed a minor tan but only burned a little when some of my buddies got the bright idea to suntan on the roof of a bunker and fell asleep. Even in the Empty Quarter of Abu Dhabi, we’d spend hours on quads or trying to snowboard down sand dunes… no burn.
There’s a lot of dust and other particulate in the air in those regions – I don’t know if that made the difference, but there was a noticeable difference in how little I’d burn in 120° sun in the ME vice the scaly hell from the 65° sun at the Ren Faire near Phoenix last week.”