This is the season when the fresh breeze is pleasant and the leaves of the trees lining the streets are lush and green, making for a beautiful sight.
On May 8th, the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been ongoing for over three years, was legally classified as a "Class 5 infectious disease." It will now be treated the same as seasonal influenza, and the COVID-19 pandemic, which has lasted for over three years, will move into a different stage. We still need to be careful, but May is also the best season in terms of daily life, with comfortable weather. There are many sunny days, making it the best season, but there are some things you should be careful of when it comes to your beauty routine!
The skin environment in May is generally comfortable. The only exception is sun stress, which reached its highest level of the year!
In May, pollen dispersion decreases, people suffering from hay fever can finally find relief, and the average temperature in Tokyo is around 20°C, making it a comfortable time for the skin.
On the other hand, with many sunny days, the amount of sunlight exposure reaches its highest level of the year, making it the only comfortable month in May where you need to get serious about protecting yourself from sunlight (UV-A rays, UV-B rays, blue light, and near-infrared rays).
[1] Ultraviolet B rays (UVB) ⇒ Causes spots!
Ultraviolet B rays (UVB) reach the epidermis of the skin, and prolonged exposure stimulates pigment cells (melanocytes), producing large amounts of melanin, the pigment that causes spots. When this melanin accumulates, it becomes fixed in the skin as spots, causing inflammation of the skin and acute disorders such as painful red sunburn (sunburn) and then dark sunburn (suntan).
[2] Ultraviolet A rays (UVA) and blue light ⇒ cause wrinkles!
Ultraviolet A rays (UVA) and blue light have similar wavelengths and can reach the dermis.
To make matters worse, sunlight can penetrate clouds and glass to reach the skin, so it cannot be prevented even through indoor glass on bad weather days. It is known that this sunlight denatures collagen and elastin in the dermis, causing wrinkles.
[3] Near-infrared rays ⇒ Cause sagging!
Near infrared rays (NIR) penetrate below the dermis into the subcutaneous tissue and cause the degeneration of collagen and elastin deep within the skin. This has led to the discovery that NIR rays can cause sagging, which is more serious than wrinkles.
Once it reaches the stage of sagging, it becomes difficult to treat with cosmetics.
For these three reasons, sunlight is a major enemy of the skin, and UVA, blue light, and near-infrared rays in particular can cause wrinkles and sagging, which are considered chronic disorders and are known as "photoaging."
In addition, as we age from the moment we are born, "photoaging" caused by sunlight is added to physiological aging, accelerating skin aging. It has also been reported that sunlight can cause malignant tumors such as skin cancer and eye diseases.
According to the Ministry of the Environment's "Ultraviolet Ray Environmental Health Manual 2020," the diseases that are thought to be related to ultraviolet rays are shown in the figure below.
<Diseases thought to be related to ultraviolet rays>
May Sickness, Sleepiness... May-specific Disorders
May Sickness is not a medical illness, but it refers to various ailments such as lethargy and insomnia caused by the stress of a change in environment. In severe cases, it can progress to depression. It is often described as "May Sickness" because the new environment from April is particularly stressful for new students and new employees, who often fall into a state of adjustment disorder around Golden Week. Those whose environment has changed drastically since April need to be aware of the stress of the change in environment and make an effort to deal with and avoid stress.
Spring sleep is so sweet you won't even notice it dawn. Many people feel sleepy in May, don't they? It is said that daytime sleepiness in particular is caused by the temperature change from winter to spring, and the body being unable to keep up with the daily temperature changes, disrupting the autonomic nervous system. As with May Sickness, psychological factors such as stress from changes in the environment are also thought to affect the disruption of the autonomic nervous system. Sleep is also a barometer of health, so it is said that it is effective to find ways to improve the quality of your sleep at night and to expose yourself to morning sunlight when you wake up to reset your body clock.
UV rays and vitamin D
Sunlight may seem like a villain for the skin, but in addition to its sterilizing properties, ultraviolet rays also play an important role in promoting the absorption of calcium, which is necessary for bones.
The role of vitamin D
Vitamin D plays an important role in absorbing calcium ingested from food in the intestines, and it is said that the action of vitamin D increases calcium absorption from the intestines by about 2 to 5 times.
Calcium is an important nutrient that increases bone strength, and a lack of vitamin D can inhibit calcium absorption, leading to diseases such as osteomalacia.
Creatures that moved from the sea to live on land needed strong bones to withstand gravity, and because they could not get enough vitamin D from food alone, they developed a mechanism to produce vitamin D in their own bodies using ultraviolet rays. It seems that most people rely on ultraviolet rays to produce more than half of their vitamin D requirements.
The pros and cons of UV protection
Sunlight, including ultraviolet rays, can cause skin problems such as blemishes, wrinkles, and sagging, so protection from the sun is essential. However, in Japan, there is also an increasing problem of vitamin deficiencies among pregnant women and infants.
If you continue to avoid excessive exposure to sunlight, especially ultraviolet rays, for fear of damage caused by them, you may develop a vitamin D deficiency, which can weaken and weaken bones in growing children, and cause osteomalacia in adults.
Protecting yourself from UV rays and getting sunlight to promote vitamin D production are contradictory, so it can honestly be difficult to find a balance between the two.
How to avoid vitamin D deficiency while taking measures against UV rays
Vitamin D is found in large amounts in fatty fish and mushrooms, but only in small amounts in other foods, and it is said to be difficult to obtain the necessary amount from food alone. At the very least, we recommend that you consciously include the fish and mushrooms listed in the table below in your diet, lead a diet that properly supplements calcium through milk and other sources, and take proper measures to protect your skin from ultraviolet rays.
The Ministry of the Environment's "Ultraviolet Ray Environmental Protection Manual 2020" provides a detailed and thorough explanation of ultraviolet rays in general, so please be sure to refer to it.
Vitamin D content in foods (daily requirement: 10-25 μg)
Excerpt from the Ministry of the Environment's "Ultraviolet Ray Environmental Health Manual 2020"
What did you think of "The best season for comfortable skin care in May"?
The season before summer is pleasant with new greenery, but the sun is also getting stronger. It is important to take proper measures against UV rays while avoiding vitamin D deficiency.
The next topic will be "humidity and skin care."
