As a nurse, I stay in my preventive-care mode and am always looking for ways to keep people healthy in gardening or in any other activity. Wearing a hat outside is just as essential as wearing gloves or shoes. Hats help protect your body from harm, and you will look stylish and smart as well.
Hats are beneficial in various ways. Primarily they protect your face and head from the harmful UV rays of the sun. Even on cloudy days, some UV rays still come through the clouds. In the warmer months of the year, the earth is closer to the sun, so these UV rays are more intense and more damaging. Our atmosphere is not as protective as it used to be, allowing more UV rays through to our skin. This means that the occurrences of skin cancer increase dramatically. The fair-skinned folks are really more susceptible to this than others. Also repeated exposure to the sun causes our skin to become more leathery and wrinkled prematurely. Who wants that?
Hats shade our faces and heads to keep us cool while we garden. It is also a good idea to wear sunblock, a lotion that puts a protective layer on our skins to block harmful rays of the sun, on areas of the body that will be exposed while outside.
Susan Goins, Smith County Master Gardener
Texas Cooperative Extension
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