Many Americans have inadequate levels of Vitamin D, a vitamin that's essential to our health. Known as the "sunshine vitamin," your body manufactures Vitamin D when you are exposed to sunlight. It is also available through the diet via fish, fish oil, egg yolks, cheese and beef liver -- and supplements. Vitamin D is essential for strong bones, a healthy cardiovascular system and mental cognition. Sunscreen blocks the production of Vitamin D through the skin. Some doctors, including Dr. Frank Lipman on Gwyneth Paltrow's site GOOP, make the controversial recommendation to go out in the sun without sunscreen for 15-30 minutes, 2-4 times a week.On the flip side, The Denver Post asked whether soaking up Vitamin D through the sun was safe. Here's what that article said: As for getting D from the sun, "It takes only a few minutes of ultraviolet light exposure...

Dr. Rodgers says the top ten things you can do to prevent signs of aging are: 

1. Wear a sunscreen daily, like our Bravo Daytime Hydration with SPF 30.

2. Moisturize appropriately for your skin type - that means knowing what your skin type is!

3. Cleanse your face twice a day, morning and night.

4. Don't smoke - we all know this, right?

5. Keep your weight in a normal range.6. Reduce your daily stress.

7. Exercise on a regular basis - walk, dance, run, whatever makes you happy. It will keep your weight down and reduce your stress.

8. Get enough sleep,  6-8 hours per night.

9. Use a topical vitamin C serum to help protect your deep, inner layers of skin, like our Éclairci C Serum

10. Use a vitamin A serum at night to help turn over dead skin, like our Precision A Serum.

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Q: Hi, Dr. Rodgers. Dance and music have been a huge inspiration to you when developing your skin care line. Do you really believe that these things have healing properties and if so, how?  

A: I have no doubt that dance and music have healing properties, and I am not the only one who thinks this way . There is a lot of research going on now regarding the healing properties of music and reduction of cardiovascular disease .

With regard to dance, there have been some interesting cases of neurological recovery following trauma or cerebral palsy with dance moves as well as reduction of depression and other mental health disorders.  If one looks at the purely physical aspects of dance itself, without any of the spirit lifting or emotional overtones, studies show the exercise , if done on a regular basis  (moderately 3 hour/week) can decrease the incidence of breast cancer by about 25% and decrease the chances of recurrence by 40-50%.

For me, the joy of movement with music undoubtedly helped...