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Jinger Duggar Vuolo and her husband, Jeremy Vuolo, shared their hot take on sunscreen use during a discussion about “crunchy” parents on their podcast. On the Wednesday, October 29, episode of “The Jinger and Jeremy Podcast,” the couple chatted about “crunchy living”: a lifestyle focused on natural, eco-conscious and holistic choices. While ruminating on seed oils in food and nontoxic cleaners, Jinger, 31, shared that she doesn’t use “normal” sunscreens but mineral-based ones. “I don’t put sunscreen on all the time, which is probably why I have more wrinkles, and because I’m in my 30s, but I don’t use that all the time,” Jinger told Jeremy, 38. “But I definitely try not to use the normal sunscreens because they’re so toxic when you do the sprays and stuff. I like the mineral-based sunscreens that you can apply, like, if we’re going to be in the pool for hours or at the beach, or in an area that has, like, heavy sun.” Jinger added that she sometimes even lets her kids go outside without sunscreen on when it’s not too hot of a day in California. “In the day when the kids are going out to play, I actually let them soak up some sun,” she said. “I don’t know if that’s bad or good, but I do let them soak up some sun because I’m like, if it’s not, like, beating down, we don’t try to go out when it’s 100 degrees.” According to Stanford Medicine, sunscreen is recommended. “Our general advice is to wear sunscreen whenever possible — in California, that means most months of the year — and to use other physical protection from the sun as well, like clothing, hats and sunglasses,” Joyce Teng, MD, PhD, a professor of pediatric dermatology, told Stanford. “It’s really important to use a good, thick layer of sunscreen,” Teng added. “If an active teen or adult has a 6- or 8-ounce bottle of sunscreen they’re using all summer, there’s no way they’re using enough. If you’re outside regularly, that bottle should last about two weeks.” Jinger said she doesn’t have time to “study everything” during this hectic season in life — she and Jeremy share three kids, Felicity, 7, Evangeline, 4, and Finnegan, 19 months — but she’s “aware” of toxic ingredients in everyday products and food items and tries to read labels. “I went to Costco and I read the back of so many labels,” she shared, “and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, these chips that for years I thought were pretty healthy…’ They’re like the kettle baked kind. But then there’s a kettle baked one that has avocado oil instead of seed oils. And so I was like, ‘Let’s go for that one instead.’” Jinger said she’s been “making tons of switches” when it comes to what she brings into her home and focuses on what’s best for her family’s health. “I’m just very aware now of all those things, and I see how health is going. It’s decreasing everywhere,” she explained to Jeremy. “At the end of the day, God is sovereign. We don’t want to be fearful. So say we had cancer or something. Well, God is sovereign in that way, too, but we also realize, ‘OK, we need to do our part to try to take care of what God’s given us.’ And, yes, we love a McDonald’s ice cream cone, so we’re going to go get a McDonald’s ice cream cone and enjoy it. And at the same time, we can’t do that every day, so we’re making little decisions that will benefit our family.” Jeremy said he doesn’t think Jinger is “full-on crunch,” but her healthy habits are becoming a bit “all-consuming.” He pointed out how he likes to take NyQuil when he’s sick, but she’s against it. “I think that part of this is, as a culture, we’ve become so commercialized, to where we’re like, ‘OK, we’re just going to grab whatever is convenient because we’re always on the go,’” Jinger said later in the podcast. “We’re not slowing down to actually read and see what’s in things. We’re going, going, going. So we’re like, ‘We don’t have any time for that.’ Well, you’re going to make time for it when you’re sick. So now is the time to think ahead a little bit and not to be paranoid, but to read what’s in your food is healthy. It’s helpful.”
