What’s the one thing that all of our bodies need to function properly and survive? Is it water? Proteins? Fats? Carbs? Or something else? The correct answer is, light. Light is energy and it impacts how you look, feel and perform. Just like food, our bodies actually metabolize different wavelengths of light to produce different effects. Today, you’ll be learning about two of those wavelengths, Red Light and Near Infrared Light. By the end of the article, you should understand what Red Light Therapy is, how it works, and what benefits it can provide.
What is Red Light Therapy?
Red Light Therapy is a non-invasive treatment that delivers concentrated natural light to your skin and cells. During the therapy, you simply stand about 6 inches away from a Red/Near Infrared light source for 5-15 minutes. That’s all there is too it.
There are thousands of studies that document that benefits of Red/Near Infrared light including:
- Increased testosterone in men
- Enhanced weight loss
- Improved skin clarity, tone, texture
- Enhanced muscle recovery
- Improved athletic performance
- Reduced inflammation
- Better sleep
We’ll get into how it works and the science behind the benefits shortly, but it’s important to make sure whatever therapy device you’re using fits three criteria..
Choosing a Red Light Therapy Device
There are many options available, but you want to make sure you are buying a device that is safe, effective, and properly tuned. For a Red Light Therapy device to work properly, it must produce light that is either in the mid 600 or mid 800 Nanometer range. These are both proven wavelengths backed by hundreds of clinical studies. It must also produce >100 MW/cm2, meaning that it can withstand an effective treatment time. Finally, you’re going to want to make sure your device can treat a large surface area. By exposing more of your body to the natural light, you’ll be able to experience more of the benefits. [1]
I personally recommend the Joovv Red Light Therapy devices and have been using mine for almost a year. It has greatly improved my muscle recovery, helped me sleep better, and helps clear redness from my face and skin. The Joovv is one of my top recommended holistic health essentials!
How does Red Light Therapy work?
Essentially, Red Light Therapy works by improving your cell health and producing more ATP (the energy currency of life).
Let’s break it down a little deeper.
If you don’t remember ATP from your high school biology class, it’s the substance that is produced by our mitochondria, otherwise known as the powerhouse of the cell! ATP (energy) is created through a four step process known as cellular respiration:
- Glycolysis – food enters the body and is broken down into chemical substances that we call Pyruvates.
- Pyruvate Oxidation – Pyruvates are oxidized and broken down into Acetyl-CoA.
- Citric Acid Cycle – Acetly-CoA gets further broken down into NADH and FADH2.
- Oxidative Phosphorylation – NADH and FADH2 get carried through the Electron Transport Chain (ETC) to create oxygen, CO2, and ATP.
The effectiveness of Red Light Therapy lies within the fourth step of cellular respiration, at the point where the enzyme ATP synthase converts over to actual ATP.
When our bodies get stressed (as they often do in our lives), they produce excess Nitric Oxide which binds to a substance known as Cytochrome C Oxidase (CCo) halting the normal production of ATP synthase. Without ATP synthase, our bodies cannot create energy.
Luckily for us, certain wavelengths of Red and Near Infrared Light do a great job at breaking the bond between the Nitric Oxide and CCo, restoring the pathway to efficiently produce ATP. [2]
The more efficiently our bodies are able to produce ATP, the better we are going to look, feel, and perform.
What are the specific benefits to Red Light Therapy?
There are hundreds of clinically proven benefits to Red Light Therapy and a simple search on PubMed of ‘Photomedicine’ will provide you with great results if you’re interested in the learning about the science. Rather than going that deep, I’ll provide a surface level examination of some benefits you can experience by using this type of therapy. Here’s a quick overview:
- Reduce inflammation and stress on the body
- Sleep easier and better
- Control appetite and support healthy weight loss
- Boost physical performance and muscle recovery
Reducing Inflammation
Inflammation is the body’s programmed response to danger; it’s our immune system’s first response to infections, germs, viruses, and cell damage. A number of different factors contribute to inflammation in the body like poor sleep, poor nutrition, dehydration, and even excessive blue light. Symptoms of inflammation include redness, pain, warmth, swelling, and lots of other health problems if left unchecked. Surprisingly, inflammation is actually normal for the body.
It’s a perfectly normal response to help us fight off unwanted invaders in our system. The big problems show up when our bodies get stuck in a state of inflammation for a long period of time – we call this chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation has been linked to nearly every health problem you can think of, and is often the root cause. When you reduce inflammation, you bring your body back to a state of healing.
Unfortunately, most Anti-Inflammatory drugs on the market have a long and troubling history of side effects and health consequences. Many people want to opt for a more natural solution that won’t put their health in further danger; Red Light Therapy is the perfect solution. Studies have shown that red light alleviates chronic inflammation by increasing blood flow to damaged tissues and even improves antioxidant defenses. [3]
Dr. Michael Hamblin of Harvard Medical School, one of the world’s leading photomedicine researchers has even stated that wavelengths of Red and Near Infrared light are “a very mild form of stress that activates protective mechanisms in the cells…for instance, when longer wavelengths or visibly red light hits the skin, it nudges mitochondria to make energy more efficiently and boost production of healing anti-inflammatories or disease-fighting antioxidants.” [3]
And if you’re interested in going deeper into the science, you can check out these published papers:
Langella, Luciana Gonçalves et al. “Photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) on acute pain and inflammation in patients who underwent total hip arthroplasty-a randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.” Lasers in medical science vol. 33,9 (2018): 1933-1940. doi:10.1007/s10103-018-2558-x
Lee, Ji-Hua et al. “Anti-inflammatory effects of low-level laser therapy on human periodontal ligament cells: in vitro study.” Lasers in medical science vol. 33,3 (2018): 469-477. doi:10.1007/s10103-017-2376-6
Leal Junior, Ernesto Cesar Pinto et al. “Effects of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) in the development of exercise-induced skeletal muscle fatigue and changes in biochemical markers related to postexercise recovery.” The Journal of orthopaedic and sports physical therapy vol. 40,8 (2010): 524-32. doi:10.2519/jospt.2010.3294
It’s no question that Red Light Therapy can help reduce inflammation. Next, we’ll explore how it can benefit your sleep.
Improving sleep
It’s hard to get good quality sleep these days, especially when there are so many distractions and electronics around us in the bedroom. If you’re serious about your sleep (which we all should be), you’re going to want to take better care of your internal circadian clock.
During the day, bright natural blue light comes into contact with our bodies sending signals to our brain that we should be wide awake. It also helps manage melatonin production to regulate when you should fall asleep at night. The problems come along when you look at your phone screen or another electronic device after dark. Most electronic devices emit artificial blue light, similar to the light in the daytime, signalling our body that it is not time for bed. When your head finally hits the pillow, it’s difficult for you to adjust to a restful state even if you were exhausted during the day.
By using Red Light Therapy in the evenings, it’s low color temperature won’t give your body a jolt of energy and awake-fullness. It’s actually one of the few treatments that have been shown to improve sleep disorders. [4, 5, 6]
We all know how important sleep is and it’s time for us to take it seriously. Therefore, I highly recommend turning off the electronics at night and exposing yourself to Red/Near Infrared light.
Support healthy weight loss
Sometimes, diet and lifestyle choices just aren’t enough to get your body back on track. Clinical studies on Red Light Therapy have shown a relaxation of the main hunger hormones, Leptin and Grehlin. In a 2011 report published in the Journal of Obesity Surgery, a randomized study performed light therapy on participants over the course of 4 weeks and recorded the size of their waistline. The findings supported the conclusion that red light therapy can help slim down your waistline. [7, 8]
In another research study, red light therapy was shown to help reduce the circumference of certain areas of the body treated with the natural light. In other words, Red/Infrared light can help with targeted fat loss. [9]
Furthermore, in a 2015 study of 64 obese woman ages 20-40, red light + exercise was shown to increase fat loss results. The women were split into two groups, one what exercised and did red light therapy; the other group only conducted exercise. At the conclusion, the group that did both had lost fat more effectively and efficiently. [10]
As shown above, Red Light Therapy has the potential to provide great benefits in the area of weight loss and management.
Boost physical performance and muscle recovery
Also affected by the mechanisms accounting for the other benefits of Red Light Therapy, are physical performance and muscle recovery. The wavelengths from Red/Near Infrared light promote anti-oxidants and increase circulation throughout the body meaning tissues are receiving more oxygen and nutrients that are important for recovery. Not to mention a reduce in oxidative stress that is associated with muscle fatigue. [11]
If you’re someone who tends to get really sore after a workout (I do all the time), Red Light Therapy has also been connected to a reduction in pain. Because of it’s effects on a cellular level, the natural light minimizes the time for Delayed Onset Muscle Syndrome (DOMS), giving you more time to look, feel, and perform at your best.
Wrap-Up
To make it quite simple, Red Light Therapy is a tool you can use to look, feel, and perform better in all areas of your life. With hundreds of clinical, research backed studies, Red and Near Infrared wavelengths can be used safely and effectively to produce a multitude of benefits.
What do you think about Red Light Therapy?
Let me know in the comments below.
Until next time, Stay Well, Stay Healthy, and Thrive!
References
[1] de Almeida P, Lopes-Martins RA, De Marchi T, et al. Red (660 nm) and infrared (830 nm) low-level laser therapy in skeletal muscle fatigue in humans: what is better?. Lasers Med Sci. 2012;27(2):453-458. doi:10.1007/s10103-011-0957-3
[2] Srinivasan, Satish, and Narayan G Avadhani. “Cytochrome c oxidase dysfunction in oxidative stress.” Free radical biology & medicine vol. 53,6 (2012): 1252-63. doi:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2012.07.021
[3] Hamblin, Michael R. “Mechanisms and applications of the anti-inflammatory effects of photobiomodulation.” AIMS biophysics vol. 4,3 (2017): 337-361. doi:10.3934/biophy.2017.3.337
[4] Loeb, Luana Mazzacoratti et al. “Botulinum toxin A (BT-A) versus low-level laser therapy (LLLT) in chronic migraine treatment: a comparison.” Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria vol. 76,10 (2018): 663-667. doi:10.1590/0004-282X20180109
[5] Wu, Jih-Huah, and Yang-Chyuan Chang. “Effect of low-level laser stimulation on EEG power in normal subjects with closed eyes.” Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM vol. 2013 (2013): 476565. doi:10.1155/2013/476565
[6] Zhao, Jiexiu et al. “Red light and the sleep quality and endurance performance of Chinese female basketball players.” Journal of athletic training vol. 47,6 (2012): 673-8. doi:10.4085/1062-6050-47.6.08
[7] “Light Modulates Leptin and Grehlin in Sleep-Restricted Adults”
[8] Caruso-Davis, Mary K et al. “Efficacy of low-level laser therapy for body contouring and spot fat reduction.” Obesity surgery vol. 21,6 (2011): 722-9. doi:10.1007/s11695-010-0126-y
[9] Jackson, Robert F et al. “Low-level laser therapy as a non-invasive approach for body contouring: a randomized, controlled study.” Lasers in surgery and medicine vol. 41,10 (2009): 799-809. doi:10.1002/lsm.20855
[10] Sene-Fiorese, Marcela et al. “The potential of phototherapy to reduce body fat, insulin resistance and “metabolic inflexibility” related to obesity in women undergoing weight loss treatment.” Lasers in surgery and medicine vol. 47,8 (2015): 634-42. doi:10.1002/lsm.22395
[11] Tullberg, Marie et al. “Effects of low-power laser exposure on masseter muscle pain and microcirculation.” Pain vol. 105,1-2 (2003): 89-96. doi:10.1016/s0304-3959(03)00166-0
[12] Douris, Peter et al. “Effect of phototherapy on delayed onset muscle soreness.” Photomedicine and laser surgery vol. 24,3 (2006): 377-82. doi:10.1089/pho.2006.24.377
