Light Shapes Health
Each Wavelength Of Light Affects The Entire Body
Unbalanced Light
Every day, unhealthy light interferes with brain chemistry, harms the skin and eyes, elevates the hormones of stress, and directly disrupts sleep.
Restorative Light
By contrast, healthy light frequencies balance the hormones, encourage sleep, improve mood, increase immunity, and boost thyroid function.
Light needs to be at the forefront of a health strategy.
MENU
1 — The Visible Spectrum
2 — The 3 Parts Of Light
3 — Sunlight Is Mostly Infrared
4 — Sunlight’s Power
5 — Red & Infrared Light
6 — Compelling Research
7 — Photobiomodulation
8 — Comparing Red & Infrared
9 — Light Penetrates Into The Body
10 — The Incandescent Light Bulb
11 — Modern Lighting
12 — Modern People, Always Inside
13 — Improving Your Light Exposure
Where the light does not enter — so enters the doctor.
– ancient proverb
1
How To Think About Light
The human eye sees a small fraction of the light spectrum.
The sun produces energy across a wide spectrum. The tiny portion the human eye can see is referred to as light.
The rest of the spectrum the human eye cannot detect? It’s still light. The invisible wavelengths are just too small or large to see.
All visible light is perceived as a color (ROY G. BIV) by the human brain.
The Visible Spectrum
Every time a frequency doubles, it’s referred to as an octave. The major scale covers one octave.
A grand piano has 8 octaves.
By comparison, the electromagnetic spectrum has 81 octaves. Visible light is only one of these 81 octaves.
Visible light is essentially one major scale on an incredibly large piano.
2
In Terms Of Health,
Think Of Light As 3 Parts
Solar Radiation Peaks In The Visible Spectrum
A significant portion of sunlight’s power radiates in visible wavelengths: 42% is in the visible octave.
3
Sunlight Is Mostly Infrared
A majority (54%) of sunlight is invisible infrared light.
A majority of the sun’s energy is restorative infrared light.
4
Infrared + red light
InfraRED
Infrared’s Partner: Red Light
When the sun’s red and infrared output are added together, they make up 68% of total sunshine.
More than 2/3 of sunlight is restorative infrared and red light frequencies.
Key fact: 68% of sunlight is infrared & red.
5
Red & Infrared Light
…have incredible health benefits
The NASA ‘HEALS’ Light Uses Red & Infrared Light
“The innovation of the NASA HEALS technology provides the equivalent light energy of 12 suns from each of the 288 LED chips.”
— NASA
6
HUNDREDS OF STUDIES FIND THAT:
InfraRED Light Is Incredibly Beneficial
Sleep
Show Research
Red light improved sleep quality and endurance in female basketball players in China.
“Our study confirmed the effectiveness of body irradiation with red light in improving the quality of sleep of elite female basketball players and offered a nonpharmacologic and noninvasive therapy to prevent sleep disorders after training.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23182016
Insulin Resistance & Obesity
Show Research
Infrared light improved glucose metabolism and markers of obesity in mice.
“[Infrared] therapy improved glucose tolerance and phosphorylation of Akt (Ser473)… The results showed that chronic PBM therapy improved parameters related to obesity and insulin resistance in HFD-induced obesity in mice.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29247431
Cardiovascular Health
Show Research
Red & infrared light is effective as a therapeutic tool for many disease states.
“Furthermore, FIR rays have been applied in treating various chronic diseases, such as hypertension, heart failure, and vascular endothelial dysfunction, which are associated with the depletion of tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), a critical cofactor for NO synthases.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5505738/
This research also applies to: Blood Pressure, Congestive Heart Failure, Pain, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Joint Pain & Inflammation
Show Research
Infrared light relieved pain and lowered the inflammation in joints injected with endotoxin.
“Positron emission tomography (PET) scanning showed that the bioceramic was capable of relieving inflammation in the joints at 7 days after LPS injection.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5505738/
Acne
Show Research
Red light (at 660nm) was extremely effective at reducing the instance of acne.
“Twenty-eight patients were participated in this study. Ten weeks after treatment acne lesion were significantly decreased…”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3352636/
Chronic Pain Reduction (& Arthritis)
Show Research
Patients were pain-free for longer when receiving red and infrared light therapy.
“We observed significant functional improvement in red- and infrared-treated groups (p less than 0.05), but not in the placebo group. The period from the end of treatment until the patients required treatment was longer for red and infrared groups than for the placebo group.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1727843
Low-power light therapy is effective in relieving pain and disability in degenerative osteoarthritis of the knee.”
Cognition & Mood
Show Research
Red and infrared light appear to enhance normal brain function and improve memory, as well as mood.
“Among the most fascinating experimental applications of LLLT are those related to enhancement of normal brain function and the treatment of memory loss and mood disorders.“
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5436183/
Cancer
Show Research
Researchers attach photoabsorbers (molecules that absorb light) to cancer cells (using targeted antibodies).
Near-infrared light is applied to the area, and the light — in conjunction with the photoabsorber — cause the cancer cell to swell, burst, and die.
“When near-infrared light is applied, the cells swell and then burst, causing the cancer cells to die.”
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/photoimmunotherapy-video
Eye Health
Show Research
Gentle red light can improve the health of eye tissue in disease and after an injury.
“This evidence suggests that LLLT may induce beneficial effects in retinal and optic nerve pathology in humans.”
(Macular Degeneration & Healing Post-Injury)
Bone Health
Show Research
Infrared light increases bone mineral density.
“The results demonstrated that the increasing rate of bone mineral density was higher in the laser (L) group than in the control (C) group.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19399356
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4707222/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11776448
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24286286
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27752476
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/12/001219195848.htm
For decades, researchers thought therapeutic lasers — which produced significant results for pain, inflammation, healing, smoking cessation and even hair regrowth — were effective because they were using lasers.
However, it wasn’t the laser aspect that provided the healing effects. By the mid-90s, it was clear that the (red & infrared) wavelengths of light themselves — not the laser aspect — were responsible for the successful findings.
Thus, the study of “low-level laser therapy” became the study of “photobiomodulation” (the study of how light affects changes in the body).
Show Research
“Most of the early work in this field was carried out with various kinds of lasers, and it was thought that laser light had some special characteristics not possessed by light from other light sources such as sunlight, fluorescent or incandescent lamps and now LEDs. However all the studies that have been done comparing lasers to equivalent light sources with similar wavelength and power density of their emission, have found essentially no difference between them.”
https://www.aimspress.com/fileOther/PDF/biophysics/biophys-04-00337.pdf
LEDs became the technology of choice because they can deliver specific wavelengths to bodily tissues.
Virtually Every Wavelength Has Been Studied
The most impressive results come from the frequencies found in visible red light (around 660nm) and “near infrared” frequencies (around 880nm).
ALL wavelengths of red & infrared light provide deep benefits.
8
Red & Infrared: A Comparison
Red Light Is Visible
If an object appears red, red light is entering the eye.
Infrared Light Is Invisible
The human eye cannot see infrared light. The wavelengths are too long — just longer than red light.
Infrared Means “Beyond Red”
Infrared wavelengths are too long for our eyes to observe.
Special Technology Can See Infrared Light
Night-Vision Goggles
Security Cameras
“Heat Signature” = Infrared Light
(More infrared wavelengths are coming out of the dog’s eyes and mouth — fur absorbs infrared light.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermographic_camera
Infrared light is invisible, but we can actually FEEL it.
Infrared light is felt as heat.
How?
Heat is infrared light.
(Always)
Humans can see light — and also feel light.
9
All Light Penetrates Into The Body
Tissue Penetration Depends On The Wavelength
The longer the wavelength, the deeper the light penetrates into tissues.
Blue light barely penetrates at all, just 2-4 millimeters.
Red light penetrates several inches into the flesh.
Infrared can penetrate deeply into the body, nourishing even the inner organs.
Penetration Depth In Human Tissue
(Blue vs Red vs Infrared)
Blue Light
2-3mm
Red Light
5-10mm
Infrared Light
9-27cm
Infrared Rays Penetrate Deepest
Infrared light travels in a straight line, just as all light does.
This deep penetration into the body allows infrared therapy to affect all tissues and organs in the body.
90% of incandescent bulbs’ output is infrared light.
Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, but it mostly produced invisible infrared.
The knock against incandescent bulbs: Too much “wasted” invisible light.
“An incandescent bulb is a better heater than light bulb.”
–Industry scientists circa 2010
Throughout the 2010s, countries began banning the sale of incandescents to save energy costs and burn fewer fossil fuels.
Modern lighting provides virtually ZERO red & infrared.
Fluorescent Bulbs
LED Bulbs
Fluorescent & LED Bulbs save on energy costs.
——-> By removing the red & infrared light.
12
Modern People, Always Inside
The average American spends 93% of their life indoors, with another 6% in automobiles.
— Environmental Protection Agency, 2001
99% Indoors
Fifteen minutes. That’s how long the average American spends outside each day.
What are the health implications of spending nearly all time indoors? There’s a serious air quality threat (on average, indoor pollutants are 5 times worse than outdoor air, but are often 100 times worse), for sure. But there’s a lack of healthy spectrums of light.
What are the missing frequencies in modern life? Red and infrared.
For many, artificial lighting is the only lighting.
Most people get very, very little sunshine.
Infrared & red light are absent in modern life.
The Stats For The Average American
93% indoors
+ 6% in automobiles
= 99% of life spent indoors.
On average, 99% of modern life is spent indoors.
Humans Throughout History?
Throughout history, humans spent waking hours in direct or indirect sunlight.
And Near Fire…
Most modern people receive very little red & infrared light.
“Penetrating red light is possibly the fundamental anti-stress factor for all organisms. The chronic deficiency of such light is, I think, the best explanation for the deterioration which occurs with aging.”
— Ray Peat, PhD
What Light Can Do
Red and infrared light has been a major player in the health of thousands of people worldwide. The trend is rising. Professional athletes are using red light to improve recovery after both exercise and injuries. Hair is being (expensively) regrown with simple technology avilable on Amazon.
Light therapy is resulting in better sleep, energy levels, pain perception, workouts, post-exercise and post-surgery recovery, mood, digestion, gut health, and better skin.
To know how light can improve health — and harm it — needs to be at the forefront of any health strategy.
This completes the Introduction.
To continue, select InfraRED.
I’d be personally thrilled for you to join our movement, get access to the resources and, if you like, become involved in our discussion group. — Travis
