Boost Immune System & Balance Hormones with Red and Near Infrared Light (2023)

Article Summary:

• Types of light that you need for good health are blue, UV, far infrared, red, near infrared.
• Human cells need light to function.
• Red and NIR light are superior because they penetrate the tissues, blood vessels, nerves, brain, and bones.
• Red and NIR feed your cells to increase energy production and boost the anti-inflammatory actions of cells.
• Health benefits include: helps with thyroid function, liver regeneration, hot flashes, inflammation, sleep, depression/anxiety, skin repair, weight, hair re-regrowth, wound healing, pain.
• Criteria when evaluating Red and NIR products.
• Comparison of RedRush 360 and Joovv “Mini” products.
• My personal experience with RedRush 360.
• EMF emission recording of the product.

I’ve gained a new appreciation for light therapy from my friend Ari Whitten, the founder of The Energy Blueprint. We both share many values including restoring and maintaining good health with proven, timeless, science-backed truths about food, movement, sun exposure, and community support.

We both frown upon gimmicks, artificial stimulants such as caffeine, and quick fixes. Women in Ari’s community are similar to you – smart, curious, and health-seeking – who know that shortcuts come at a price and to truly heal, one must build a solid foundation first.

Whenever I visit San Diego, I make it a point to go for a beach hike with Ari.

He recently shared that he was about to publish a book on red light and near infrared light therapy. He wouldn’t stop talking about the benefits and the science behind it.

Naturally, I got curious and had to research and try it, too.

Here is what I learned:

Types of Light

You have probably heard about the different types of light such as UV light, infrared or perhaps blue light. If you paid attention in school, you might have remembered that light travels in waves and each wave frequency transforms it to a spectacularly different application; from radio waves to X-rays.

As you can tell from the above chart there is a wide spectrum of light and waves and only a narrow range of these rays are visible to the naked eye.

Just as we need air and water and food to function, human cells also need light.

A particular part of the light spectrum called red and near infrared light (NIR) has spectacular healing powers. Its benefits and many applications are one of the biggest health discoveries of recent decades.

Yet, it is still flying under the radar of most people – the extent of the research and applications was new to me as well.

Nobel Prize and NASA application

As far back as 1903, a physicist named Niels Ryberg Finsen won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for successfully treating lupus and smallpox with red light.

The biggest leaps forward into research of red and NIR light therapy began in 1993 when NASA was looking at ways to boost the health of astronauts in space. Their studies found that red and NIR therapy helped to limit the loss of bone and muscle for astronauts.

These findings led to hundreds of more studies showing the benefits of light therapy using this wavelength – more on this below.

The Healing Properties of Light

We all know that light can impact our health from a sunburn sustained after staying too long on the beach. What you may not know is that light actually enters human cells. Some colors of the light spectrum omit different energy frequencies which impact more than your skin and can alter everything from the immune system, energy, brain activity, to blood pressure.

The five main bioactive types of light that you need for good health come from different parts of the light spectrum and include:

#1 Blue: Emitted from many electronic devices such as phone or computer screens, this light affects your body clock (or circadian rhythm) by interfering with melatonin production, hence interfering with your sleep. This is why powering down all your electronics before bed can improve your sleep quality.

#2 Ultraviolet (UV): Ultraviolet light is important because it helps us make vitamin D in the skin from sunlight.

#3 Far Infrared: Is what makes you feel the heat when you are in sunlight. It heats up your cells too, which causes changes to your cell function and circulation. Some IR saunas use far infrared to help you sweat.

#4 Red light: Affects the function of the mitochondria, which are the powerhouse of your cells.

#5 Near Infrared (NIR): Like red light, acts on the mitochondria of your cells and helps to increase cellular energy production.

As you can see, the penetration levels of the various lights vary. Red light and NIR have the deepest penetration levels.

Differences Between Red and NIR Light

As they have different wavelengths, these two forms of light therapy affect the body at different depths:

#1 Red Light: Unlike Ultraviolent (UV) light, red light is visible and occupies what’s known as the “long end” of the visible spectrum with wavelengths of 630nm-700nm penetration into the skin.

#2 Near Infrared Light: Sits right next to red on the electromagnetic light spectrum. It is invisible and penetrates further than red light; it enters the skin but also goes another 1.5 inches into the body at around 800nm to 1 millimeter of penetration.

How Does Red and NIR Light Therapy Work?

While many wavelengths of light, such as UV, blue, green and yellow are not able to penetrate very far into the layers of your skin, red and NIR light has far deeper reach. This means that it is able to be more deeply absorbed into your tissues, blood vessels, nerves, brain, and bones.

These wavelengths of light also have a particular impact at a cellular level. Just as plants absorb sunlight through their leaves and the light undergoes photosynthesis to convert it into chemical energy, red and NIR light enter the body via the skin and are then absorbed into your cells.

Once inside your cells, red and NIR light “feeds” your cells to increase:

#1 Energy production: They increase the production of ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate). This is the primary energy carrier in all living organisms on earth and it is used to fuel every function in your body, from each breath and heartbeat to every step you take. ATP increases the energy production of your mitochondria, which is the powerhouse of all cells and produces most of the energy that a cell needs to survive and thrive.

The mechanism behind it is most likely attributed to nitric oxide (NO). As much as NO plays a vital role in the body, the issue is balance; when there is too much of it or if it’s in the wrong places, it hinders the cells’ ability to produce ATP.

#2 Anti-inflammatory: Interestingly, red and NIR light therapy create a temporary, low-dose metabolic stress (also called “hormesis”), which is exactly what happens when we exercise. In other words, red and NIR “exercise” the cells to better health which results in a boost to the anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory actions of cells. This is how users of red and NIR therapy experience boosts in cellular health and function, immunity, wound healing, reducing inflammation and improving cell regeneration.

Health Benefits of Red and NIR Light

The list of benefits is long and well documented. Red and NIR light do more than just impact a few enzymes, compounds, or receptors in the body.

Here is the list of these benefits. This is not an exhaustive list.

#1 Improves thyroid function and lowers TPOab in Hashimoto’s patients

• Reduction in Hashimoto’s TPO antibodies by 39% and dosage of thyroid replacement medication.
• Decrease medication requirements by 50-75% in people with postsurgical hypothyroidism. Antibodies for Tg and TPO were decreased after the treatment.
• This study showed that in a group of patients the TSH averaged at 9.1 mIU/L, after ten sessions of light therapy, the TSH was normalized in 97% of these women and averaged 2.2 mIU/L.

#2 Helps with liver regeneration

Liver health is paramount to keeping and restoring good hormonal balance, especially when it comes to thyroid and estrogen issues.

This study shows how the liver gets regenerated with the help of red and NIR light therapy.

#3 Lowers inflammation and chronic conditions

Inflammation is now recognized as the leading cause of chronic conditions such as autoimmunity, cardiovascular conditions, depression, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cancer and chronic fatigue. This study shows how red light and NIR have an all-around anti-inflammatory effect.

#4 Helps with sleep

This studyfound that red and NIR light therapy helped with the increase in melatonin production.

#5 Improves depression and anxiety

10 patients with a history of major depression and anxiety (including PTSD and drug abuse) underwent four weeks of treatments to the forehead with red and NIR light. Remarkably, by the end, 6 out of 10 patients experienced a remission of their depression, and 7 out of 10 patients experienced a remission of their anxiety.

#6 Reverses skin aging and speeds up skin repair

• Reduce signs of damage, DNA damage, and aging from UV rays (1)
• Reduce wrinkles (2)
• Reduce color patches, hyperpigmentation, and skin discoloration (3)
• Enhance collagen synthesis and collagen density (research has shown it can enhance production of collagen by 31%) (4)
• Accelerate repair in the epithelial layer of the skin (5)
• Combat other skin conditions like acne, keloids, vitiligo, burns, herpes virus sores, and psoriasis (6)
• Speed wound healing by enhancing skin tissue repair and growth of skin cells (7)

#7 Helps with healthy weight

Weight issues, especially weight loss resistance, are multi-factorial and I am not saying that red light will be your miracle tool. If a person is eating a highly inflammatory diet, is toxic, and chronically stressed, red light therapy can only go so far. However, when combined with other healthy initiatives (diet and movement), red and NIR light therapy shows some promising results. This is probably also due to the anti-inflammatory effect the light therapy has on the body.

#8 Reduces cellulite and improves skin tone

When red and NIR light therapy is combined with massage, it led to an astounding 71% reduction in cellulite, according to this study.

Another study found that “91% of subjects reported improved skin tone, and 82% reported enhanced smoothness of skin in the treatment area.”

#9 Helps hair regrowth

A number of studies (here, here and here) have shown an encouraging regrowth of hair in both men and women.

#10 Speeds up wound healing

This is one application I’ve heard many of my chiropractic friends rave about in their practices – how much quicker healing happens with red and NIR light therapy. There is countless research to back it up, some of the papers are here, here and here.

#11 Decreases pain, symptoms of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue

• Lower back pain
• Chronic pain
• Joint pain
• Knee and neck pain.
• Fibromyalgia – An impressive body of research is showing that red and NIR light therapy can help fibromyalgia patients:
  “Our study suggests that laser therapy is effective on pain, muscle spasm, morning stiffness, and total tender point number in fibromyalgia and suggests that this therapy method is a safe and effective way of treatment in the cases with fibromyalgia.”

#12 Regenerates stem cells

You will hear plenty more about stem cells in the coming years as it’s a revolutionary and quickly growing part of medicine. This study showed how stem cells get regenerated in heart patients in the presence of red light therapy.

Are you as impressed as I am? I’m also surprised that this form of therapy is not more widely available.

The best news is: Red and NIR light therapy can be done at home.

For a product comparison, scroll to the bottom of this article.

Comparison of Red and NIR Products

For decades, expensive laser devices called low-level laser therapy (LLLT) or “cold laser” were the only options for people who wanted to undergo light therapy. These medical-grade machines were used in doctor’s offices, health spas or anti-aging clinics. This meant that people could only afford one-off treatments or paid hundreds or thousands of dollars for ongoing treatments.

According to one of the leading experts in the field, Harvard researcher Michael Hamblin,

“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.”

This is very good news. It means you can enjoy all of the benefits of red light therapy delivered by a more affordable and easily accessible device that you use in the comfort of your home.

For product recommendation, I defer once again to Ari Whitten, who has done independent research on a number of devices.

He has based his product research on these criteria:

#1 Wavelength range: This is the penetration of both red and NIR light, so you can gain the healing benefits of both. 630-680nm is the optimal healing spectrum of red light and 800 to 880nm is the optimal healing spectrum of near-infrared. Optimally, a device should offer both of them.

#2 Size: Small devices only irradiate a small percentage of your body; to get a full body benefit, you would need to apply the light to several areas which is time wasteful and inconvenient. A larger device helps cover most of the body.

#3 Power density and depth penetration: This is calculated based on the wattage of the light and the treatment area. For truly therapeutic benefits, you want the power density to be at least 30mW/cm2 for longer range (2 to 3 feet) or around 100mW/cm2 from close range (about 6 inches).

#4 Number of LEDs: LED stands for Light-emitting diodes – the more there are the better the treatment.

#5 EMF: The level of EMF emission.

#6 Price: If it’s affordable for a home buyer.

#7 Warranty: How long is it for.

Red light and NIR product comparison

I’ve narrowed it down to two products: One that I’m currently using (RedRush 360) and the popular market leader Joovv. This table will tell you what you need to know*:

Don’t despair, if you own Joovv or other similar brands – you are experiencing benefits from using them! I picked RedRush just because they are the best in class.

*This table was created in 2018. Prices may change over time – as of January 2022, RedRush 360 is priced at $499.

EMF Emission

Many of you have asked about the EMF emission of the device, for good reasons. I, therefore, purchased an EMF reader to test it for myself. The manufacturer of Red Rush 360 said it was very low but I thought I would test, anyway. Below are the results.

I was happy to see it was extremely low, even though I’m holding it closer than what the recommended distance is (6″ is the closest). Note my WiFi router though! Thank goodness I spend little time in this room and will be turning it off at night.

My personal experience with RedRush 360

I’ve used Red Rush 360 for awhile and here are some of the benefits I have observed (mind you: I’m in good health so it’s hard to feel instant benefits):

• Back when I quit caffeine, I had a deep, persistent headache. After 15 minutes at 2 feet from the light, the intensity of the headache was reduced by 70%.
• When I was buying my home, I was under a lot of stress and I didn’t sleep as well. After just three sessions, I slept through the night for the first time in two weeks.
• I feel energized after each session.

We reached out to RedRush, and they were happy to offer the Hormones Balance community a special discount.

• Take an extra $25 off with code HORMONESBALANCE at checkout
• Enjoy free shipping.

RedRush also offers a 60 day trial and 2 year warranty.

Get RedRush 360.

As always, red and NIR therapy is just one additional tool in your healing portfolio. It will generate quicker and more intense results when combined with a good diet (have you seen my cookbook Cooking for Hormone Balance?), restful sleep, and a stress-free (or stress-reduced) way of living.

Please share what benefits have you experienced from red or NIR therapy, I’m always ears to your insights and experiences.

Difference between IR sauna and Red Light/NIR therapy

Many of our readers already own an IR sauna. So is it worth getting a device like RedRush? First of all: They only overlap in one aspect: Near-infrared light. IR saunas don’t offer red light therapy and all the studies cited above were based on the combination of red light and near-infrared light. Furthermore, saunas can’t provide localized therapy (for example, only focusing on the thyroid or the liver). Their NIR power output and number of LEDs present might not deliver the same benefits as a device such as RedRush. That said, as a sauna owner, I won’t give it up any time soon! Sweating alone is such a highly therapeutic experience. Bottom line: Both red light and NIR devices do not overlap with IR saunas.

Please note that this is a sponsored post, meaning I do receive a small percentage of sales, but all opinions are my own.

REFERENCES

(1) 1Jiang, M. et. al. (2017). A prospective study of the safety and efficacy of a combined bipolar radiofrequency, intense pulsed light, and infrared diode laser treatment for global facial photoaging. Lasers in Medicine and Science, 32(5):1051-1061

(2)Kim, Hee-Kyong. (2017). Effects of radiofrequency, electroacupuncture, and low-level laser therapy on the wrinkles and moisture content of the forehead, eyes, and cheek. Journal I Physical Therapy and Science, 29(2): 290–294.

(3)Pinar, Avci. Low-level laser (light) therapy (red and near-infrared light) in skin: stimulating, healing, restoring. SCMS, 32(1): 41-52.

(4)84Barolet, D. (2009). Ba Regulation of Skin Collagen Metabolism In Vitro using a Pulsed 660 nm LED Light Source: Clinical Correlation with a Single-Blinded Study, Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 129(12): 2751-2759.

(5)Wunsch, A. (2014). A Controlled Trial to Determine the Efficacy of Red and near-infrared light Treatment in Patient Satisfaction, Reduction of Fine Lines, Wrinkles, Skin Roughness, and Intradermal Collagen Density Increase. Photomedicine in Lasers and Surgery, 32(2): 93–100.

(6) Fabiana do Socorro da Silva Dias Andrade et al. (2014) Effects of low-level laser therapy on wound healing

(7)Jiang, M. et. al. (2017). A prospective study of the safety and efficacy of a combined bipolar radiofrequency, intense pulsed light, and infrared diode laser treatment for global facial photoaging. Lasers in Medicine and Science, 32(5):1051- 1061.