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Red Light: The Not-So Double-Edged Sword

  • Writer: Trevor Hess
    Trevor Hess
  • Nov 22, 2020
  • 8 min read

Updated: Dec 11, 2020

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In last week's article, I discussed the impacts of blue light and how to manage it in order to optimize your health. However, blue light's got a sibling — a sibling that everyone likes a lot better, and it's red light.


Unlike blue light, I believe red light is much more useful for optimizing our health. Why? Well, unlike how accessible blue light is in today's day and age, red light is rather the opposite. As I explained in my previous article, for the most part, we should be focusing on ways to minimize our blue light exposure in order to optimize our health. This is solely due to the massive increase in unnatural blue light we are exposed to nowadays, which includes sources such as indoor lighting, billboard signs, traffic lights, car lights, and the list goes on.


However, as for red light, we need to implement a far different approach. Rather, we should be focusing our efforts towards maximizing our red light exposure, not just to get more of the benefits of red light, but also to reverse some of the harmful effects of blue light. So that's exactly what I want to do in this article — run through the strategies for maximizing our red light exposure in order to optimize our health. But first, I think it's appropriate to address all the supposed benefits of red light that I've been hinting at thus far.


Benefits of Red Light


Light is essential for the health and cellular functions of humans, just as it is for all life on earth. However, as I already explained, too much of the more harmful wavelengths of light can instead create an environment that promotes poor health. And what is at the root cause of this harmful environment? Two words — mitochondrial dysfunction.


You may have heard of the term "mitochondria" from your high school biology class, and it's probably the one thing you actually took away from the course. Nevertheless, our mitochondria are the "powerhouse" of our cells, and are responsible for the production of ATP cellular energy. You can think of ATP cellular energy as sort of the "currency" of life, which then obviously makes it essential for your health.


However, if you're exposing yourself to too much harmful light, like blue light, subsequently resulting in mitochondrial dysfunction, you're setting yourself up for a lifetime of health issues. Fortunately, red light rather stimulates the mitochondria in our cells to produce more ATP cellular energy, which is why I suggested that red light may actually reverse or negate some of the negative effects of, say, blue light.

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So what are some of the downstream beneficial effects of red light? Well, red light has been shown to:

  • Improve Mental Acuity

  • Optimize Circadian Rhythm

  • Enhance Performance & Recovery

  • Optimize Sleep

  • Improve Skin Health

  • Reduce Inflammation

  • Improve Blood Flow

As you can see, the benefits are plentiful, and should be enough to convince you that red light can certainly improve your health. But what are the best ways to get all these benefits in one fell swoop? Well, again, that's the whole point of this article, so let's hop right in!


1. Catching the Sunrise and Sunset Each Day


Just like how there's a natural source of blue light, this same source is also a natural source of red light. Could you guess what it is? — yup, the sun. The sun has some truly amazing benefits, such as the ability to regulate our circadian rhythm, allow our body to produce vitamin D, as well as boost our alertness, help with our memory and cognitive function, and elevate our mood throughout the day. However, these benefits all stem primarily from the sun's blue light rays. As a result, the best time to yield these benefits would be in the middle of the day when the sun's at its peak.


On the flip side, we can obtain the previously mentioned benefits of red light as well, but the best time to expose yourself to these rays is by catching the sunrise and sunset each day. I bet you didn't think there were any benefits of watching the sunrise or sunset aside from the view — but there is.


Unfortunately, there's just one problem — the sunrise and sunset only last a few minutes each day, so there's very little time to catch that golden view. Other than this brief period of red light during the day, what you have left is, you guessed it, blue light. Fortunately, there is one other major source of red light — fire.


2. Fire and Candlelight


Unlike blue light, there's not one, but two major sources of natural red light — the sun and fire. Yes, I admit that fire has some trace amounts of the other wavelengths of light, including blue light, but fire is still predominately red light wavelengths.


Now, I'm not going to tell you to sit in front of a fire religiously everyday, but what I will tell you is to consider turning off your indoor lighting and take advantage of fires and candlelight at night. The benefits of doing so are two-fold:

  1. Provides heat in the form of far-infrared light. Pretty much everyone has memories of sitting by a campfire or the fireplace, all warm and cozy, so why not just do it more often to reap all the benefits of red light while also saving some money on the electric bill.

  2. Improves sleep. Although I wouldn't say using candlelight improves sleep directly, it does improve sleep indirectly. By using candlelight, or fire, as your source of light at night, chances are you're also going to be eliminating much of the blue light that would otherwise be lighting up your sleep environment. As a result, your getting a ton of the indirect benefits of minimizing blue light, which I discussed in-depth in my previous article.

So you can see, it's pretty inefficient to only get your red light from natural sources without getting up at the crack of dawn or turning your house into an oven… or both. This is where utilizing red light technology comes in super handy as we'll see with our third strategy — red light therapy.


3. Red Light Therapy


At this point, you understand that there's little opportunity to get a ton of natural red light, and thus, its benefits. However, people have begun to recognize the importance of red light so much so that, as of late, red light therapy has begun to increase in popularity, going by other names as well including photobiomodulation (PBM) and low-level laser therapy (LLLT). As a result, there's been a variety of red light therapy devices emerging in the market that have the opportunity to provide all the amazing benefits I previously mentioned, but in a much more efficient manner.


There's one particular red light therapy device company that I love above all others — Joovv. Joovv is one of the only red light therapy device companies that prides themselves on being 3rd party tested for safety and efficacy, and on top of that, they are advised by some of the world's leading photomedicine researchers. As a result, I put my trust in them, and I think you should too!


Nevertheless, Joovv's devices have some pretty cool functionalities and specs that truly make them special. For starters, based on thorough research, all their devices use two specific red light wavelengths that have been proven to be superior — a red light wavelength of 660 nm and a near-infrared (NIR) light wavelength of 850 nm.


What's the difference? The red light wavelength is a visible wavelength of light has been shown to be readily absorbed by surface tissues and cells, resulting in enhanced skin health and healing. Conversely, the near-infrared wavelength of light is an invisible wavelength of light that has been shown to penetrate into deeper tissues, resulting in enhanced recovery and inflammation support. On top of that, Joovv's new line of flagship devices that they just released also come with a "Recovery+ Mode" that delivers continuous red light and pulsed near-infrared light. When activated, this mode has been shown to be even more efficacious for boosting the body's natural recovery, healing, and regeneration processes, making it especially ideal for post-workout treatments.


Another great feature of Joovv's devices is that all of them come with a built-in timer set to the optimal session duration so you can reap all the benefits in the perfect amount of time. In fact, Joovv's devices are so powerful that you only need to set aside a measly 10 minutes each day. With that being said, just like blue light, you can get too much red light as well, especially if it's from red light technologies. So I'd say, go nuts when it comes to all the natural sources of red light, but it's important to follow the recommendations for Joovv's devices and other red light technology.


Finally, Joovv's devices come in various sizes to fit everyone's wants and needs — from portable version all the way up to large panels, with their portable "Joovv Go" being my favorite simply out of convenience. Nevertheless, you can see that utilizing technology can provide us with new opportunities for improving our health that we otherwise wouldn't be able to obtain naturally, and with exposure to modern-day pollutants, like blue light, it solidifies the case to use these technologies even more. However, there is one more technology that utilizes red light that I want to talk about — infrared saunas.


4. Infrared Sauna


You're probably wondering, why would I include a technology in this article that utilizes heat rather than light? And that's a fair question, but whether you realize it or not, heat and light are actually interrelated. All wavelengths of light are a form of radiant energy that we can feel as heat, though some wavelengths can be more intense than others. However, just like the near-infrared light in red light therapy devices, the infrared light used in saunas, which I still consider to be a form of red light, is an invisible wavelength as well. So, just because you can't see the light doesn't mean it isn't light by definition.


Regardless, infrared saunas utilize far-infrared rays rather than near-infrared rays. What's so special about these light rays? Well, unlike a traditional sauna that utilizes heat to warm the air, which in turn heats your body, far-infrared rays from infrared saunas heat the body directly. As a result, infrared saunas offer unique benefits including:

  • Improved Sleep

  • Relaxation

  • Detoxification

  • Weight Loss

  • Relief from Sore Muscles

  • Relief from Joint Pain such as Arthritis

  • Clearer and Tighter Skin

  • Improved Circulation and Lymph Flow

  • Help for People with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Just like red light therapy devices, you can see that infrared saunas offer just as many awesome benefits. So how can you get your hands on an infrared sauna? Well, for starters, some gyms possess these saunas, though they're far and few. Additionally, you can get your own infrared sauna installed in your home, such as from Clearlight, but that's a fairly pricy expense. My advice — look into an infrared sauna blanket from Higher Dose. I personally think Higher Dose's infrared sauna blankets are superior since they're not only portable, but also reasonably affordable as well. So, give infrared saunas a shot and I guarantee you'll start feeling like a million bucks!


Summary


There you have it — those are the best strategies, in my opinion, for getting all the red light your heart desires. Utilizing red light is truly a unique and promising way to optimize your health, while also offering the opportunity to reverse some of the negative effects of the more harmful wavelengths of light. With that being said, I'd say start off trying to incorporate the more natural forms of red light in your day-to-day routine first. If you're still not getting enough red light, which I believe will be the case, or you simply want to reap more of the benefits, then start incorporating some red light technologies in your life. I promise, you won't regret it!

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