Yes, fat cells deep under your skin can sense light. And when bodies do not get enough exposure to the right kinds of light, fat cells behave differently.
This discovery, published Jan. 21, 2020, in the journal Cell Reports, was uncovered by scientists at Cincinnati Children’s who were studying how mice control their body temperature. What they found has implications far beyond describing how mice stay warm.
The study shows that light exposure regulates how two kinds of fat cells work together to produce the raw materials that all other cells use for energy. The study authors say that disruptions to this fundamental metabolic process appear to reflect an unhealthy aspect of modern life — spending too much time indoors.
Our bodies evolved over the years under the sun’s light, including developing light-sensing genes called opsins. But now we live so much of our days under artificial light, which does not provide the full spectrum of light we all get from the sun.”
Richard Lang, PhD, developmental biologist and senior author of the study.
Lang directs the Visual Systems Group at Cincinnati Children’s and has authored or co-authored more than 120 research papers, including many related to eye development and how light interacts with cells beyond the eye.
“This paper represents a significant change in the way we view the effects of light on our bodies,” Lang says.
Many people understand that certain wavelengths of light can be harmful, such as gamma radiation from a nuclear bomb or too much ultraviolet light from the sun burning our skin. This study from Lang and colleagues describes a different, healthy role for light exposure.
Despite the fur of a mouse or a person's clothing, light does get inside our bodies. Photons — the fundamental particles of light — may slow down and scatter around once they pass the outer layers of skin, Lang says. But they really do get in, and when they do, they affect how cells behave.
In this direction, Lang’s work dates back to 2013 when he led a study published in Nature, which demonstrated how light exposure affected fetal mice's eye development. More recently, in 2019, Lang and colleagues published two more papers, one in April in Nature Cell Biology that reported possible benefits of light therapy for eye development in preterm infants, and another study in October in Current Biology that details how light receptors in the skin help mice regulate their internal clocks.
The new study in Cell Reports includes important contributions from Russell Van Gelder, MD, Ph.D., and Ethan Buhr, Ph.D., from the University of Washington, Randy Seeley, Ph.D., University of Michigan.
“This idea of light penetration into deep tissue is very new, even to many of my scientific colleagues,” Lang says. “But we and others have been finding opsins located in a variety of tissue types. This is still just the beginning of this work.”
In the latest findings, the research team studied how mice respond when exposed to chilly temperatures — about 40° F. They already knew that mice, much like humans, use both a shivering response and an internal fat-burning response to heat themselves.
Deeper analysis revealed that the internal heating process is compromised in the absence of the gene OPN3 and exposure, specifically to a 480-nanometer wavelength of blue light. This wavelength is a natural part of sunlight but occurs only at low levels in most artificial light.
When light exposure occurs, OPN3 prompts white fat cells to release fatty acids into the bloodstream. Various types of cells can use these fatty acids as energy to fuel their activities. But brown fat literally burns the fatty acids (in a process called oxidation) to generate heat that warms up the chilly mice.
When mice were bred to lack the OPN3 gene, they failed to warm up other mice when placed in chilly conditions. But surprisingly, even mice with the correct gene failed to warm up when exposed to light that lacked the blue wavelength.
This data prompted the team to conclude that sunlight is required for normal energy metabolism. At least in mice. While the scientists strongly suspect that a similar light-dependent metabolic pathway exists in humans, they need to complete another series of experiments to prove it.
“If the light-OPN3 adipocyte pathway exists in humans, there are potentially broad implications for human health,” the study states. “Our modern lifestyle subjects us to unnatural lighting spectra, exposure to light at night, shift work, and jet lag, all of which result in metabolic disruption. Based on the current findings, insufficient stimulation of the light-OPN3 adipocyte pathway may be part of an explanation for the prevalence of metabolic deregulation in industrialized nations where unnatural lighting has become the norm.”
It likely will require several years of study to flesh out this discovery. Someday, in theory, “light therapy” could become a method for preventing metabolic syndrome from developing into diabetes. Replacing indoor lights with better, full-spectrum lighting systems also could improve public health, Lang says.
However, more study is needed to pin down the potential therapeutic value of light therapy. Questions to answer include determining how much sunlight is needed to support a healthy metabolism and whether people battling obesity might lack a functional OPN3 gene in their fat cells. Also unknown: when would light therapy matter most: for pregnant mothers? For infants and children? Or for fully developed adults?
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Opsin 3-Dependent Adipocyte Light Sensing enhances Nayak, G., et al. (2020) Adaptive Thermogenesis in Mice. Cell Reports. doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2019.12.043.
Biohacking is the practice of changing our chemistry and our physiology through science and self-experimentation to energize and enhance the body. It’s a broad definition, but that’s also because the concept is constantly evolving. It includes implementing lifestyle and dietary changes that improve the functioning of your body, as well as wearable technology to help you monitor and regulate physiological data. It can even run to extremes such as using implant technology and genetic engineering.
The possibilities are endless, but they are all rooted in the idea that we can change our bodies and our brains, and that by doing so we can ultimately become smarter, faster, and better as human beings.
Start biohacking your body by using wearables like the FitBit or the Apple Watch to track the way you operate. You could also start experimenting with the power of music in your everyday life and adopting a sustainable healthy diet. But if you’re ready for something new, and something different, consider one of these non-invasive methods from our biohacking guide:
Have you ever spent a lot of time indoors and begun to feel… off? Our bodies and brains need light to function at their best. Not only does the sun give us an important dose of vitamin D, but it helps us in a number of other physiological and emotional ways. Let’s look a little closer – specifically at the light wavelengths between 600 and 900 nanometers (nm). How does this range of light waves impact us and how can we use it to biohack the body?
Studies have shown that your body responds particularly well to red and near-infrared wavelengths, which range from 600 to 900 nm. This particular range of light waves is absorbed by the skin to a depth of about 8 to 10 millimeters, at which point your mitochondrial chromophores absorb the photons. This activates a number of the nervous system and metabolic processes.
In plainer terms, red light therapy has become an increasingly popular form of biohacking used to treat a number of conditions. It has been proven to relieve pain, reduce inflammation, and restore mood. And because it is a non-invasive and non-chemical treatment, it’s not as intimidating as other forms of biohacking.
With over 100 billion neurons that are constantly using electricity to talk to each other, your brain is like Grand Central Station. If everyone is chattering loudly at the same time, it can be tough to concentrate on what you need to get done. That’s where music biohacking comes in. Brain activity can be measured in a wave-like pattern and determines if you feel alert, sleepy, relaxed, or stressed. Things that can affect your brainwaves include the activity you are currently performing, how much restorative rest you’ve had, and what you’ve just eaten or drank.
One of the most reliable ways to change your brainwaves is through a consistent sound wave. Audio entrainment, a form of music biohacking, uses binaural beats and tones to synchronize with your brain waves and induce a meditative, relaxed state. You can access programs developed specifically for your own brain and the activities you want to accomplish at Brain.fm. If you’re not ready to go that far, you can still change your mood and mindset by queuing up your favorite playlist and listening while you work out, cook breakfast, or commute to work.
We talk a lot about cardiac health. After all, heart disease is the #1 killer of women in the United States. Everyone needs to be aware of cardiovascular diseases and how to protect themselves as best they can. As a culture, we also talk a lot about skin health – slathering on sunscreen as part of our daily routine and supplementing our diets with collagen-boosting foods. Weight loss, inflammation, memory, GI health, and how an unhealthy diet and lack of exercise can prematurely age you – these are all at the forefront of our minds. But how often do we think about the health of our bones?
A decrease in bone health creeps up on you and most people are unaware of how bone density changes over time. Roughly up until the age of 30, men and women actually build more bone than they lose, so we are constantly strengthening our bones and working on bone density. But when we hit our mid-30s, things change. And if you’ve passed that benchmark, you may have felt that shift.
After reaching their mid-30s, women lose about 2% of bone density every year, and that continues for a few years following menopause. This leaves women with a high likelihood of experiencing osteoporosis.
So what do you do? Consider trying OsteoStrong, a non-pharmaceutical way of improving bone density, strength, and balance as one of your biohacking techniques.
According to OsteoStrong’s website, research indicates that the stimulus required to activate the growth of healthy bone tissue is 4.2 multiples of body weight. However, this level of force would be exceptionally difficult to achieve on your own. That’s why OsteoStrong utilizes the Spectrum System, which is part of a new category of devices called the Robotic Musculoskeletal Development System (RDMS).
How we view life has a huge effect on our moods, how we treat others, and our general levels of fulfillment. When you have an abundance mindset, you’re consistently grateful for everything that comes your way and is always focused on the positive. Have a hard time adopting this type of perspective? Changing your mindset is really about nothing more than practice. You need to consistently refocus your brain to see the positive in every situation until it becomes second nature. These biohacking techniques and tools can help:
Exercising, eating right, and developing the right mindset are important steps to unlocking an extraordinary life. Biohacking helps you take this to the next level by incorporating supplements that improve focus, increase energy, and help your body benefit from the most bioavailable forms of nutrients available.
We often don’t get all the vitamins and minerals we need to keep us at peak performance. High-quality supplements in the form of pills, shakes, bars, or drinks can fill the nutritional gap and help boost performance, detoxify our systems, and achieve daily energy.
Tony has created a variety of health supplements, drinks, and bars that help you feel your best every day and make biohacking the body easy.
It’s common knowledge that as we age, our normal brain function gets disrupted. We tend to find it harder to recall information, memorize names, and respond with reason. The decline of our mental acuity causes these commonplace mental problems. Contrary to popular belief, aging is not the sole culprit for mental deterioration. Many factors, such as aging, lifestyle changes, and environmental stress, contribute to the decline of mental acuity.
As cognitive decline progresses, significant mental changes can result in disorders such as dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease. While these can be common aspects of life, they aren’t inevitable. Many medical experts believe that there are many lifestyle changes that you can take to prevent the degradation of Mental Acuity.
What is Mental Acuity?
Mental acuity is known as the sharpness of the mind. It involves our cognitive ability to concentrate, process, understand, reason, and memorize. On the other hand, intelligence means the extent to which our brains absorb and process a specific amount of information at a given amount of time. Mental acuity is a natural and essential aspect of our brain health and is not a measure of how “smart” we are.
Mental acuity allows us to perform daily activities effectively and efficiently. When our cognitive ability functions well, we’re more capable of doing things without damage or conflict.
What are the symptoms of a Deteriorating Mental Acuity?
Some signs of a deteriorating cognitive ability may be subtle. However, when left untreated could progress over time to more serious mental disorders. According to the National Institute on Aging, 8 out of 10 people who experience amnestic mild cognitive impairment develop into having Alzheimer’s disease.
Here are some early symptoms of a deteriorating mental acuity:
How to Improve Mental Acuity
Prevention is better than cure when it comes to developing chronic brain disorders. Here’s how you can take your brain health into your own hands by observing these lifestyle habits:
Getting enough nutrition is the key to ensure mental sharpness. Making sure you eat a well-balanced diet can help your body supply enough nutrients to your brain. Omega 3 Fatty Acids are essential nutrients that help build and restore brain cells. The brain also needs antioxidants to prevent inflammation.
Excessive intake of toxins such as alcohol and drug can depreciate your mental ability. Experts agree that poor gut health also results in a weakened immune system. As a result, it weakens your body’s inflammatory response. A poor inflammatory response causes mental disorders such as schizophrenia and dementia.
Irregular sleep patterns and sleep deprivation disrupt your body’s circadian rhythm that can lead to short-term mental problems as well as long-term chronic health problems.
Your body’s circadian rhythm is a natural body clock that controls your sleep-wake schedule as well as your digestive patterns. When you’re sleep-deprived, these rhythms get disturbed. As a result, you experience headaches, mood swings, and difficulty to focus and recall information. Aside from these unwanted effects, not having enough sleep also negatively impacts your overall brain health.
Exercise isn’t just for physical and aesthetic purposes. It also affects brain function in multiple ways. When you exercise, your body pumps more oxygen into your brain through an increased heart rate. Exercise allows your body to release hormones that are vital in nourishing your brain cells. It also promotes growth factors in your brain to assist in the growth of neuronal connections.
A study at the University of Georgia shows that a 20-minute exercise daily can improve memory retention and information processing. Many experts agree that a sedentary lifestyle may accelerate your way into cognitive decline.
Red Light therapy is a more modern approach to non-invasive and low-risk medical treatments. It is a form of photobiomodulation that allows light to change human cells' physiology that causes a wide range of benefits such as biological balance and cellular energy.
Kaiyan Medical is one of the pioneers of Red light therapy that uses red wavelengths to deliver benefits to the skin and near-infrared lights to penetrate deeper within the skin’s surface. This dual technology allows for better absorption and effectiveness of the benefits of Red light therapy.
As near-infrared wavelengths penetrate the brain’s cellular system, it promotes energy production by stimulating the mitochondria. It also prevents stress by keeping away oxidative stress. Thus, it delivers multiple benefits such as better blood flow, faster cell regeneration, and improved healing.
A study shows that red light therapy has significantly improved brain function when given to patients with cognitive dysfunction. All these benefits are vital in promoting and maintaining a healthy mental acuity. Red light therapy delivers all these cellular benefits to promote better sleep quality and a more balanced circadian clock.
As you maintain these lifestyle changes, you can experience a more improved brain function and better brain health. Now you can defy all odds and allow your brain to perform at its peak by having a healthy lifestyle and a balanced body.
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Light exposure may affect menstrual cycles and symptoms through the influence of melatonin secretion. In Kaiyan Medical we have been studying portable devices to relieve menstrual pain using low-level light stimulation. Menstrual pain often afflicts women and girls, but the intensity and impact on quality of life vary widely. A cross-sectioned analytical study found that 84 percent reported menstrual pain which often required medication and even resulted in missing work.
Many women rely on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, but of course, some prefer to avoid their undesirable side-effects. Other common menstrual pain management methods, according to the National Institutes of Health, include: applying heat with hot water bottles or heating pads, warm baths, or going to the sauna; special diets and dietary supplements; herbal products and herbal teas for medicinal use; homeopathic medicines; and procedures which target pain stimulus such as acupuncture, acupressure or TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation). Light therapy devices add another alternative to targeting the pain source with low-level light stimulation applied at acupuncture points.
Light therapy devices improves blood flow and thereby reduces menstrual cramps with via photo-activated modulation of smooth muscle tissue. Usually, the light from the light therapy devices is emitted for a fixed amount of time (from 10 to 20 minutes). The light stimulation reaches the uterus and increases the secretion of nitrous oxide (NO). The NO spreads over the smooth muscle in the uterine cells and under continuous light stimulation produces a phosphate particle called cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). These particles continuously flow out and relax the smooth muscles so they receive oxygen and nutrition.
In the Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics, subjects using the low-level light therapy showed statistically significant reduction in pain levels after a month and barely any pain after three months. This compares to a placebo group that showed slight pain reduction over time. The study concluded that
“skin adhesive low-level light therapy on acupuncture points might be an effective, simple, and safe non-pharmacological treatment for dysmenorrhoea.”
In this study, a total of 31 women with dysmenorrhoea were enrolled and randomly assigned to either the active or placebo low-level light therapy groups . Of 31 participants, 21 participants received real light therapy, while the remaining 10 participants received placebo one. All participants in the active low-level light therapy group reported either complete pain relief In the active low-level light therapy group, 16 women had successful results during their menstrual cycle, and 5 women had successful results at the second menstrual cycle.
The most interesting thing about this study, is that they conclude that the direct cause of dysmenorrhoea might not be changes in bioactive substances, such as hormone imbalance, a decrease in serotonin levels or excessive prostaglandin production, but the abnormal function of parts of smooth muscles in the uterus secondary to long-term deficient blood supply into smooth muscle tissue caused by disease or stress. This condition can be improved with light therapy.
Our light therapy products can help as well with back pain, skin, depression, sleep cycles, and pets.
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Athletes take exercise and training very seriously to maximize and improve performance. Whether you’re a competitive elite athlete or someone who’s just born to win every day, recovery can be one of the most neglected aspects of our daily lives.
Recovery: We hear it all the time from coaches and instructors, but it’s also one of the hardest things to do. The saying “Push yourself to your limits” happens also to have its own limits. Neglecting your training recovery aspect for optimal performance can take a toll on our body in the long run.
In this article, we show the importance of rest and recovery and some of the ways to speed up our body’s healing process, such as integrating red light therapy treatment.
After training or a strenuous workout, our body responds to strain, injury, or stress as a defense mechanism in inflammation. While it may sound damaging, inflammation is a natural response when our muscle tissue regenerates and grows from microtears. Going through the process is important to allow muscle growth and performance improvement. However, the inflammation needs recovery for your muscles to heal from too much strain or injury for it to maximize its healing effects.
Recovery is the process that your body undergoes to recuperate between training sessions or from the time of danger to its healing progression. Recovery works by giving your body time to regenerate muscle tissues.
Whether it’s a strain, acute soreness, or severe damage, your body needs time to heal. The time needed for the recovery process is also dependent on the severity of the damage/strain/injury. This means that the greater the stressor's intensity to your body, the longer the time you need to spend to allow your body to recover.
Many athletes have made recovery time a priority as it assists in the healing process of muscles post-inflammation. Giving your body time to recover can result in an improved performance.
During the recovery time, the muscle repairs regenerate and strengthens to tolerate a higher level of strain the next time. In other words, taking time to heal makes you stronger and less susceptible to future injuries. Having enough recovery time helps in optimal performance and longevity by helping the athletes convalesce both psychologically and physically to train and perform better.
By doing this, you can prevent future chronic problems, decreased sports performance, increased risk of injuries, or fatigue caused by inadequate healing.
1. Plan Your Rest Time
Planning your rest schedule and duration involves many factors such as the intensity of your activity, your age, and your skill level in sports/pieces of training. You may need less time to recover or more, depending on your personal needs. As a general rule, for medium to intense workouts/training, it is prescribed to maintain a healthy duration of 45 hours in between training.
Pro tip: Engage in Active Recovery
If you’re not suffering from an injury or severe damage, it’s important to incorporate active recovery periods during your recovery time so your body can maintain its active state.
Proper blood circulation is important in the recovery process. When the body gets injured, the body responds by dilating blood cells to speed up blood flow. Active recovery helps maintain good blood circulation and removes lactic acid out of inflamed muscles. Active recovery activities involve light physical movements such as stretching or yoga to allow proper blood flow and help your muscles recover and adapt better.
2. Get Enough Sleep
The Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is at its peak at night as we sleep. This hormone is responsible for tissue repair and recovery. This is why the key to a speedy recovery is to make you get a good REM sleep at the right time during your recovery period. Make sure to get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep at night to ensure that your body gets enough rest that it needs and to avoid any future complications. Lack of sleep can deter the process of muscle recovery.
Pro tip: Don’t be scared of having a few extra hours
Especially when you are suffering from intense strain/injury, it’s important to sneak in a few extra hours of sleep within your recovery period. In fact, a 2018 study suggests that sleep extension, a form of sleep intervention, can significantly contribute to the success of an athlete’s recovery. One way to ensure you get a significant amount of rest is to make sure your body has a healthy circadian rhythm. If you’re worried that you’re having trouble sleeping at night, there are many ways to improve your circadian clock- including red light therapy.
3. Refuel your Body
A healthy diet is also one of the great pillars of health. The nutrients you take in play a great role in your body’s function to cooperate with the recovery process. Minimize processed foods that may contain too much salt, sweets, and alcohol. These types of food may promote inflammation and dehydration, which can hinder the recovery process. Make sure to eat a balance recommended diet of whole foods.
Have an evaluation with a licensed dietitian or nutritionist to assess your nutritional needs. Assessment may vary depending on different factors such as weight, BMI, and activity level.
Pro tip: Focus on your Protein Intake
Protein is the key macronutrient that is responsible for muscle building and repair. It has amino acids that are metabolized by your body to ease muscle inflammation and build stronger muscles. Skip gulping on those protein supplements and focus instead on taking protein from whole foods such as lean meat, eggs, and cheese.
4. Listen to your Body
There can be all kinds of rules in recovery to maximize healing, but you can’t go wrong with paying attention to your body’s signals. Often, your body’s responses can be neglected. However, overlooking these signals can result in overtraining, which puts your body at risk of having more problems in the long run.
Despite your recovery time or period, if your body signals indicate pain and soreness, it’s important to give it time to recover better to address the issue. Aside from obvious physiological signs, pay attention to your heart rate variability, indicating your body’s adaptability to stress and your overall cardiovascular fitness.
5. Incorporate Red Light Therapy
Thanks to innovative medical devices, athletes and trainers have utilized more advanced healing modalities like red light therapy. Red Light Therapy is a popular, non-invasive, and effective light therapy treatment that can improve blood circulation essential for tissue and muscle recovery. It works by using LED to deliver wavelengths that deeply penetrates the skin and cells.
Integrating red light therapy in your recovery process can speed up muscle repair and minimize pain and swelling. The therapy accelerates the healing process by enhancing macrophage activity responsible for the white blood cell’s healing and anti-inflammatory response.
Pro tip: Try using Light Therapy Body Pad
Kaiyan Medical’s Light Therapy Body pad utilizes a high-end, medical-grade dual optical energy pad that uses 30 pieces of red light and 30 pieces of infrared light. The therapy's duality promotes deep treatment by treating injured skin surface while repairing deeper muscle, bones, tissue, and joint damage. The therapy pad is specially made with a broader light spectrum to increase absorption and penetration so you can maximize the treatment’s benefits. It’s a safe, non-invasive treatment that you can add to your recovery process so you can get back in the game stronger than ever.
Recovery and Rest are just as important as optimizing and improving performance. Allowing your body to maximize its natural healing processes can improve performance and overall better physical and mental health.
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The famous fitness coach Ben Greenfield uses red light naked every morning. He flips a switch, flooding the room with a bright red glow. Then he stands naked in the red light for 20 minutes.
“It seems to like, wake you up a little bit; it kind of simulates sunrise,” Greenfield tells. “And it’s almost mildly addictive — the feel-good effect of how you feel after you use one of these.”
Greenfield, a 39-year-old fitness instructor, is an evangelist for red light therapy, a treatment that’s increasingly popular in the world of sports, beauty, and biohacking. Some converts to red-light therapy treatment soak in the ruddy glow for a very personal reason.
Light therapy has been for hundreds of years. Recently, we can trace it back to 1967 with Hungarian scientists, red light therapy, scientifically known as photobiomodulation or low-level laser (light) therapy, has made a comeback in the last two decades.
Michael Hamblin, a researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital and professor at Harvard Medical School, explains in a 2017 research paper on the topic that the treatment was confined to a “SCIENTIFIC WASTELAND,” and widely considered “SNAKE OIL.”
But recent studies suggest red-light therapy can improve skin quality, addictions, pets’ mood, sleep quality, depression, muscle recovery, and relieve pain.
Indeed, some studies suggest light therapy stimulates mitochondria, a.k.a. the “powerhouse” of a cell, and increases the production of adenosine triphosphate, the organic chemical that carries energy in the body and plays a big role in metabolism.
In Kaiyan Medical, we are on a constant quest to optimize our brains and bodies. Some studies have actually demonstrated that exposing the torso or the testes to light can potentially increase testosterone. In fact, studies on the effects of light on the testes go way back to 1939, when researchers exposed various parts of men’s bodies to UV light. They found that men’s testosterone levels went up by 120% when the participants’ chests were exposed to UV light, and they went up by 200% with UV exposure to the genital area.
Sunlight exposure directly to the testes reportedly has an even more profound effect, boosting production in Leydig cells (the cells that produce testosterone) by an average of 200%
The theory is this: while sunlight has many beneficial effects, such as vitamin D production and improved mood, it is not without its downsides. Too much exposure to sunlight, particularly to sensitive areas like the skin around your precious ball sac, can create sunburn, excess radiation, inflammation and damage. And let’s face it: you don’t want a shrunken, shriveled, dehydrated dick, no matter how impressive the tan.
Red light, however, is different than sunlight. Red light is comprised of light wavelengths in the range of 600–950 nanometers (nm). According to red light therapy proponents, red light works to stimulate ATP production, increase energy available to the cell and in particular, increase the activity of the Leydig cells in your testes, which are the cells responsible for testosterone production.
In the last five years, light therapy researchers and red-light therapy companies set their sights on men like Greenfield — the guy who gets naked every morning in his home office. “The impact of [low-light therapy] on sexual health is an emerging field, but I see its potential to improve sexual function and libido with recent studies,” Hamblin says. “It has been shown to improve sperm function and may have applications in increasing fertility in both men and women.” Research on sexual health applications of red-light therapy is relatively minimal in men, and basically nonexistent for women. A few studies in animals suggest red light therapy might influence LEYDIG CELLS — the body’s sperm producers, which live in the testicles. Another study in humans suggests red light therapy can increase testosterone levels and sexual satisfaction.
Sexual health issues — from “low T” to erectile dysfunction — can be challenging to treat because of the social stigma, Goldstein explains. There’s a “fear,” the urologist says. Many men are ashamed and avoid seeing a doctor. “If they can get something over the counter that's purported to help them, millions of men will be willing to try it and maybe they would never buy it again,” Goldstein tells. “Good advertising and good marketing will create a market for a product, whether it's proven to be of value or not.”
Reduce Infertility
One of the biggest concerns for those who suffer from Low-T is infertility. Several studies show that red light therapy helps increase sperm motility, which is essential for successful impregnation. In 2017, researchers from the University of California, San Diego, found that sperm exposed to 630nm red light increased sperm swimming speed and force.
A similar study by researchers from Iran found an after exposing sperm to an 830nm NIR light device. Sperm motility is associated with cellular energy; more energized sperm will swim with greater vigor. This is a vital component of male reproductive health, and success in improving sperm motility points to the use of red light therapy as a way to treat male infertility.
On top of using red light, both Greenfield and Wiles eat healthy, work out regularly, and practice stress-management techniques. Which habit, or a combination of each, helps them “optimize” their sex life or their physical health isn’t clear.
Even though the research doesn’t match their claims — yet— Greenfield and Wiles have no intention of slowing down. “Before I go and give a presentation or if I'm giving a lecture or even if I'm just seeing a patient in clinic, I'll go ahead and throw that thing on and I will feel like a million bucks," Wiles says. "I’ve noticed increased overall sexual health, sexual satisfaction, and stamina." Recently, Greenfield has been shining the light for one very specific reason: He and his wife are trying for a baby. “Sometimes if I know I've got like a date night with my wife or we're going to have sex that night, I'll wait until the evening to do the treatment because the immediate effects are even better, especially the blood flow," Greenfield says. "Erectile quality is just better right after you use it.”
Saunas and red light therapy devices are clinically-proven treatments that complement each other wonderfully, even if they depend on distinct biological mechanisms to yield various natural health and aesthetic benefits.
In this article, we’ll focus on how things work for red light therapy and the distinctions of traditional saunas, and what you can actually gain by availing of either of them.
Saunas can make your body’s core temperature hotter by supplying sufficient heat throughout your body. It has been a part of traditional medicine for various centuries, as the old century folks realized the health benefits of sweating. Although there are multiple types of saunas, two of them are the most popular:
When you think of saunas, this is the first scenario that comes to mind: hot and steamy. This type of sauna requires more energy as it delivers heat to the atmosphere, warming the air inside the sauna, and distributes heat in the body. Traditional convection saunas can maintain air temperatures between 170–200°F and are an ideal type of sauna for general use. It is important to comprehend the different temperatures required for specific health concerns since being exposed to heat more than what has required triggers a warning for unsubstantiated claims.
The latest trend in saunas is the infrared saunas. Inside, instead of warming the air, this kind of sauna heats actual objects. Such objects include those with emitting surfaces, charcoal, and carbon fiber. Infrared saunas' effectivity is directly attributed to the temperature, humidity, and length of time your body is exposed to heat, even though many saunas claim to provide “full-spectrum” infrared wavelengths.
The farther the wavelengths are in the infrared spectrum, the more they are considered efficient and effective in heat production. This will be thoroughly discussed later, but the general gist is that heat supplementation is the primary purpose of saunas, convection, and infrared.
On the other hand, near-infrared wavelengths in near-infrared saunas generate very little heat. Most of the high-quality standard saunas use more effective heats from the far-infrared spectrum or IR-C wavelengths.
Inducing thermal stress on the body is the primary function of every sauna, but what does it really mean?
One of many biological responses from sauna usage is increased heart rate as well as perspiration. The essential body processes protein metabolism and is also affected by enough heat. Heat shock proteins are a special kind of protein that responds specifically to cellular stress from heat. Heat stress induction leads to natural health benefits like those we gain doing physical activities.
One experiment had participants sat in a sauna treatment for 30 minutes at 194°F for 3 weeks, totaling 13 work sessions. The results showed that the participants improved 32% in performance tests versus those who underwent sauna treatments.
Besides improving your cardiovascular functions, using saunas can help reap benefits such as detoxication, decreased depression, and lesser chronic fatigue.
What differentiates saunas from red light therapy devices is their mechanism of action. While saunas utilize heat for biological effects, red light therapy devices supply healthy light wavelengths directly to the skin and cells. Even when producing almost no heat, red light therapy devices help with cellular function improvement and support bodily balance. Simply put, red light therapy helps energize the body with light, while saunas heat your body.
Mitochondria, the powerhouse of our cells, is wonderfully affected by certain wavelengths of natural light. This helps in producing energy within the cells of our body, feeding photons to our cells from natural light via red light therapy.
We feel warm when exposed to sunlight and other heat sources such as fire and hot coals because most of the wavelengths, including ultraviolet (UV), are rapidly absorbed by the outer layers of the skin tissue as heat.
However, unknown to many, some wavelengths have the unique capability of boosting your cellular functions and energy. These are those few wavelengths that can penetrate human tissues more effectively, having photons power-up your “cellular batteries.”
One of the first few things you need to look for in saunas is the temperature it produces. You need to consider some other factors, including the type of wood, the heating unit (Is it conventional or infrared? Is it near far or full-spectrum?), finishes and stains, price, and more.
On the other hand, some of the factors you need to consider when choosing a red light therapy device are the device’s light energy output, light color or frequency range in terms of nanometers, warranty, body or treatment coverage area, the price, and the credibility of the company provider.
Saunas and red light therapy devices offer a wide range of natural health benefits, which surprisingly go well with each other. They both support balance and health to improve your fitness and function but do not overlap with each other’s effects because of energy supplementation in distinct forms and wavelengths. What a great combination of complementary natural therapies!
Here at Kaiyan Medical, we provide different types of red light therapy devices for various medical, wellness, and aesthetic uses. To see our list of products, click here.
