This morning, the sun was shining and I was lucky enough to wake up extremely early – so I went straight out for a dawn walk in my local park. Here at the Age-Well Project we’ve long advocated walking within an hour of waking up. But this morning as I walked, I wasn’t thinking about Vitamin D or the role of morning light in setting my circadian rhythms (we’ve written frequently on these sunlight gifts, including this piece on why people who spend time in the sun live longer). I wasn’t even pondering why it feels so good to move upon waking up.No, I was thinking about photobiomodulation (PBM). We originally wrote about this back in 2019, and Susan re-introduced the topic with an update in January of this year. But as the days lengthen, now is the time to get our red light naturally.
A slew of new studies are discovering that – since around the year 2000 when LED lights started replacing incandescent and halogen lighting – many of us are no longer getting the red and near-infrared light/wavelength exposure which we used to receive from old-fashioned light bulbs and which our ancestors received from firelight and being outdoors.
Researchers refer to the gentle ‘irradiation’ from red and near-infrared light as photobiomodulation. And it seems that PBM is essential for effective eyesight, glucose metabolism and good cellular functioning. Possibly much more. In many animal studies, being deprived of red light appears to fuel several age-related chronic diseases.
In fact, some researchers are calling LED light bulbs ‘the new asbestos’. Particularly as so many modern buildings also use glass window panes that block all red and infrared light. Meaning some people are now receiving no red or infrared light at all. As the dermatologist Dr David Ozog told Nature Journal this month, ‘We’re literally being starved of something that, biologically, we’ve evolved to receive.’
In our rush to save money (and to save the planet), has something vital been overlooked? For those of us that can get outside regularly, it might not be such an issue. But for anyone spending the bulk of their days beneath LED lighting (hospitals, care homes, schools, modern office buildings etc etc.), the red light deficit could be affecting their health in ways that are only just being unpicked. If you’re interested in taking a deep dive into the dangers of LEDs, the podcast with Prof Glen Jeffrey from University College London (also linked in Susan’s recent post) is excellent. Alternatively, this piece in Nature provides a good overview of very recent developments.
The discovery that red light might do more than we imagined, began in the 1960s when Hungarian scientists noticed that rats stimulated with low-level red light grew more hair. Later, NASA scientists noticed that small skin cuts healed more quickly in the presence of red light (which they were using to experiment with growing pot plants in space). Since then, clinical trials using red light therapy devices have reported better muscle recovery, reductions in depression, less pain and faster recovery from COVID-19.
Today, we can easily buy red light therapy devices which provide a targeted way of replenishing red light in doses that can be controlled (unlike sunshine). And the new studies suggest that these devices might work – apparently helping with hair loss, wrinkles, mouth ulcers, brain injuries, Parkinson’s and skin healing. However, not all at-home red light devices have been properly, or independently tested. So outdoor sunshine still remains our best – and cheapest – option.
Nor do we need to worry about stripping off, because these wavelengths travel through fabric to our cells. We can walk in the park or sit in the garden, fully dressed, and get our daily red and infrared light therapy. And yes, the park and garden are the right places, because tree and plant foliage reflect red wavelengths making them yet more plentiful. So go somewhere green rather than concrete.
There’s more research to be done and scientists still don’t understand exactly how red and infrared wavelengths are affecting our cells (Susan wrote about the mitochondria theory, which is gaining ground as I write). Regardless, the experts’ advice is clear: go outside. Ideally at sun rise and sunset when the quantity of red and infrared is at its greatest.
And if you’re stuck indoors beneath LED lightbulbs, you might want to think about changing your bulbs back to halogen or incandescent bulbs, both of which contain red light. Some LED bulbs also contain more broad spectrum light (including red – they’re the warmer bulbs rather than the blindingly white bulbs) than others, but you’ll need to dig around in specialist places to find them. I buy my old-style (full spectrum) light bulbs here.
The picture above shows clearly the difference in red light when comparing incandescent (old-fashioned) bulbs with LEDs and with outdoor light.
On that note, I’m off for (another) walk. It doesn’t need to be long because studies show that red light can penetrate directly into our cells within a few minutes. And it doesn’t matter if it turns cloudy because red light can, apparently, pass through cloud.
Just one thing: leave your sun glasses at home. Some of the beneficial effects of red light are lost if we’re in sun glasses.
Alternatively, pop into your garden, find a sunny spot – and relax!
Annabel
Leave a Reply