Boost Your Immunity With Red Light and Infrared Therapy
Our immune systems work hard every day to keep us healthy but sometimes they could use a little bit of help. If you’re out there in the world every day, you’re exposed to millions of teeny tiny little germs that have the potential to make you sick. In today’s climate, while the novel coronavirus seems to be on its way out, it’s still super important to make sure our bodies are as strong as they can be so that they can keep fighting off any of those little germs that they come into contact with.
There are lots of ways to boost your immune system – you can take vitamins, sleep and eat well, and get the right amount of exercise. But there is one that has been gaining in popularity recently that is scientifically proven to heal our bodies from the inside out and boost our immune systems at the same time: red light and infrared therapy.
What is it?
If you’ve never heard of red light or infrared therapy, let’s break it down really quick. Red light has a wavelength that is just strong enough to penetrate our cells and activate the mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell. Within the mitochondria, there is a molecule called adenosine triphosphate, or ATP.
ATP holds all the energy within the cell and when the mitochondria is activated, more ATP is made. With more ATP, or more energy, the cells can work more efficiently, rejuvenate faster, and repair tissue throughout the body.
Can you really boost your immune system with red light therapy?
Essentially, people are like really large plants that need lots of light and the right nutrients in order to grow strong and healthy. When we take advantage of the right type of light wavelengths, we can use their power to heal (or hurt) the body. It’s common knowledge that the wavelength that’s found in UV rays are harmful to the body. On the other hand, red light rays are really helpful!
So, how do you boost your immune system with red light therapy?
Aside from increasing our cell’s energy levels so they work better and more efficiently, red light (and infrared) boosts the amount of nitric oxide in the blood. Nitric oxide is a chemical compound that not only helps to heal the cells, but it also increases blood flow which stimulates the healing of our immune systems while making them nice and strong, too.
A healthy immune system is our body’s first line of defense when it comes to staying healthy and fighting off germs that carry diseases. Many products on the market that claim to boost your immune system don’t really work that well because the immune system is very complex. It’s also not a single system but rather a network of interrelated systems. So, many products just don’t have what it takes to activate all the right cells or they activate too many of a certain type of cell and the body just kills them off - because it knows that all those cells aren’t necessary. Red light therapy, on the other hand, has the ability to activate and strengthen cells that we already have and to create a healthy body from the inside out.
As light therapy radiates deep beneath the surface of the skin, interacting with mitochondria, it leads to a cascade of benefits through the immune system:
- Stimulation of ATP for optimal cell function
- Creation of new capillaries for improved blood flow that enhances the vital nutrition to cells as well as better waste removal
- Improvement to thyroid health, specifically to the thyroid hormones T3 and T4 which direct a healthy immune response.
- Liver regeneration and support, so the liver can better perform it’s job of absorbing nutrients or eliminating waste.
- Stimulating the lymphatic system - the most critical waste disposal system in the body.
- Sounder sleep. Red light therapy Increases melatonin production, letting the brain release an optimal amount of melatonin for a restful, deep and restorative night’s sleep.
- Better mood - a positive mood can help keep the immune system strong, whereas lowered immune response is often associated with depression and mood disorders
- Decreased inflammation - the root cause of many diseases