Red Light Therapy for Improved Gut Health

Red light therapy is an increasingly popular treatment for health fanatics — especially those who want to have more youthful skin. Today we will look at what the research says about red light therapy for improving gut health. red light therapy for improved gut health

What is red light therapy?

Red light therapy is a therapeutic intervention that uses low-level wavelengths of red LED lights to treat different conditions. While it was initially used only for skin conditions, research is coming out on many other conditions that can benefit from red light therapy:

Parkinson’s
Alzheimer’s
Carpal tunnel
Myopia
Cancer
Edema/inflammation
Damaged muscular and tendon tissues

Red light therapy (RLT) has many different names — photobiomodulation, low-level light therapy (LLLT), and near-infrared therapy (NIR) to name a few.

RLT was accidentally discovered as a therapy when scientist, Endre Mester, noticed that it helped to repair wounds and regrow hair in rats.

In the 90’s, they used RLT to grow potatoes in space. Where light was limited they hoped to use the lasers to modulate photosynthesis. While growing the potatoes, they noticed that the exposure to the LEDs promoted the healing of the abrasions on their hands. They began to experiment with using RLT to help the negative side effects of being in space like muscular atrophy, bone density concerns, and to promote wound healing.

How red light therapy works

RLT consists of repeated sessions of red (600–700 nm) and near-infrared (760–940 nm) exposure for a set time frame. The red light does not give off any heat and only penetrates a few millimeters of skin.

Even though it is a small amount of exposure, near-infrared lights affect the cells enough to produce benefits. Remember the powerhouse of the cell from 7th grade? That’s right! RLT boosts the function of the mitochondria within the cells.

Red light therapy provides the mitochondria with an increased supply of oxygen, more metabolized glucose, and higher levels of adenosine triphosphate. These increases allow the mitochondria to repair themselves more efficiently making them function better. When cells function optimally, they do not make as many replication errors which can prevent diseases.

Benefits of red light therapy

While RLT gives these cellular benefits, there are also systemic benefits like increased circulation, better fibroblast production, reduced inflammation, and boosted collagen production.

While there is more research needed to confirm the benefits and potential side effects of red light therapy, there are a lot of promising results coming from the small studies being done.

Here is a list of the potential benefits of red light therapy:

Skin health improvements— psoriasis, scars, wound healing, improved collagen products, lessened wrinkles
Increased hair growth with alopecia
Short-term carpal tunnel syndrome relief
Relieves pain and inflammation, including neuropathic pain
Improved lymphatic drainage while reducing lymphedema
Reduced symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease

These are just some of the exciting areas of research going on to see how red light therapy can improve our health.

Who can get red light therapy?

Red light therapy has been generally regarded as safe. There have been a few instances where people have used the lights incorrectly at home and have experienced burns, blistering, or eye damage. But if used properly at home or in a clinic, you should be safe.

There is conflicting evidence on red light therapy regarding cancer and cancer patients. Some studies are finding benefits of using red light therapy while others are finding that there have been some negative interactions with the treatment they are experiencing.

If you are interested in trying red light therapy but are concerned because of a healthy condition or treatment, check with your doctor before trying it out.

How does red light therapy affect the gut?

So now let’s dig into the research on red light therapy and gut health. While the research in this area is still fairly new, along with the rest of the RLT research, there are some promising results coming to light!

Looking at how RLT affects our cells is the beginning of a very promising gut modulatory therapy. When we experience problems in the gut, there is inflammation at play. By reducing inflammation, RLT helps to reduce a lot of factors regarding gut health.

In addition to inflammation management, RLT is able to help with digestion and absorption of food. This improves motility which keeps our body on a healthier rhythm.

RLT has also been found to modulate the balance within the gut microbiome. It can alter which microbes live there, killing off the harmful ones and supplementing the healthy ones. This is a big deal when it comes to dysbiosis and related conditions.

Many of the brain-related benefits of RLT have been attributed to the gut microbiome modulation. Benefits for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases have been linked to the changes within the gut microbiome.

Now, when it comes to RLT not all red lights can be treated equally. While these effects have been beneficial, certain lights don’t get quite the benefits that others do. So choosing high-quality, near-infrared light is going to be your best bet when trying to improve your gut. The near-infrared light increased the healthy bacterial strains 10,000 fold compared to regular red light therapy.

In addition, using gut-targeted RLT will give you a more targeted healing approach than full-body, although you can still receive the benefits during full-body sessions.

Many studies so far have been done on rats, so we are excited for more human studies to come out. There have been a few and the results are promising!

If you would like to try red light therapy we would suggest making sure that it is near-infrared therapy and that it is done by a credible place. As always, checking with your doctor will yield you the best results for your personal situation. Those with IBD, IBS, dysbiosis, leaky gut, or any other gastrointestinal issues may benefit from near-infrared therapy.

Have you tried red light therapy in any form? Let us know your experience in the comment section below!

As always, other ways you can support your gut health include healthy habits and taking Atrantil. Grab your bottle here.

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