For long, sunlight has held quite a lot of benefits in the form of the red light that it tends to emit. Neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman has often praised its benefits and sworn by its impact on one’s body and health. Therefore, it’s no surprise that the Stanford professor also highlighted its importance in ophthalmology.
In a conversation with Dr. Jeff Goldberg, Dr. Huberman discussed various concerns surrounding vision and eye health. One of the key subjects was the role of red light therapy in improving vision in people of all age ranges. Particularly in people over 40 experiencing some form of vision loss associated with age-related macular degeneration.
In adults, macular degeneration occurs when the center of the retina deteriorates. However, studies have suggested that certain kinds of red light and infrared lights have been shown to improve this condition, provided they’re sought through the early morning sunlight. Dr. Huberman was curious about the science surrounding this.
According to Dr. Goldberg, the evidence and data supporting these suggestions are quite compelling. The theory behind this study is that red lights enhance mitochondrial and photoreceptor functioning, thereby activating neuroprotective pathways in the retina. These pathways are responsible for carrying all visual information to the brain.
“The cells that carry all that visual information from the eye to the brain they’re chock full of mitochondria too…so the idea that this could be a therapeutic approach I think is very compelling.”
Recently, in a detailed post, Dr. Huberman mentioned that currently, two studies proved this theory to be true. Red light therapy helps improve vision not only in adults but also in kids. If derived from sunlight, the benefits are immense.
“Phototherapy has been around for centuries, and @nobelprize_org was awarded for it in the early 1900s because light is a potent stimulus for adjusting cellular function.”
However, obtaining indoor red lights doesn’t have to be expensive. Since it’s extremely beneficial and not all places have round-the-year access to sunlight, the neuroscientist provided some helpful alternatives that could be accessible.
Dr. Andrew Huberman revealed an easy substitute for infrared lights
While it comes with many positives, it’s not necessary to have expensive red light panels to obtain the appropriate positive effects on one’s body surrounding cortisol. The neuroscientist has previously suggested maintaining higher cortisol levels in the morning, and limiting its flow towards the evening can help achieve the optimum balance between being energetic and having a good night’s sleep.
The easy substitute is having red light bulbs that can be dimmed out towards the evening. One could still venture out, once in a while, to have fun or socialize, but for good quality sleep, red light bulbs can help ease the load.
