Red Light Therapy and Weight Loss

Are you looking for an easy way to lose weight without dieting or using supplements? If so, you may be wondering, “Does red light therapy work for weight loss?” The answer to this is a resounding YES. In fact, red light therapy offers a fast, effective, and safe way to lose weight. How does this therapy work? You simply are exposed to a special form of red light, which is designed to have therapeutic effects on the body. While the therapy is a new method, there is no doubt about the fact that it works. Not only that, but it works pretty well! Doctors agree on the effectiveness of red light therapy. Here’s what you need to know about red light therapy to lose weight:

1. Red Light Therapy for Weight Loss Uses Certain Specific Frequencies of Light – 635 nm research

It isn’t just any red light that can help you lose weight. It’s only certain forms of it. All types of light have a certain frequency, which is the specific wavelength of the energy. Red light is a form of visible light, but the red light used for weight loss is often a specific type of red called near-infrared. This means that the wavelength is shorter than invisible infrared light, but it’s longer than most other forms of the color red. 

Less Cellulite:

In a 2011 study on red light therapy and cellulite reduction, women ages 25-55 were divided into two groups: Group A did treadmill exercises while Group B did treadmill exercises along with red light therapy twice a week. The study concluded that Group B, who partook in both the treadmill exercise and red light therapy in conjunction showed significant improvements in body aesthetics.

Cosmetic Body Contouring:

There are various different types of weight loss modalities but few are proven to work. These modalities include, body contouring or body sculpting, some surgical, others noninvasive. Red light therapy is completely natural & noninvasive and has proven to be an effective option for changing the way your body looks.

Smaller Waistline, Less Girth:

A study in 2011 by the Journal of Obesity Surgery studied red light therapy for body contouring. This study was a double-blind, completely randomized study which observed red light therapy at 635-680 nanometers (nm) on participants for four weeks and recorded effects on the size of their waistline. At the end of the study, participants had achieved a statistically significant reduction in waistline girth.

Targeted Fat Loss:

In a similar study published in Lasers in Surgery Medicine, participants who received light therapy showed a significant reduction in overall circumference, including numerous parts of the body. Researchers concluded that light therapy can reduce the circumference of the specific areas of the body that are treated with natural light.

Tighter Hips & Thighs:

A 2013 study in the same journal also found benefits from red light therapy at 635 nm for contouring the hips, thighs, and waist. At the end of the trial, researchers found a mean loss of 2.99 inches in overall body size compared to the starting point.

Less Body Fat:

A 2018 triple-blind, placebo-controlled trial assessed red light therapy’s effects on people doing endurance training. Researchers found pre-exercise treatment can “decrease the body fat in healthy volunteers when compared to placebo.”

Why Are Only Some Frequencies Effective?

It’s likely that this is because near-infrared light is capable of penetrating into the body. In fact, the specialized light actually shines through the body’s deep tissues. This allows it to reach tissues that play a crucial role in the body’s vital functions, which can improve your mental and physical health! 

2. This Therapy Is Safe – Provide Research

Due to the fact that the only thing it uses is a specialized red light frequency, there is little to no risk of serious side effects being caused by it. The only side effect that you may experience is minor irritation of the skin, in some cases. Aside from that, the red light is not known to cause any potentially negative effects on the body. 

3. How Could It Help You Lose Weight? – research

A 2012 study in the International Journal of Endocrinology showed that light can affect hunger levels, which could help prevent the buildup of extra fat before it even begins. This study found that red light helped control levels of the hunger-related hormones leptin and ghrelin in sleep-deprived participants. Therefore, it will be easier to get proper nutrition, and this means that you’re less likely to constantly feel hungry. 

4. How to Use Red Light Therapy for Weight Loss

In order to use red light therapy for weight loss, it’s important to go for sessions on a regular basis. In addition, you’ll need to combine this one of a kind therapy with conventional techniques for improving your physique, including eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise. 

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Red Light Therapy

Our bodies don’t always heal properly on their own. For this reason, many people choose to engage in alternative forms of medical treatment in order to help with recovery. Many people find themselves wondering “what is red light therapy?” or “does red light therapy work?” For those who aren’t quite sure about it, we’ve got all the info you need to keep in mind.

So, What Is Red Light Therapy?

As the name suggests, red light therapy or RLT involves using infrared light in order to facilitate recovery for different areas of the body. More specifically, it primarily focuses on skin and muscle tissue.

Although infrared light is generally dangerous for the human body, the treatment uses low levels of it to prevent complications. For those who aren’t familiar with what infrared light is, it is simply energy that you can’t typically see but can still feel.

Red light is very similar to this type of energy, but it is visible to the human eye.

How Does RLT Work?

The process involves exposing the patient’s skin to red light from a lamp, laser, or similar device.

Within the human body’s cells, there are components known as mitochondria that are responsible for generating energy.

During RLT, mitochondria absorb the light and use it to increase the overall production of energy. This translates into highly reduced recovery time.

Since the energy level of the light is so low, there is no risk of harm during proper treatment.

What Does RLT Do?

“What is red light therapy good for?” is often another question people ask themselves.

There are a large handful of different conditions RLT can treat. For example, regular red light therapy can help those who have dementia experience fewer emotional outbursts, get better sleep, and have an easier time remembering.

Interestingly, this form of treatment can also help with hair loss. In some cases, those who suffer from androgenetic alopecia may find that their hair grows back thicker than normal after consistently receiving red light treatment.

As previously mentioned, red light therapy also helps with conditions related to muscles or skin. This means that it can be used to treat wrinkles, golfer’s elbow, and similar issues.

Are There Any Risks?

In general, RLT is considered very safe. However, it’s always recommended to have this type of treatment administered by a professional.

As you might guess, using an insufficient amount of light during treatment could prevent you from achieving the results that you desire. Similarly, using too much light could damage your skin tissue.

Be sure to consider this when moving forward.

RLT Could Be a Suitable Treatment Option

So, keep the above answer to “what is red light therapy?” in mind so that you understand how it applies to your situation. From here, you might find that it proves to be a valuable treatment option.

Red light therapy or RLT is a rapidly growing practice for many athletes around the world. The innovative therapy has been found to help stimulate cell regeneration in humans, which can shorten muscle recovery times after workouts and help athletes get back in the gym faster. However, it’s been theorized that this isn’t the only application of red light therapy and that it can be used to reduce the size of or eliminate fat cells altogether. However, how does this work? 

Red Light Therapy and Its Effects on Fat Cells

When we’re discussing red light therapy in terms of its ability to remove fat cells, it’s referred to as a form of body sculpting. Body sculpting is a quickly growing field of different kinds of non-invasive weight loss procedures. That means no surgery is required, which is a major bonus to many. There are a few examples of body sculpting procedures that have been shown to be practical and effective, including radiofrequency lipolysis, which uses concentrated radio waves to trick the body into thinking it’s exercising. This in turn causes muscles to become more toned and fat cells to be melted away. 

So, how does red light therapy work then? Well, the clinical research so far shows that red light therapy breaks down certain parts of the fat cell membrane, which causes them to shrink in size. The excess fat is then removed through your body’s normal process of removing waste.

Have People Tried Red Light Therapy for Weight Loss?

So far, there have been some positive studies for red light therapy and its weight-loss efficacy. A randomized study of 60 people from 2019 found that after six weeks of low-level red light therapy applications, there was a noticeable reduction in waist size for the study participants. All in all, the average reduction in size was about two inches. While it doesn’t sound like much, this is pretty impressive for a therapy that requires its participants to engage in no exercise and take the therapy while sitting or lying down.

Plus, this isn’t the only study that’s been conducted. And at this point in time, it’s been effectively proven that red light therapy kills fat cells dead in their tracks. Participants that have tried red light therapy for weight loss have reported largely positive results, and it’s only expected that the therapy will become more popular over time.