riverside_sheree_& christa - take 3 _wild_and well colle
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SHEREE BEAUMONT: [00:00:00] It also can really support the reduction in fine lines and wrinkles and scars and pigmentation. So from an aesthetic benefit, or even from a benefit to your actual skin health. It can be a really, really powerful tool to use. And that's why you've probably seen a lot of those masks that are trending where everyone's using the red light and you think about, I had love to see a lot more research put towards this. We know the red light's fantastic for us, but you think if you're in front of a computer screen, your phone, any kind of device, you're exposing yourself to a lot of blue light for like constantly, which can be really damaging to ourselves, particularly around our face and that sort of thing.
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CHRISTA ELZA: Welcome to another episode of The Wild and Well Collective. Today we're [00:01:00] gonna be talking about a therapy that's getting a lot of attention in the wellness and recovery space, and that is red light therapy. I I personally use it. I love it. I recommend it. I even bought a little portable red light therapy box for my husband who travels internationally all the time because.
I really believe in the benefits of red light therapy. And so I want to chat with you today, Cherie, about red light therapy. Let's explore it. Let's talk about how it works and some of the evidence behind it. I wanted to start out with what Red light therapy even is. It is a treatment that uses low level wavelengths of red and near infrared light to stimulate cellular activity.
So some of the light that comes out of these. You can't even see like the near infrared. You can't visually see it. Mm-hmm. But what's cool is that given the wavelength, it can penetrate the skin depending on how strong it is and get into underneath the skin. [00:02:00] To really help support mitochondrial and cellular health, which I'm always a big fan of.
How it works is it simulates that mitochondria, which is the energy center of our cells, right inside each cell. We have millions of mitochondria and those mitochondria. Create a TP and that's what provides energy for literally everything that we do. And so when the red light, those wavelengths get in there, it really helps to produce more a TP, which really helps us in recovery.
It helps us with energy, it helps us with detoxification because all of those process require energy, right? So as I mentioned before, the wavelengths actually do matter. And so when you're shopping for a red light panel, you wanna pay attention to what. What the wave links are and if they have red light and near infrared, you really wanna have both.
I know when I use my panel, I use a blend of both of them. Mm-hmm. And so that is measured in nanometers and the red light is absorbed by the skin. And that can help support collagen, put it on near [00:03:00] your face daily. Wound healing. Skin texture. So if you're experiencing any of those or your desire for more of those, more of that red light itself, the near infrared is gonna be a higher frequency.
It's 800 to 1100 nanometers, and that one penetrates deeper into the tissues. It can be beneficial for muscle pain, for joint injuries, so. I always put my kids, who have had sports injuries in front of a light therapy as well, and then it can also help with brain and neurological function.
These, I tend to be a little bit, is this really going through the scope, right? Mm-hmm. But there have been some devices. That people will use infrared through the nose and then you have more of an access point there. I wouldn't say that these panels can actually go through bone.
the wavelengths aren't that potent, not that small, but but there's definitely. Some studies that we'll talk about later on, the science behind these frequencies and how cool it is and how really doesn't hurt you, just sit in front of [00:04:00] it. I wanted you to toss this up to you, Cherie, about just the benefits and what we see in science right now for how it can really help from literally from head to toe.
SHEREE BEAUMONT: I absolutely love this and I love that we're having the conversation around it. It's something that I've used more from a. I guess training perspective or in the use of like, I've done a lot of infrared saunas, or I've done infrared like yoga and then it's hot yoga. So quite often it's combined with heat.
And that's where I've seen it used heaps and that's where I've personally experienced it a lot. The other side of this that I've experienced is more from an aesthetic perspective, even down to the point where like, I had a breakout before an event and went and got the red light treatment literally overnight, it disappeared.
I'm not saying that that works like that all the time for everyone. But I do get red light therapy on my face very often as well for that collagen and elastin production to reduce the acne or any kind of eczema or rosacea. That's something I've experienced. But the acne side of things, I definitely have.
That was something I struggled with for a long time. It also can really support the reduction in fine [00:05:00] lines and wrinkles and scars and pigmentation. So from an aesthetic benefit, or even from a benefit to your actual skin health. It can be a really, really powerful tool to use. And that's why you've probably seen a lot of those masks that are trending where everyone's using the red light and you think about, I had love to see a lot more research put towards this. We know the red light's fantastic for us, but you think if you're in front of a computer screen, your phone, any kind of device, you're exposing yourself to a lot of blue light for like constantly, which can be really damaging to ourselves, particularly around our face and that sort of thing.
So. When we are thinking about it from a sleep perspective too, we know that if we shut down those blue lights and we expose ourselves to the red lights, I even have that filter activated on my iPhone. It helps regulate our circadian rhythm. It can secrete melatonin production. 'cause the blue light is doing the opposite.
It's stimulating our brain. It's making us think that there's a party going on and it's very counterintuitive to our natural rhythms. So there's a sleep benefit, there's a skin benefit. One of the big things that I mentioned earlier is like the recovery [00:06:00] benefit or that to do with your peak performance.
So this is where, I would consider myself an athlete. I train very frequently, not on obviously the high, high level standard, but your average person who is working out on a regular basis can really benefit from this because it reduces that post-workout inflammation. It can reduce muscle soreness, it can speed up the healing of muscle.
Tendon and ligament injuries, like you mentioned, that you've got, your boys doing, if they injure themselves during a sporting issue, you've got some studies that even show that with consistent use, it's gonna enhance endurance and strength. So there is a lot from a recovery and peak performance side of things.
Like you mentioned, we're not too sure in terms of the brain but there have been links to prove that it might reduce anxiety or depression through the fact that it can increase your serotonin and your dopamine production. So there's that element too. And then last but not least that I really, really wanna highlight is the link with metabolism and fat loss.
We know that hot and cold have really beautiful benefits, and so again, I've seen this more [00:07:00] in the link to. Our saunas and combining red light therapy there, but it can stimulate the fat cell breakdown or lipolysis. And it has actually been linked in some early studies to suggest the improvements of insulin sensitivity and metabolic health, which we know, sorry, insulin sensitivity, which we know is gonna improve our metabolic health.
So there's actually a very wide variety of factors, like you said, from top to toe, that we can really be like influencing and supporting our body. And by using this red light therapy.
CHRISTA ELZA: Yeah. And I love, when it comes to wound healing, when it comes to sports injuries, I love the combination of peptides, which is whole other conversation, but peptides and red light therapy.
I love it. I'm like, this is just gives our body the boost that, that we might need. Just a little bit of an edge, right? We just, we heal a little bit faster, we heal a little bit quicker. The research, there's really been, there's been over 6,000 peer reviewed. Studies on red light therapy, which I think is impressive.
There is quite a bit of research that has been done on this. I also do love mixing the heat. I have an infrared sauna [00:08:00] as well. Love it. Love the combination of the detoxification and the support of the mitochondria boost that the infrared and near infrared gives. That light, what it's actually doing.
And what research has shown is that it interacts with something called the cytochrome C oxidase in the mitochondria. So it within the organelle of the mitochondria. That really, again, to reiterate what I said earlier, it just helps to increase that cellular energy output, but that helps to reduce oxidative stress, which we know can be damaging to cells.
It can also activate pro repair gene pathways, which is really important in terms of healing, prevention of disease and cancer. So overall there's quite a few benefits and with 6,000 peer reviews behind it, I think that it's definitely here to stay. I think we're just gonna learn more and more about the benefits of it.
I think technology is going to improve around it. Can you share a little bit about how to use it? Of course we want you to. [00:09:00] Everybody's an individual. Make sure that whatever your situation is, find someone who understands you in particular. And if red light therapy is, is for you.
Mm-hmm. But can you go over a little bit about how to use it? So let's say you bought a red light panel. How often should you use it? Ideal candidates, like who's it for? We wanna go over that really quickly. And Cherie, if you'll share some of that. I think that could be really helpful too.
Just give guidance on this.
SHEREE BEAUMONT: Yeah, I think it's really important 'cause sometimes we can be overwhelmed with all the things we have to try and what does the literature really support in terms of what is beneficial? Because more isn't always more, and we wanna share that. You can get very, very incredible benefits.
The benefits that we talked about earlier, just by something as simple as like using red light therapy three to five times a week. So yes, that is quite frequent. But if you've gone to the extent of buying a panel or, I always used to try and combine it where, like I said, I'd go to a red light therapy yoga class or use an infrared sauna.
So that you're really getting the most bang for your buck, you're making the most out of your time. So doing that three to five times a week for about five to 20 minutes per body, per [00:10:00] per session, per body area. So again, if you're in a infrared sauna, you are gonna be wearing probably a bikini or something.
And you're able to. Get all the benefits 'cause you're pretty much exposing everything to that at that one point in time. So you are only gonna need five to 20 minutes, three to five times a week. You're keeping that distance about six to 12 inches from the light source, which again, we're not gonna expect you to take a measuring tape into these sorts of situations.
But if you are specifically doing a face mask. Or you're doing light panels and that sort of thing on certain areas of the body, that is a good thing to know. And making sure you haven't got any kinda lotions or anything on your body as well, because we want it to be able to penetrate the skin very easily.
Get those wavelengths through. This is gonna be really supportive for people who are athletic or training often. It doesn't really matter in terms of age range if you are experiencing chronic pain or inflammation, if you are someone who wants it from more of an aesthetic perspective in terms of skin rejuvenation or anti-aging or even just better energy, mood and metabolic health, right?
This all ties back into those benefits that we mentioned [00:11:00] earlier. The only time you wanna be cautious around this is if you are sensitive. To like photosensitivity or if you have an autoimmune immune condition like lupus pregnant individuals, there isn't enough study to support that this is super safe.
And so again, you just, again, as an individual, you wanna make that call and making sure that you aren't getting that direct light to, to brightly into your eyes either. So, we might wanna be using safety goggles in these instances as well.
CHRISTA ELZA: Yeah, and I think, like we've mentioned multiple times, obviously check with your provider and make sure that this is right for you, but it's backed by thousands of studies.
What's cool about it's non-invasive. It's not adding anything foreign to your body. It's literally just boosting your own body's ability to heal and to thrive and to have better energy production. And to me, that's always a win if it's just stimulating the body to produce more of what it's good at.
So it's incredibly versatile too. It's been used. And studies have shown how, recovery time for injuries, for healing wounds, also for the [00:12:00] aesthetic side, for the skin, for cellular turnover. And so whether you're looking to feel better or to look better or just functioning at your best, I think it's really a tool worth investing in.
I love all of our red light therapies. Like I said, we travel with it. I have inference sauna. Mm-hmm. And so hopefully this has opened your eyes too to the world of red light therapy, how to use it, what the risks are, and definitely talk with your provider and if it's right for you, I think you should give it a go.
We both love it, right? Of course, Until next time.
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