Red Light Therapy in a Norwegian Winter
Red Light Therapy in a Norwegian Winter: Why Your Biology Needs It
By Dominic Lamb – Home Light Therapy
Step outside in July and you don’t think about light, especially this July here in Drammen.... wow what a summer! During the summer the sun is there almost all day. Your skin feels it, your eyes soak it up, and your mitochondria are flooded with photons that set your energy and mood. You walk, swim, and spend time outdoors without needing to plan it.
But in Norway, that reality vanishes fast. Single digit temperature and shorter days. Already now in September, how much have been out sunbathing? By October, the sun sits low. By December, it barely shows above some hills and mountains. In Drammen we have two sides of the river that are known as the sunny side and the dark side for a reason!
For many of us, winter means waking in the dark, working in artificial light, and heading home in the dark again. Cold air, long nights, and a body that craves cues it simply doesn’t get. I mean, do you go outside and catch the sunrise regardless of the time? What do you do until then.
So the question is: how do you give your biology what the winter sun no longer provides?
At this point, I have stopped this blog post and gone out to watch the sunset. If you are reading this and its sunrise or sunset - go out and watch it, then come back to this. Don't miss out on that beauty and those wavelengths.
Summer Light vs Winter Light
In summer, the spectrum is balanced. You get UV for vitamin D, red and infrared for mitochondrial health, and the natural rhythm of sunrise and sunset. It’s not perfect (too much light at midnight can throw things off, especially if you are significantly stressed), but your biology thrives on abundance. Not only is there more photons around, you also have less clothes on so you make the most of this abundance.
In winter, you get the opposite problem. Almost no UV. Very little red or infrared. Even less when you consider that you are covered head-to-toe in clothing, often multiple layers thick. Instead, your daily dose of photons comes mostly from screens and indoor LEDs. Those sources are heavy in blue photons and light in everything else. It’s a mismatch that leaves your body running on incomplete information.
Your mitochondria notice. Your hormones notice. And over time, you notice—poor sleep, low energy, cravings, and the winter “flatness” many Norwegians know too well.
Why Red and Infrared Matter in Winter
Red and infrared wavelengths penetrate deeper into your body than blue or green. They interact directly with mitochondrial chromophores like cytochrome c oxidase and even with structured water inside cells. What does that mean for you?
- Energy: More efficient ATP production, so your cells can actually make the fuel you need.
- Stress balance: Lower oxidative stress and better redox status, which means less cellular “rust.”
- Hormonal health: Support for melatonin—not just as a sleep hormone but as your strongest antioxidant inside mitochondria.
- Recovery: Improved blood flow and tissue repair, which is why athletes and physios use red light for recovery.
In summer, the sun gives you these wavelengths for free. In winter, unless you use fire or red light therapy, you’re running low. In summer, I have said many times, let the sun do the heavy lifting of giving you light, use small red light therapy devices. In autumn, winter, spring, you might need something bigger to supply you with the light you aren't getting from the sun.
Why Melatonin Needs the Darkness Too
It’s easy to think: “Okay, I’ll just replace the sun with red light panels all the time.” But winter biology is not summer biology. You need darkness too.
Darkness triggers melatonin. Not just in your pineal gland to make you sleepy, but in your mitochondria where it works as a master antioxidant. At night, melatonin repairs what the day damaged. It balances the redox system, clears oxidative stress, and protects mitochondrial DNA.
So winter isn’t only a problem. It’s also a chance to lean into the darkness. Let melatonin take the slack from the missing sun. The trick is combining both: giving your body enough red and infrared to keep cells charged, while respecting the long nights so melatonin can do its job. However, in Norway - what do we do? We tend to live in a seasonless climate. It gets cold outside, so we move inside and put on the varmepumpe. It gets dark outside so we move inside and put on more light. Norway is Norway, beautiful but not necessarily optimised to modern life. I'm not saying be in the dark and cold all winter, I'm saying lean into the season a little more and understand that we have programming that needs to be activated in order to better cope with winter climates and conditions.
A Quantum Biological View
Think of it this way. Photons are not just light—they’re information. In summer, your cells get the full spectrum of data. In winter, the signal is scrambled. Too much blue from LEDs, not enough red, limted infrared (although some still penetrates through the clothing) almost no UV.
That distorted signal shows up as (and we have all felt at least one of these):
- Elevated evening cortisol (you feel wired when you should feel calm).
- Blood sugar swings (late-night snack cravings).
- Poorer sleep quality, even if you sleep “long enough.”
- Brain fog and mood dips.
Red and infrared therapy act as a corrective signal. They restore electron flow, improve coherence in cellular water, and lower oxidative stress. In plain language: they give your mitochondria the conditions they expect, so your whole system works closer to how it should. It's not a direct replacement, it is a substitute that is a good start.
Developing a better understanding of how light is effecting your on a day-to-day basis is important for your health in the summer and perhaps, more importantly, during the winter. The natural light changes throughout the year, your stressors change throughout the year, so should your red light therapy sessions.
Why Morning Light Matters
Morning light carries unique cues. Melanopic peaks in the blue wavelengths and photopic peaks in the green-yellow wavelengths tell your brain it is daytime. These signals set your circadian rhythm, raise alertness, and stabilize cortisol and blood sugar for the hours ahead. Once you combine these with near infrared and red, you start to get a good balance that activates specific systems and programs your metabolism for "daytime mode". Without these, you might find yourself a little more sluggish. Ideally we would get these from the sun outside, but what happens when you wake up and it's dark? Is a red light device better than nothing, absolutely.
But these same peaks at the wrong time—especially in the evening—are disruptive. They keep cortisol high, delay melatonin, and push cravings and fatigue into the next day.
That’s why my new Norse Vinter panel combines the restorative power of red and infrared with carefully tuned melanopic and photopic peaks. It gives Norwegians the morning signal they’re missing in winter, while letting the evenings stay dark and melatonin-driven.
What This Means for Norwegians
We can’t move Norway to the equator. Darkness and cold are part of life here. But you can shape your environment.
- Use red light therapy close to daily in winter. Even 10–20 minutes helps restore the wavelengths your body misses.
- Respect the darkness. Dim your lights at night, use amber or red bulbs, and let melatonin rise.
- Get outside in daylight. Even weak winter light anchors your circadian rhythm.
- Cold is a tool. Cold exposure and darkness are not just obstacles—they activate resilience pathways. Pairing cold with red light can be especially powerful.
Your ancestors survived winter with fire, cold, and darkness. You can do the same, updated with modern tools.
My Approach
I test every device I sell on myself. I measure the spectrum with my own equipment. I’ve used red light through many Norwegian winters, and I know the difference it makes. Without it, I feel the flatness. With it, my sleep, recovery, and mood stay steadier.
Red light therapy is not a gimmick. It’s a way to bring back part of the summer sun that your biology is missing right now.
So as we step into another winter, ask yourself: what signals is your body getting each day? Cold and darkness are unavoidable. But red and infrared—those you can bring back into your home.
— Dominic Lamb, Home Light Therapy