Vitamin D and red light – is it possible?
There is some confusion as to whether Red light therapy can help produce vitamin D, this article will help clarify the current evidence around red light and vitamin D.
Vitamin D is more than a vitamin, it is valuable in many different aspects of health from immune function to mineral absorption, it is vital that we get enough. In order to obtain vitamin D, humans need to ingest specific foods like fatty fish salmon, supplement with oils or have adequate sun exposure.
It is on that point that we can answer our first question:
Can red light therapy synthesize vitamin D?
The quickest and easiest answer is no. In order for your skin to synthesize vitamin D, your skin needs light wavelengths in the region of 280-310nm (UVB). Red light occurs at wavelengths in the 600nm range, infrared even further out (760nm +). As you can see, they are quite far apart and therefore using red light cannot synthesize vitamin D in your skin.
End of story?
Not quite, here is why:
Although red light cannot directly synthesize vitamin D in your skin, red light can produce some interesting results in other areas. For example, red light used prior to sun exposure helps prepare the skin for the sun exposure making you less likely to burn during sensible sun exposure (studies show an SPF of around 15 and can lead to skin thickening (1, 2)). These positive benefits could be hypothesized to help the skin better deal with UVB rays later in the day to help optimize the amount of vitamin D that can be synthesized through the skin.
Another research paper showed that subjects who were illuminated with red light over two periods of 10 days improved their vitamin D levels. Among the 36 patients with Vitamin D deficiency, 23 got corrected with the deficiency after photobiomodulation. The researchers noted that there was a significant increase in serum vitamin D levels and magnesium levels after the test phase.
If we know that the red light can’t directly synthesize vitamin D, then what could explain the significant increase? For that we can hypothesize:
- Vitamin D has important role in regulation pathways and immune function (including inflammation). Is it possible that the red and infrared light are able to reduce inflammation and regulate immune pathways that allows for elevation in vitamin D levels?
- Magnesium is needed to help convert vitamin D into a “useable” form. The red light therapy showed improvements in levels of Magnesium after the illumination sessions. Could the increases in magnesium help increase the vitamin D levels?
- We know that excessive insulin can deplete the vitamin D levels in the body, is it possible that in this group of diabetics, the red light therapy was able to improve blood sugar control (as seen in this paper 4) and indirectly allow vitamin D to increase?
We don’t know the answers for sure yet, but research continues. All we do know is that vitamin D rose in those diabetics with deficient vitamin D levels in this study (3).
If that isn’t enough, remember that vitamin D levels are just one of the potential benefits of red light therapy. Here are just a few more:
Lowered inflammation
Pain modulation
AND MANY MORE!
Grab your wellness and improve your every day function today!
References:
- Barolet D, Christiaens F, Hamblin MR. Infrared and skin: Friend or foe. J Photochem Photobiol B. 2016;155:78-85. doi:10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2015.12.014
- Lee SY, Park KH, Choi JW, Kwon JK, Lee DR, Shin MS, Lee JS, You CE, Park MY. A prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded, and split-face clinical study on LED phototherapy for skin rejuvenation: clinical, profilometric, histologic, ultrastructural, and biochemical evaluations and comparison of three different treatment settings. J Photochem Photobiol B. 2007 Jul 27;88(1):51-67. doi: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2007.04.008. Epub 2007 May 1. PMID: 17566756.
- Anju M, Chacko L, Chettupalli Y, Maiya AG, Saleena Ummer V. Effect of Low Level Laser Therapy on serum vitamin D and magnesium levels in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy - A pilot study. Diabetes Metab Syndr. 2019 Mar-Apr;13(2):1087-1091. doi: 10.1016/j.dsx.2019.01.022. Epub 2019 Jan 18. PMID: 31336449.
- Guo S, Gong L, Shen Q, Xing D. Photobiomodulation reduces hepatic lipogenesis and enhances insulin sensitivity through activation of CaMKKβ/AMPK signaling pathway. J Photochem Photobiol B. 2020 Dec;213:112075. doi: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2020.112075. Epub 2020 Oct 31. PMID: 33152638.