Sleep problems such as insomnia and poor sleep not only affect skin conditions, but also have a profound impact on physical health and quality of life. In order to have a good night’s sleep, traditional treatments are usually based on tranquilizers, but long-term use can easily lead to drug dependence and may cause a series of adverse reactions. In view of this, red light therapy, which is safer, non-drug, and non-invasive, has gradually become a new choice for most people to improve sleep quality.
According to a study by the team of Zhao Jiexiu, director of the Institute of Sports Science of the General Administration of Sports of China, whole-body red light exposure for 14 days improved the sleep, serum melatonin levels and endurance performance of elite female basketball players. The research results have been published in the professional medical-sports science academic journal “Journal of Athletic Training”.
Red light can significantly increase melatonin levels
Serum melatonin is an amine hormone that is secreted by the pineal gland and enters the blood circulation. A large number of research reviews have shown that it can show obvious circadian rhythms according to external light conditions.
When the concentration of melatonin rises, it will act on specific receptors in the brain, triggering a series of physiological reactions, causing the excitability of the nervous system to decrease, thereby allowing the body to enter a state of relaxation, creating favorable conditions for falling asleep, and helping to maintain the continuity of sleep throughout the sleep process, reducing the number of awakenings at night, and ensuring the depth and quality of sleep.
The research team led by Director Zhao Jiexiu conducted a study in which participants received red light therapy for 30 minutes every night for 14 consecutive days. The experiment found that the participants in the red light therapy group had a greater improvement in serum melatonin levels than the placebo group. The results are consistent with previous research reports, indicating that red light irradiation can promote melatonin secretion to a certain extent and is beneficial to improving sleep quality.
Red light has multiple regulatory mechanisms to improve sleep problems
In addition, studies have found that red light also has a certain effect on insomnia caused by depressive disorders. Researchers used red light irradiation therapy on elderly depressed subjects and found that the sleep quality of the elderly was significantly improved, including shortened sleep time and fewer awakenings at night. At the same time, depressive symptoms were also alleviated, which suggests that red light therapy may have a positive therapeutic effect on elderly patients with depression and insomnia by regulating physiological rhythms or neurotransmitters.
Not only that, the famous biologist Sahin and others have found that red light may also improve the function of mitochondria in brain cells, provide more energy for brain activity, enable the brain to work more efficiently, and thus significantly improve the subjects’ alertness during the day and fall asleep faster at night.
In summary, red light therapy has important clinical value in regulating circadian rhythm, improving sleep quality, and alleviating mental and physical symptoms associated with sleep disorders.
MERICAN Health Pods are good for promoting sleep
The MERICAN health cabin based on red light therapy, combined with a variety of specific bands, can produce biological effects on the skin of the whole body. This biological effect is conducive to promoting local blood circulation in the brain, providing energy support for brain activities such as the synthesis of neurotransmitters, thereby further stabilizing the secretion rhythm of melatonin, and at the same time helping to reduce the secretion of cortisol, reduce the body’s stress response, and thus restore the biological clock to homeostasis, and indirectly regulate depression.
In order to verify the effectiveness of red light in improving sleep problems, the Merican Light Energy Research Center and the German team, together with several universities, scientific research and medical institutions, randomly selected several men and women aged 20 to 58 with sleep problems and behaviors as research subjects. Under the guidance of a healthy lifestyle, they were supplemented with the MERICAN Health Cabin for regular personalized light therapy.
After 3 months of regular 30-minute health cabin irradiation, the results showed that the testers’ scores on the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were significantly reduced. The testers said that their mental state during the day was refreshed, their sleepiness was greatly reduced, and it became easier to fall asleep at night. The entire sleep process was stable and peaceful, and their skin condition was significantly improved.
Finally, good sleep is also closely related to other healthy lifestyles such as diet and exercise. No matter which method you choose to improve your sleep, you must follow the principles of health and gradually improve your sleep. I hope everyone can sleep well and have a good body!