Full Spectrum Sauna: How To Choose A Sauna

using a sauna

Purchasing a sauna for your home may be one of the most important health decisions you make. We have been in the industry for over 10 years and know it can be difficult to sort through all the features of the different types of saunas.  This is why we have put together this series.  To help you learn what a near infrared sauna is and how it compares to traditional and far infrared saunas.

Part 1 Full Spectrum Sauna

First, let’s define what we mean by full spectrum infrared light.

Infrared light is divided into 3 types based on their wavelengths.

infrared bands

When you use a near infrared sauna you are getting visible red light, near infrared light, as well as mid and far infrared.  Hence, we can call it a full spectrum sauna.

So why does this matter?

Near infrared (and red light) is fundamentally different from mid and far infrared in that the light is absorbed by the mitochondria in your cells, not water.  This is called photobiomodulation.  The key point here is that there is essentially no heat felt.  Red and near infrared are heat-less as they are not absorbed by water.

How Can You Have A Sauna Without Heat?

You can’t.  This is why, if you are going to have a sauna with all these wavelengths, you need some of the mid and far infrared for heat.  The red and near infrared light, and their photobiomodulation benefits, are best thought of as a bonus.  A two for one deal.  Heat benefits as well as substantial photobiomodulation benefits.  Google photobiomodulation if you aren’t sure.

There is a little bit more to consider with full spectrum light though…….

If we go back to our chart, you will see that near infrared light ranges in wavelengths from 700nm to 1400nm.  If you only were to get one of those wavelengths, would you consider this to be FULL spectrum?  Or would you consider FULL spectrum to have all these wavelengths? 

I think most people would consider all the wavelengths to be full spectrum. This is what a near infrared sauna ONLY provides. 

full spectrum wavelengths in a near infrared sauna bulb

You can see in the diagram it has a wavelength distribution that includes a little bit of all the wavelengths.  This is more in line with how nature provides this light via sunlight.

How does this compare to far infrared saunas and traditional saunas?

Traditional Sauna

Traditional saunas don’t have any red or near infrared photobiomodulation effects so they can’t be considered full spectrum.

Far Infrared Sauna

Far infrared saunas will often put a LED panel in their units that typically have a red light at the single frequency of 680nm and a near infrared light at 850nm.  This is good.  But, would you consider this full spectrum?  It depends how you define it.  To me it’s not truly full spectrum and nature has all the wavelengths for a reason.

One final point.  To get a therapeutic dose of near infrared light you will need to spend time in your saunas.  Fortunately this is how saunas are used! 

Consider that in a traditional photobiomodulation session with an LED panel you are very close to it and the strength (irradiance) of the light is much greater. As a result, your time in front of the panel is much less.  The sauna will work…..it just takes longer so make sure you use your sauna regularly.

Near Infrared Sauna

portable near infrared sauna
www.nirsauna.com.au

A near infrared sauna provides the best of both worlds. Heat and photobiomodulation benefits. There are other factors to consider to determine the best sauna for you but if full spectrum benefits are important to you the NIR sauna might be best. Our portable near infrared sauna is designed so you can use it in any space or any place. For more information visit www.nirsauna.com.au

High Calcium Levels In A Hair Analysis Explained

high calcium on hair analysis

Biounavailability

Biounavailable is defined as the level of calcium being above 100mg% on a hair tissue mineral analysis.
A high calcium level is a fairly common issue and one that I have found is greatly misunderstood. Part of the challenge has resulted from modern medicines tendency to diagnose and label things. In this example, the easy and incorrect thing to do is to report back to the patient just telling them they have high calcium
The truth is usually far more involved. Whenever you see ANY nutrient being high a better approach is not to say that the high level is the issue but to ask the bigger question of WHY is that nutrient so high?
high calcium on hair analysis
The most common reason for the high tissue calcium is some form of burnout as defined by a slow oxidation rate and weakened adrenal and thyroid activity. Stress is overwhelming in our society and comes in physical, emotional and chemical forms. Simply put, when our stresses overwhelm our body’s ability to heal and repair, burnout and a breaking down of the body occurs.

Solvent

Chemically this causes a reduced level of sodium and potassium in the tissues which you can see in the above diagram. This is important to understand as sodium and potassium are referred to as the body’s solvents. This means they are responsible for keeping the minerals like calcium in solution. When they go low this ability decreases and the calcium starts to change its form.  It precipitates out of the blood and into the tissues, including the hair, hence the high levels we frequently see on hair tissue mineral analysis.

The bad news about this movement of calcium out of the blood is that it is not just going into the hair it is going to many other tissues. Stop and think about what calcification (hardening) of the body would look like. There would be a predisposition for arthritis, muscle aches, bone spurs, gall and kidney stones, hardening of the arteries and then high blood pressure, and memory loss to name a few. This is a very real and significant issue in the aging and chronic degenerative process.

Psychological Qualities

There are also psychological qualities associated with high levels of calcium such as stability, hardness, rigidity. One might imagine that while these might be considered positive traits, when applied in excess they would become negatives. The opposite would also be true with not enough of these traits as calcium is also an important sedative mineral.

A calcium “shell” occurs when the hair tissue calcium level is above about 170mg%. As Dr. Wilson writes “It is common, especially in adult women, and is associated with psychological withdrawal, depression and emotional suppression in most cases.  It lowers one’s awareness level, like living behind a concrete wall of calcium.” One is virtually trying to wall oneself off and away from the overwhelming stresses of life.

The Calcium Dichotomy

An interesting dichotomy also occurs with this biounavailable calcium. Obviously on the hair tissue analysis we are seeing a high level of calcium but as we have mentioned it is in a form that the body cannot properly use. This allows the situation to exist where one will potentially have symptoms of both high and low calcium at the SAME time. This can be most confusing unless you understand what is going on and is important to know so that you can determine the right amount of calcium for the individual.

Remember too much OR too little is an issue.

Thyroid Connection

Finally another reason for a very high level of calcium is if the thyroid stats to fatigue and slow down. When this occurs the opposite gland, the parathyroid, will typically speed up. The thyroid puts calcium into the blood and the parathyroid puts calcium in the tissues as a general rule. High tissue calcium can therefore be reflective of a tired underperforming thyroid and the resultant higher parathyroid activity.

Hopefully from the above examples you can see how important it is to have a proper hair tissue mineral analysis done and interpreted. Blood is a different medium altogether and will often show normal while the tissues and a person’s symptoms are saying something totally different. With this knowledge much can be done to address and reverse the many and varied chronic degenerative diseases that are plaguing us in modern times.

To have a test performed visit us at www.lifestyleintegration.com.au

Nearsightedness Caused By Sunlight Deficiency

child in sunlight

Is The Nearsightedness Epidemic Over?

We are in the midst of a light epidemic and you probably don’t even know it.  There is an overabundance of ultraviolet light (UV) and blue light (screens) and a deficiency in red and near infrared light.  We are also in the midst of a nearsightedness or myopia epidemic.  Up to a third of the world’s population by some estimates.  The cause is most likely light deficiency.  Specifically red and near infrared light deficiency.

Most of you have probably heard that it’s bookworms that get near sighted.  You know….the heavy readers.  This theory has been around a long time and it suggest that reading close up slowly changes the eyes.  It turns out this isn’t the case.

It is true however, that research has shown that there is a strong association between education levels and myopia.  What has now become crystal clear though is that this is a correlation, not a cause necessarily.

If you stop and think about it, the other thing that happens if you read and study a lot is that you spend time indoors.  Out of sunlight.

Natural Light is the Key

In a Nature article titled The Myopia Boom, they had this to say on outdoor light time.  “Based on epidemiological studies, Ian Morgan, a myopia researcher at the Australian National University in Canberra, estimates that children need to spend around three hours per day under light levels of at least 10,000 lux to be protected against myopia.”

child in sunlight

This was back in 2015.  However, they didn’t really extrapolate on the mechanism.  Just that more time in sunlight was beneficial in preventing myopia.

So what is the actual mechanism?

Three recent studies from 2021 and 2022 shed some further “light” on the likely mechanisms.

Nearsightedness Study #1

The study titled Effect of Repeated Low-Level Red-Light Therapy for Myopia Control in Children found that 69.4% slowing of axial elongation and 76.6% slowing of myopic refraction progression.  With nearsightedness the eye ball elongates, so if you can reduce this good things happen.  The refraction is the strength of the glasses you would need.  These are huge results showing how red light therapy can slow the deterioration of the eyes.

Nearsightedness Study #2

This 2021 study, Orthokeratology and Low-Intensity Laser Therapy for Slowing the Progression of Myopia in Children, also showed the benefits to red light therapy.  It was looking to see if the red light would work as well as orthokeratology (wearing a contact lens to flatten the eye).  They found that the LLLT worked better than the orthokeratology to control axial elongation and slow myopia progression.  LLLT is also known as red light therapy or photobiomodulation.

Nearsightedness Study #3

The final study from 2022, Low-intensity, long-wavelength red light slows the progression of myopia in children: an Eastern China-based cohort, had similar results.  They “underwent LLRT treatment (power 0.4 mW, wavelength 635 nm) twice per day for 3 min each session, with at least a 4-h interval between sessions, and a control group of 56 myopic children.”  They concluded that “repetitive exposure to LLRT therapy (photobiomodulation) was associated with slower myopia progression and reduced axial growth after short durations of treatment.”

So, it would appear, that red light therapy prevents the progression of myopia.

As with all new research there are limitations and more research needs to be done but intuitively this makes sense.

Take Home

Spend time outdoors.  Children ideally need to spend approximately 3 hours outdoors per day to prevent myopia.

Alternatives

You can get your red light at home with photobiomodulation devices.  However, you should seek advice from your health professional to ensure you are working within safe parameters.  We are not offering medical advice or advocating irresponsible application of red light therapy or photobiomodulation.

The two general ways you can get red light therapy at home are the following.

Incandescent Lamps

Incandescent lamps such as TheraBulb provide red and near infrared light similar to what the sun provides.  They have a full spectrum wavelength profile that includes red light and some heat.  These can be used in a sauna or as a single lamp.  Saunas should not be used for children under 6. Children should always be supervised around these lamps as they are a burn risk.

LED Lamps

These simple lamps are becoming increasingly popular.  You can purchase inexpensive lamps such as hand held units or more expensive panels.  They are simple to use and quite safe.  Staring directly into them is not advised due to the brightness of them.

hand held LED lamp

Myopia or nearsightedness is an ever-increasing problem.  Recent research in the photobiomodulation field is progressively showing that red light, and probably other wavelengths, have a protective effect on the eye. It slows and prevents the progression of myopia in children.  It is not clear if this light will reverse the problem.

Summary

Light deficiency appears to be the cause of nearsightedness.  I have been talking about light deficiency for years and firmly believe the public needs to be made more aware of it.  As humans we need to spend time outside.  We need to witness the sunrise. We should walk and play more.  Try to work outside when we can.  The benefits are becoming increasingly clear and now it seems that our vision might depend on it.

While this blog focuses on children there are many other reasons for us older folk should use red light therapy and photobiomodulation for our eyes.  Research shows it can help with dry eyes, diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, glaucoma, optic nerve injury and other conditions.

 

For more information visit www.lifestyleintegration.com.au or for here for everything about near infrared saunas

Yours in Health,

Dr Todd Lizon (Chiropractor)
B.P.H.E., D.C.

 

Start Here

For most of us it’s like a switch gets thrown and at some very distinct moment in time we become aware of our health, or loss of it, and its importance.

If you’ve clicked through this far, please continue to have a quick read to see how we can help you reclaim your health and well-being. We think you will find this very logical, practical and something you will want to understand better and implement in your life.

In short, we can help with two related but different pathways.

1.Purchase a product if you feel it will help with your challenge.
2.Start with a hair mineral analysis

For most men we suggest the hair mineral analysis

One reason is we need objective data. Blood tests are great, but they don’t measure what is going on in the tissues and it’s in the tissues where you are having your problems!

Here is the link again and we strongly suggest you give it a read.

Once you have read that, and if you still aren’t sure, have a look at this.

Should you order the hair mineral analysis, when the results come back to us from the lab, we will email you these, along with a comprehensive interpretive report and some computer generated suggestions on supplements.

When you get the results, you will also have the options of setting up a personal consultation where we will help you design a personalised lifestyle and wellness plan to help you reach your specific goals.

On a final note.

As you know at Lifestyle Integration we provide natural solutions for stress and lifestyle-based health issues for men over 50.

Choosing a practitioner to assist with your health care can be difficult. Here are some reasons you may wish to work with Lifestyle Integration

Experience. We’ve been helping people with their nutritional balancing programs for over 11 years as of 2021. This means we are likely to have experience with your challenges.

Background. Dr Todd Lizon has been a registered chiropractor since 1999. This intensive FORMAL training ensures we understand your problems physiologically at a very deep level. Please note that medical advice will not be offered as this is not in our scope of practice.

Paradigm. The chiropractic paradigm in how health is viewed is different to many others. We look at root causes and don’t just address the symptom. This is healing at a deeper more complete level.

Value. Experience and knowledge helps us get to the root causes and solutions quickly and efficiently saving you time, money and energy.