Recent scientific perspectives suggest that red and near-infrared light function as essential nutrients for human biology .. The widespread adoption of energy-efficient lighting and specialized glass has significantly reduced human exposure to these wavelengths, potentially contributing to a rise in chronic health conditions.
How Soviet-era research on ATP production revealed light's power
The understanding of light as a biological fuel traces back to the late 1980s at the USSR Academy of Sciences in Moscow. According to the report, a biophysicist named Karu discovered that red and near-infrared light could accelerate the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) within the mitochondria of cells. this process is fundamental to how the body generates energy, and Karu's findings indicated that this light-driven energy boost improved pain management and the healing of wounds.
While plants use photosynthesis to create carbohydrates, the report explains that animals and fungi also exploit light in ways that have been largely unappreciated by modern medicine. This suggests that humans are, in a very literal sense, solar-powered organisms that require specific wavelengths to maintain cellular efficiency.
The 95 per cent spectrum loss caused by LED lighting
For most of human history, exposure to long-wavelength light was inevitable, coming from the sun, campfires, and incandescent bulbs. However, the report notes that humans now spend up to 90 per cent of their time indoors, where the light environment has been radically altered.. The transition to light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and the installation of window glass designed to filter out infrared (IR) radiation to prevent heat loss have narrowed the available light spectrum.
A neuroscientist cited in the source claims that we have lost approximately 95 per cent of the light spectrum in these indoor environments .. While daylight provides visible red light between 650 and 750 nanometres and invisible infrared light extending to 2500 nanometres, LEDs produce virtually nothing beyond the 750 nm mark. As the report states, LEDs are essentially "dark" in the infrared range, stripping the environment of the very wavelengths that fuel mitochondrial ATP production.
Linking red-light deprivation to type 2 diabetes and dementia
The biological void left by modern lighting may have systemic health consequences. The source links this deprivation of red light to the increasing prevalence of obesity, dementia, type 2 diabetes, and early-onset cancers . While these conditions are typically attributed to sedentary lifestyles and poor diet, the report suggests that red-light deficiency may be a primary, though overlooked, driver of these metabolic and neurological declines.
This perspective frames light not merely as a tool for vision, but as a critical component of the human endocrine and metabolic system. By removing the "nutrient" of long-wavelength light, modern architecture and lighting design may be inadvertently inducing a state of cellular starvation.
Why Jeffery calls modern LED light 'ultra-processed'
Jeffery, the founder of the New Jersey-based lighting company Silas Inc., draws a parallel between modern lighting and the food industry, describing LED light as "ultra-processed." Just as ultra-processed foods strip away essential nutrients while maintaining caloric value,LED lighting provides the visible light necessary for sight but removes the infrared frequencies necessary for cellular health.
Despite these claims, several critical questions remain. The source does not specify the exact dosage of red light required to reverse these health trends, nor does it provide clinical trial data linking LED use directly to the onset of dementia or cancer. Furthermore, it remains unclear whether simple interventions—such as the use of phone flashlights mentioned in the text—are sufficient to mitigate the effects of a lifelong deficiency in a controlled indoor environment.
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