All About Red Light Therapy and Weight Loss

Have you ever stepped on the scale after a few weeks of dieting or working out, only to be met with disappointment? Losing weight can seem like a slow and difficult process, frustrating many. To support their weight loss efforts, many people are turning to the benefits that red light therapy offers.

Red light therapy has emerged as a promising option that has garnered significant attention in recent years. It has gained popularity for its potential to improve skin conditions, reduce inflammation, and promote overall well-being. But did you know that it may also play a role in weight loss?

In this article, we’ll delve into the science of obesity while also exploring the benefits of red light therapy and its role in weight loss. By the end, you’ll have a thorough understanding of what causes obesity, the scientifically proven approaches you can use to lose weight, and how people are using red light therapy to support their weight loss efforts.

What causes weight gain?

Understanding what causes weight gain [1] is essential to losing weight. There are many different elements involved in weight gain, all of which must be considered and addressed if you are serious about losing weight. By understanding the causes of weight gain, you will be better equipped to reach your ideal weight as quickly as possible.

Fat: What is it?

Fat, also known as adipose tissue, consists primarily of a type of cell called an adipocyte. Adipocytes store energy in the form of lipids (fat molecules), which serve as a reserve for your body to use when it needs extra energy.

There are two main types of fat in the human body: subcutaneous and visceral fat. Subcutaneous fat lies just beneath the skin and is the most visible form of fat. It provides insulation and protection for your body while also serving as an energy store. Visceral fat [2], on the other hand, surrounds your internal organs and has a more significant impact on your overall health. Excess visceral fat can lead to many different health problems and is the most harmful form of fat.

Fat plays a vital role in maintaining your body’s overall health, acting as a cushion for your organs, regulating hormones, retaining heat, and providing a source of energy. However, too much fat, especially visceral fat, can be detrimental to your health. As you burn more energy than you eat, your body will naturally begin to use the stored energy found in adipocytes, reducing the amount of fat in your body and causing you to lose weight.

Energy Imbalance

At their core, the science of weight gain or loss is relatively simple. Weight is stored energy, and it accumulates when you take in more energy than you expend. Your energy intake comes in the form of what you eat or drink, and the energy you expend is burned whenever you engage in physical activity. Your body is constantly burning energy, even when you are sleeping; however, the more active you are, the more energy you will burn .

Energy used by the body is measured in calories. According to the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans [3], the average amount of calories used each day is 1600-2400 calories for the average adult woman and 2000-3000 calories for the average adult man.

Daily calorie consumption varies significantly between individuals based on several factors:

• Age - The older you are, the fewer calories you tend to burn in a day.
• Activity - The more active you are, the more calories you will burn.
• Body size - The larger you are, the more calories you tend to burn.
• Body composition - The more cells in your body that burn energy faster, such as muscle cells, the more calories you tend to burn.

There are many online calculators [4] that can give you an idea of ​​how much energy you will burn during a typical day; however, a doctor or nutritionist can give you the most accurate information about your daily energy needs.

Illness

While energy imbalance is the main factor behind weight gain or loss, there are many different conditions that can affect the way your body burns or stores energy, making it difficult to lose weight.

Some diseases that commonly lead to weight gain [5] include:

• Hypothyroidism - Hypothyroidism can be caused by several different conditions, but it is most commonly caused by an autoimmune disease called Hashimoto's disease . Hypothyroidism causes your cells to work more slowly than normal, creating a myriad of health problems. A byproduct of this condition is that your cells burn less energy than normal, causing you to gain weight as your body uses less energy.
• Cushing 's disease - Cushing's disease occurs when your body produces too much cortisol, the hormone your body naturally releases in response to stress. One of your body's responses to excess cortisol levels is to conserve energy by storing more of it as fat cells instead of burning it. This leads to weight gain.
• Depression - Depression is a mental health condition that affects your outlook on life and motivation to engage in normal life activities. While depression does not directly affect how your body burns energy, it does make you much less likely to engage in activities due to a loss of motivation. This results in a more sedentary lifestyle and causes you to burn less energy.
• Polycystic Ovary Syndrome - Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) causes cysts to grow on a woman's ovaries , causing them to produce more male hormones than they normally would. These hormones decrease the body's sensitivity to a hormone called insulin, causing sugar to build up in the bloodstream. Over time, this leads to increased weight gain.
• Medications - While not disease-specific, medications used to treat many different conditions impact how your body uses energy. Medications that specifically affect hormones can lead to significant changes in weight, whether weight loss or weight gain. You should ask your doctor about any weight-related side effects your medications may be causing if you have concerns about your specific situation.

Managing your weight

Maintaining a healthy weight is important for your overall well-being. There are many different ways to manage your weight, but each of these strategies ultimately relies on either decreasing your energy intake by changing your diet or increasing the amount of energy you burn by increasing your energy intake.

When making changes to better manage your weight, you should keep in mind that making small changes to your daily routine can have a big impact on your weight and overall health in the long run. Slow and steady progress is the key to managing your weight sustainably.

Diet

Following a healthy diet is essential to losing weight. While there are many different types of diets, all successful diets involve reducing the number of calories you eat to below what you burn in a typical day. Many people, however, find it difficult to still eat enough without eating too many calories. The key to reducing your calorie intake and still feeling satisfied after eating is the energy density of the food.

Energy density [6] refers to the number of calories a given volume of food contains. Foods with a high energy density have more calories per unit volume than foods with a low energy density. For example, a handful of potato chips has many more calories than a handful of celery. By choosing foods with a low energy density, such as fruits and vegetables, you consume fewer calories and still feel satisfied after eating.

Water content has a huge impact on the energy density of foods. The more water a food contains, the lower its energy density. Foods like fruits and vegetables are high in water and low in energy density. On the other hand, processed foods like cookies are more energy dense because they contain little or no water. In general, when choosing foods that promote weight management, opt for those with a higher water content to reduce energy density while still providing essential nutrients and fiber.

Exercise

In addition to following a diet that relies on low-energy-density foods, exercise [7] is an important part of any successful weight-loss journey. Exercise not only burns calories, but it also helps build muscle mass, which in turn boosts your metabolism.

Exercise enhances the weight loss effects of a good diet by increasing the gap between energy intake and energy burned. Maintaining this gap, sometimes called a calorie deficit, is what’s fundamentally important to achieving your weight loss goals. There are many different exercise options; however, any form of exercise that gets your heart pumping and your body moving can be a powerful tool in your weight loss arsenal.

Red Light Therapy for Weight Loss

Red light therapy is a newer technology that initially gained attention as a method of accelerating wound healing and reducing inflammation. Since it was first discovered by NASA researchers [17], red light therapy has gained popularity for many different uses. One of these is as a method of reducing fat and improving the appearance of cellulite.

Red light therapy actually uses red light and near-infrared light. Specific wavelengths of this light are applied to the area that requires treatment. There is ongoing research into how red light therapy causes its effects; however, research suggests that the part of the cell responsible for energy [18] absorbs these wavelengths, stimulating increased energy and activity in the cells they reach.

While the effects of red light therapy are becoming increasingly understood, the mechanism behind what specifically causes weight loss when using red light therapy is a subject of debate. A 2013 literature review [19] published in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine showed that while there are many hypotheses about how red light therapy reduces fat, there is no clear consensus on the subject. Many researchers seem to agree that it likely stimulates a signaling pathway in cells that destroys fat cells; however, how this works is still a subject of ongoing research.

Current state of research on red light therapy for weight loss

While the exact details of how red light therapy reduces weight are not fully known, there is a large body of research showing that it reduces weight. A variety of studies have shown that red light therapy can reduce fat in different areas of the body, including the legs, abdomen, and arms.

It’s important to note that while red light therapy has been shown to reduce weight, research on the topic is still relatively early. These early studies are promising; however, there is still a need for large, robust clinical trials before red light therapy can be conclusively compared to well-established weight loss treatments.

It's also important to keep in mind that while red light therapy has been shown to be a potential weight loss tool, current research indicates that it is best used as a supportive tool to augment and accelerate other weight loss interventions, such as diet and exercise, rather than being used alone to reduce weight.

The Science Behind Red Light Therapy for Weight Loss

Does red light therapy work? for weight loss? Several studies have demonstrated the benefits of using red light therapy (often called low-level laser therapy, or LLLT, in journal articles) as a weight loss tool.

• A study [20] published in 2012 in The Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology followed a randomized, double-blind study where people received three weekly treatments of LLLT to their arms for two weeks. Those in the control group showed almost no change, while those who received the treatment showed a combined reduction in arm circumference of 3.7 cm.
• A 2012 study [ 21 ] published in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine was based on previous research and used 689 participants. This study found that LLLT reduced the circumference of the waist, hips, and thighs by an average of 3.27 inches after six weeks of treatment. The study also addressed a concern from previous studies by showing that the effects were due to a reduction in fat tissue, not redistribution of fluid or tissue.
• Another study ,[22] published in Obesity Surgery , used tests that compared a test group and a control group that were specifically instructed not to change their diet or exercise habits. After four weeks of treatment, the control group's waist circumference was reduced by 2.15 cm, almost an inch, while there was no significant change in the control group.
• A 2013 study [23] published in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine studied 86 participants who had just received body contouring of the waist, hips, and thighs using only red light. The study found that the treatments resulted in an average circumference reduction of 3.0 inches.
• One of the earlier studies [24] on red light therapy for weight loss was published by Lasers in Surgery and Medicine in 2009. This study was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial that examined circumference changes after two weeks of treatment. The study showed an overall reduction in total circumference at all three sites of 3.51 inches.
• Published in The Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology , a 2016 study [25] followed 54 patients from two private dermatology practices using red light therapy. The average decrease in combined circumference reduction over six weeks was 5.4 inches. 81% of people who received treatment reported that they were satisfied (27%) or very satisfied (54%) with the aesthetic results of their treatments.
• A small study [26] in 2017 was published in the Journal of Lasers in Medical Sciences . This study followed 18 women using six weeks of LLLT and found that all 18 people experienced reduced abdominal circumference after treatment.
• A recent study [27] in 2020 was published in Lasers in Medical Science and explored how treatments should be organized. 60 participants considered overweight received treatment 1) three times a week for four weeks, 2) twice a week for six weeks, or 3) once a week for 12 weeks. The group that received twice-weekly treatments for six weeks showed the greatest change of the three groups.
• One 2012 study [28] published in International Journal of Endocrinology has shown that using red light therapy in the morning helps regulate leptin and ghrelin levels, especially when someone is sleep deprived. Both leptin and ghrelin influence hunger and food intake; regulating these levels may help improve weight control.
• One study [29] published in Photomedicine and Laser Surgery in 2017 compared 28 people using red light therapy for four weeks with a control group of 25 people who used a placebo. The study followed them during the study and for two weeks afterward, finding that the treatments led to reduced circumference in the participants' hips, waists, and upper abdomen.
• In 2015, a study [30] was published in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine and used a controlled study with 64 participants to demonstrate that using red light therapy in addition to exercise improved weight loss efforts. This study also demonstrated positive metabolic effects for a population group with metabolic deficiencies.
• One 2023 study [31] published in Scientific Reports used a randomized, controlled study design to evaluate the effects of red light therapy on an obesity-related condition. Although the aim of the study was not to specifically address weight itself, it successfully demonstrated that the use of red light therapy treated clotting problems associated with obesity, providing potential health benefits for those who are overweight, in addition to promoting weight loss.
• One important study [32] published in Lasers in Medical Science in 2016 proposed that red light therapy impacted weight loss by facilitating the movement of lipids rather than destroying fat cells. This study also found a high rate of side effects when using a red light therapy device designed to be attached directly to the skin and noted reduced effectiveness when a smaller area was exposed to the light source.
• One study from Lasers in Medical Science [33] published in 2022 evaluated and compared 15 different studies examining red light therapy as a weight loss method. This meta-analysis found that this therapy showed promise as a low-risk and effective method for achieving localized fat reduction. The study also found that existing research did not show that red light therapy had a significant effect on blood lipid levels. The researchers also pointed out, however, that this may not mean that red light therapy does not affect lipid levels and may be due to the small sample sizes of the existing studies.
• Other meta-analysis published in 2021 [34] in Advances in Obesity, Weight Management & Control found that existing research shows that red light therapy has “considerable promise” as a treatment method for obesity. The same study also found that red light therapy may be especially beneficial as a treatment option for conditions associated with obesity, such as inflammation or diabetes.
• In 2018, a study [35] was published in Lasers in Medical Science who followed four months of red light therapy treatments, carefully monitoring fourteen different parameters. While both the treatment and control groups experienced positive changes during the study period, the red light therapy group demonstrated a greater degree of change than the control group. Additionally, the treatment group demonstrated a reduction in interleukin-6 and an increase in WNT5 signaling, two biomarker changes that did not occur in the control group.
• The Journal of Physical Therapy Science published a study [36] in 2017 that demonstrated reductions in waist circumference, abdominal fat percentage, fat mass, and body mass index when a red light therapy belt was used to supplement exercise efforts. This study was controlled and showed that the therapy red light may offer benefits as an exercise-enhancing tool.
• One 2016 study [37] published in BMC Obesity found that red light therapy increased weight loss that occurred when using lorcaserin, a weight loss drug that has since been removed from the market due to safety risks. Although lorcaserin is no longer used as a weight loss drug, this study demonstrated that using red light therapy along with a weight loss drug may be more effective than using a weight loss drug alone.
• An article from Lasers in Medical Science published in 2015 presented a study [38] following the effects of red light therapy in obese adults undergoing aerobic plus resistance training. The study showed that the use of red light therapy reduced levels of inflammatory biomarkers and enhanced weight loss efforts.
• One study oldest [39], published in 2002 by Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery , used low-level red light lasers to treat tissue samples of adipose tissue removed during liposuction. This study demonstrated that the use of the treatment resulted in adipose cells (cells that store fat) releasing nearly all of the fat they contained, causing them to deflate. This initial study was instrumental in supporting further experimentation in the use of red light therapy to promote weight loss.
• Research [40] published in 2015 in the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B used a controlled methodology to show that red light therapy not only enhanced exercise-based weight loss efforts, but also resulted in a reduced risk of cardiometabolic risk. The researchers suggested that red light therapy could be used not only to enhance weight loss, but could also help reduce the risk associated with becoming overweight during such efforts.

Red Light Therapy to Improve Sleep and Exercise

In addition to the effects that red light therapy appears to have directly on weight loss, it also promotes sleep duration and quality, which may influence weight loss. Red light therapy also improves exercise performance and recovery, allowing you to exercise more efficiently and effectively while trying to lose weight.

There is a large body of research supporting the effectiveness of using red light therapy to promote sleep. This research is beyond the scope of this article; however, you can see our article on how red light therapy improves sleep for a comprehensive overview of the research supporting this. We also have a comprehensive article on how red light therapy promotes muscle recovery that delves deeper into the research supporting the use of red light therapy to improve exercise.

While using red light therapy to help you sleep better or improve your exercise performance is different than using it for weight loss, it still promotes aspects of your health that make weight loss easier. Ultimately, red light therapy can serve as a way to supplement your weight loss efforts and improve your overall health and well-being.

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