Color and Light Therapy

Background: Light Therapy pioneer, Dr. John Ott, states: “Light is a nutrient much like food, and like food, the wrong kind can make us ill, and the right kind can keep us well.” Humans need light of specific intensity and color range to regulate their internal biological clock. Without it, our daily, monthly and annual rhythms become disrupted.

• Our knowledge of light’s effect on the human body is in its infancy, yet, researchers continue to discover the power of light in preventive and therapeutic medicine.
• Light regulates and stabilizes our physiology and emotions.
• Light through the eyes affects the brain and every cell of the body.
• Humans have a biological requirement for ultraviolet light, and it is currently unclear how much we need of the other colors of the spectrum.
• Evidence points to the fact that we could all benefit from a greater supply of natural light, particularly during the winter months.

What Light Nourishes: Light enables us to see, and it plays several vital roles as it enters our eyes and our skin. Light enters the pineal gland (the body’s light meter) via the retina. Its neurotransmitter, melatonin, influences the hypothalamus, which is responsible for controlling many of the endocrine functions that are disturbed in depressed individuals such as sleep and wakefulness, reproductive physiology, mood, and the timing of the biological clock.

• Sunlight shining on the skin triggers the production of melanin, a dark pigment that protects the surface of the body.
• As UV rays from the sun penetrate the skin’s surface layer of melanin, the body’s supply of vitamin D is replenished. Vitamin D is known as the “sunshine vitamin”, and although vitamin D can be obtained from milk and fish, this form is not as biologically effective as the vitamin D produced by sunlight. Vitamin D3 is a skin hormone called solitrol, which works in conjunction with the pineal hormone, melatonin, to control the body’s response to light and darkness. Solitrol works antagonistically with the melatonin to produce changes in mood and our 24 hour bodily rhythms, as well as affecting our immune system.
• Vitamin D enters the blood stream and goes to the kidneys and liver where it plays a key role in the absorption of calcium from foods, as well as the utilization of the mineral phosphorus. Nutritionally oriented physician Dr. Elson Haas states that since vitamin D is intimately related to the metabolism of calcium and phosphorus, it is important to the growth and development of bones and teeth in children. Dr. Haas adds that D3, because of its effect on calcium levels, is important in the maintenance of the nervous system, heart functioning, and blood clotting.