Category: Health Tips

The best times of day to receive the most red light from the sun are during sunrise and sunset. At these times, the sunlight has a lower angle, allowing for a higher proportion of red and near-infrared light to reach the Earth.

I asked Grok for more data on timing. This was the response.

Here’s a clear summary of how much red light (roughly 600–700 nm, the therapeutic “near-infrared + deep red” band that red light therapy enthusiasts care about) is available from sunlight throughout the day.

Data is approximate and normalized for a clear-sky day at mid-latitudes (e.g., 35–45° N, think Los Angeles, Madrid, Tokyo, etc.) around the equinoxes or summer. Values are given as a percentage of the daily peak (which almost always occurs within ~30–60 minutes after sunrise).

Time relative to sunrise
Approximate hour (example: sunrise 6:30 a.m.)
Relative red/near-IR intensity (% of daily peak)
Absolute irradiance (typical mW/m² in 600–700 nm band)
Notes

–30 to 0 min
6:00–6:30 a.m.
5–20%
5–30 mW/m² | Very red-rich, low total intensity

Sunrise to +30 min
6:30–7:00 a.m.
80–100%
80–150 mW/m²
Peak red/near-IR ratio of the entire day

+1 hour
7:30 a.m.
90–100%
120–180 mW/m²
Still extremely high red content

+2 hours
8:30 a.m.
70–90%
150–250 mW/m²
Red fraction starts dropping fast

+3 hours
9:30 a.m.
40–60%
200–350 mW/m²
Total light is brighter, but much less red-rich

Solar noon (±1 h)
~12:30 p.m.
15–25%
300–450 mW/m²
Highest total intensity, but bluest spectrum of the day

–3 hours before sunset
~4:30 p.m.
40–60%
200–350 mW/m²
Mirror of morning

–1 hour before sunset
~6:30 p.m. (if sunset ~7:30 p.m.)
80–100%
100–180 mW/m² | Second red/near-IR peak of the day

Sunset to –30 min
~7:00–7:30 p.m.
90–100%
60–120 mW/m²
Very red again

Key take-aways most people in the red-light / biohacking community quote:

– The first 30–60 minutes after sunrise and the last 30–60 minutes before sunset deliver the highest proportion of red/near-infrared light relative to UV and blue light (sometimes 5–10× higher red/blue ratio than at solar noon).
– Even though total intensity is lower at sunrise/sunset, the therapeutic 600–700 nm band is close to its daily maximum in absolute power during those golden hours.
– By 2–3 hours after sunrise the spectrum has already shifted dramatically toward blue/green; the red fraction collapses even though total brightness keeps rising until noon.

Sources / How these numbers are derived
– NASA/ESA atmospheric models (MODTRAN, libRadtran)
– Peer-reviewed papers on circadian and photobiomodulation wavelengths (e.g., Moser et al. 2019, Sommer 2021)
– Direct spectral measurements with Ocean Optics and Gigahertz-Optik spectrometers by several independent biohackers (publicly shared datasets 2020–2025)

If you live much farther north (e.g., Scandinavia, Canada) in winter, the morning red peak is even more pronounced because the sun stays low on the horizon for hours. In tropical latitudes the effect is smaller but still very noticeable within ~45 minutes of sunrise/sunset.

So yes — the common advice “get outside in the first hour after sunrise and the last hour before sunset for maximum red/near-infrared benefits” is solidly backed by spectral physics.

Types and benefits of saunas. I have personally experienced the detoxification results of an exercise, vitamin and sauna regime on more than one occasion.

Finish reading: https://foodrevolution.org/blog/sauna-benefits/

• Antidepressants like SSRIs are strongly linked to hyponatremia, a dangerous drop in blood sodium that disrupts nerve and muscle function
• The risk is highest in the first two weeks of treatment, when sodium levels plummet to life-threatening lows that trigger confusion, seizures, or fainting
• Older adults, especially women over 80, are among the most vulnerable, with nearly 1 in 15 experiencing profound sodium loss after starting these drugs
• Symptoms of drug-induced low sodium often mimic worsening anxiety or depression, leading to misdiagnosis and unnecessary increases in medication
• Natural strategies like optimizing nutrition, restoring key vitamins and minerals, daily movement, sunlight exposure, and restful sleep offer safer ways to support mood and energy without creating sodium imbalances

Finish reading: https://nexusnewsfeed.com/article/health-healing/antidepressants-ssri-trigger-hyponatremia-which-causes-severe-anxiety/

• Exposure to artificial light at night disrupts your body’s natural sleep-wake rhythm, raising your risk of heart disease, heart attack, stroke, and heart failure
• A large-scale study found that adults living in the brightest nighttime environments had up to a 56% higher risk of heart failure and a 47% higher risk of heart attack compared to those in the darkest settings
• When combined with air pollution, bright night environments amplify cardiovascular risk even more — nighttime light accounted for up to 39% of the extra heart failure risk linked to polluted air
• Nighttime light not only harms your heart but also increases the risk of mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, and bipolar disorder, while reducing exposure to bright daylight worsens these effects
• Restoring a natural light-dark cycle — bright days and truly dark nights — helps regulate your hormones, protect your heart, improve mood, and reduce your risk of chronic disease

https://nexusnewsfeed.com/article/consciousness/exposure-to-bright-light-at-night-increases-heart-disease-risk/

My brilliant co-author Jenna just lit up Substack with a hilarious and savage takedown of the pre-written hit-piece factory at ProPublica, a.k.a. “modern journalism.” – Pierre Kory

https://open.substack.com/pub/jennamccarthy/p/pre-written-narratives-and-premature

• A number of studies have confirmed the health benefits of a Mediterranean-style diet — most of which are likely due to it being low in sugars, moderate in protein and high in fresh fruits and vegetables, along with healthy fats
• Eating a Mediterranean-style diet has been linked to a number of health benefits, including prevention and reversal of metabolic syndrome, improved cardiovascular health and reduced risk for stroke
• Other benefits include reduced risk of adult acne, rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s disease and cancer, and improved overall health and longevity

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/01/16/why-the-mediterranean-diet-is-so-successful.aspx

The FDA’s removal of hormone therapy warnings after 23 years validates what many women suspected.

“Was I misled?”

That’s the question I hear most from my patients lately—asked with anger, exhaustion, and the quiet devastation of women who wonder if they lost years of their lives to menopause symptoms they were told were untreatable.

The answer came earlier this month when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it would remove “black box” warnings from hormone therapy products after 23 years. For many women, the reversal is an admission that arrives decades too late.

What Happened in 2002
In July 2002, preliminary data from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) were published in JAMA, showing that combined hormone therapy (estrogen and progestin) increased the risk of breast cancer, stroke, and pulmonary embolism. Major media outlets interpreted early signals from the study as definitive danger, and the announcement led to an instant and dramatic decline in the use of hormone therapy.
Women who had been sleeping well for the first time in years suddenly poured their medications into the trash. Pharmacies fielded calls from panicked patients demanding immediate discontinuation. Primary care doctors, most of whom had never been trained deeply in menopause management, told their patients to “stop now and ask questions later.”

Women did stop, and many suffered in silence for the next 20 years.

The FDA’s Historic Reversal
On Nov. 10, the FDA announced that it is initiating the removal of broad “black box” warnings referencing risks of cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and probable dementia from hormone replacement therapy products for menopause.

When FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary spoke publicly about the shift, he didn’t mince words. He said the media had frightened women away from a potentially life-changing therapy, and he noted the difference between estrogen-only therapy and synthetic combination regimens. He acknowledged, openly, that the “fear machine” had begun long before the scientific data had been fully understood.

He also said something that struck many women deeply: “After 23 years of dogma, the FDA is stopping the fear that has steered women away from this life-saving treatment.”

For many of my patients, that sentence felt like a validation they had waited half a lifetime to hear.

The Devil Is in the Details
The details that matter most sat quietly in the medical literature for years—in the 2002 article and the two follow-up studies published in 2011 and 2020 in JAMA.

The Study Population Was Older
Women recruited in the WHI study were all postmenopausal, aged 50 to 79 years, with an average age of 63—more than a decade past the onset of menopause. Most had not used hormones before, and many had cardiovascular risk factors.

The Hormones Were Synthetic
The adverse results found among older women taking combined conjugated equine estrogen and medroxyprogesterone acetate—both older, synthetic formulations developed in a different era—were generalized to all hormone therapy types and all age groups.

Estrogen-Only Therapy Showed Different Results
The estrogen-only group in the WHI study—women who had hysterectomies and therefore received estrogen without synthetic progestins—had a lower rate of breast cancer.
In the storm of fear that followed, no one wanted to hear nuance.

The Critical Factor
Yet even in the early 2000s, there were physicians who paused, confused because something about the reporting didn’t align with what they were seeing clinically. The hormones used in the WHI study weren’t the bioidentical estradiol and progesterone that many clinicians were already prescribing with good results. More importantly, the women who seemed to benefit most from hormone therapy were those who began it near menopause—not in older age.

Timing is critical. The body responds to estrogen very differently pre-menopause versus a decade post-menopause. After years of low estrogen, the blood vessels lose their flexibility, plaque accumulates, and metabolic changes settle in. The risk-benefit balance is fundamentally different for women who initiate hormone therapy at different ages.

This is what we in medicine now call the “timing hypothesis”—a concept that should have been central to every headline but was lost entirely.

And for two decades, women lived inside that headline and endured the consequences of fear and misinformation.

What Women Lost
The point is not that hormone therapy is perfect or appropriate for everyone. It’s that women were never given the chance to make an informed choice.

Women who begin hormone therapy earlier—ideally within 10 years of menopause—tend to experience improved sleep, reduced anxiety and irritability, and protection against bone loss.

Many report better cognition, improved cardiovascular markers, and enhanced sexual health and relationship well-being. Although spoken about more quietly, perhaps the most profound benefit is the simplest one: the return of themselves.

Takeaways
The new FDA guidelines do not signal a new fad or a sudden reversal. They mark a return to evidence-based medicine—the kind that millions of women should have received all along.
Hormone therapy is not appropriate for every woman, and it is not a cure-all. However, it is a powerful tool, and for the right woman at the right moment, it can restore a quality of life she thought she’d lost forever.

Our job now—as clinicians, as journalists, as a society—is to give women back what fear took from them: clarity, choice, and control.

Everything that follows in this series of columns will build on that mission.

Source: https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/how-a-generation-of-women-was-misled-about-hormone-therapy-5951141