Infrared Therapy’s Role In Heart Health

Connie Zack

Thank you, Dr. Kahn. It is so great to see you.

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

We were chatting. You are in Kansas City, which is renamed as Taylor Swift’s Land.

Connie Zack

That is why she is here every minute, every day.

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

She has got to be the next endorser for Sunlighten and sign up for probably two of your products.

Connie Zack

That is our plan. Travis has our sauna. 

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

That is a little insight.

Connie Zack

He has been at it for quite a while. 

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

I would have to say more. I do not know that everybody loves the Pfizer connection, but we love the Sunlight and connection. Sorry for the side comment there, but we think this is a cardiovascular summit that people are familiar with from their health club or from remembering Grandpa. I can remember Grandpa and Grandma sitting in a sauna at an old-fashioned health club years ago. But we are talking about a whole new technology backed by science. We want this summit to be evidence-based. Just lay down a little groundwork and go back. I think it is the 1980s in Japan, which is why we are so excited to talk about heart disease and heart prevention. I do not want to say treatment because it is not an FDA-approved treatment, but heart issues, infrared sauna, and the scientific basis. You are an expert.

Connie Zack

Yes. What I love about that question is that in the infrared, this is what I have been doing for the past 25 years. I am so immersed in the science and the evidence that supports infrared for longevity for so many different age-related diseases. One of them is heart health, and infrared is the most studied specifically when it comes to cardiovascular diseases. and it takes me back to when we started the company and I started doing research. I had never heard of this wavelength and started going through all of the different studies and all of them were over in Asia and showed the impact that infrared had on the heart how it was making it healthier and how people with coronary artery disease and people with CHF that infrared wavelength when they experienced it, a lot of them through therapy, you introduced me to it, which I think is pretty, you pronounce it WAON, is that?

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

Right. 

Connie Zack

It significantly benefited them and changed their endothelial lining. It changed the blood flow, and there is a study on the fact that it may save lives as a result of using infrared a couple of times a week for six weeks. Numerous studies have shown IMAMURA’s positive impact. The great thing is that because infrared is a spectrum, all these studies are really with far infrared, which is one part of the wavelength. We have a far infrared alone. That is how we started the company. I am sharing that because you do not necessarily need to have it, even though I love the entire infrared spectrum and there is magic to the invisible; there is magic to read as magic medicine. But for specific cardiovascular benefits, all of the research focused on the far infrared wavelengths specifically.

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

Excellent. You throw out a term, I just will make sure the audience gets it, W-A-O-N, and it is a Japanese word so neither of us knows how to say it perfectly. WAON. Warming heat, and there are, I would estimate, at least three dozen published human papers, as well as basic science papers, as you said, healing arteries, and in humans, humans with heart failure, or CHF, as you use the proper term, they walk further. If they use an infrared sauna, their ejection fraction pump strength goes up. Amazing data: their blood tests for BNP heart failure go down into a more normal range. If it were uphill, it would be FDA-approved and very popular. But it is repeated use of thermal energy, and I think that is a fair statement. She said it was done with an infrared sauna, but you are in front of an actual Sunlighten Sauna that we call it. I think full-spectrum because it is near mid- and far-spectrum. It is the state of the art and exciting. It is a little bit. I talk nonstop to patients about high blood pressure, and we will be talking about high blood pressure and a little bit about the role of infrared saunas. People do not want to be on pills, or they want to be on fewer pills. What could an infrared sauna do for a person who is struggling with their blood pressure?

Connie Zack

Yes. In 2005, the University of Missouri, Kansas City, did a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial. It was a six-week clinical trial and showed a statistically significant reduction in blood pressure by using the Sunlighten Sauna versus the Placebo. That is pretty powerful. I know coming from pharma, I was at Procter and Gamble before we started Sunlighten, specifically in the cardiovascular department, looking at ways to help people lower blood pressure, and it was so hard with pills because you are affecting something else in the body, so you may be able to lower blood pressure, but usually there are other side effects. We were able to do this in a very safe way. You can do it from the comfort of your own home. It also helps. We also know it helps increase blood flow and circulation. without taking blood pressure medication, which is nice.

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

Some people might be thinking about a steam sauna that you might get into at 180 degrees, and all the warnings that are on the outside are maybe dry heat. More Arizona saunas that would typically be that hot. What is the temperature range, and is there any advantage to getting in when an infrared sun is not even all that hot?

Connie Zack

Yes. Dr. Hamblin, whom we were talking about before, is on our medical advisory board, and he is a known expert in infrared and is teaching us as we develop advancements in our products how to perfect those advancements. Based on scientific evidence, he would say if he were here for you when you were charged with this on us, and as you turned it on, get in. Because specifically, the far infrared part of the wavelength is the longest wavelength that is absorbed into the body. When it is turned on and activated, it is the coolest and easiest to absorb into the body. Now we have the patent on the most: 99% absorption into the body with our wavelength, which is one of the things that makes Sunlighten different and special. But it is most efficient if you do it right away, if you get in right away, and then have to be in there as the sauna warms up. You also inquired about whether you could get in right away. Yes. You ask the difference between infrared and steam, or the traditional, which is really what I call, threefold. One is that heat, the traditional heat heats the air, and you get hot because of the heat. Infrared hits the body directly, so you can experience it at lower temperatures. You can stay on there longer, and the wavelengths are absorbed and impact you at the cellular level. 

Two, it is also light. We are bodies, and I just have a visual of these wonderful solar panels that need light to function. Our body is primarily made up of water and mitochondria, and we know that those two cells absorb infrared light. That is, more than 70% of your body is activated by infrared. It is light energy as well as heat. The other difference between traditional and infrared is the spectrum of infrared. We have figured out at Sunlighten how to isolate sunlight and how to isolate each part of the spectrum. There is far infrared mid. Near, which is also invisible, and then now, red, which is visible.

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

People listening can go to their local hardware store or their big box store and buy an infrared sauna. I know you guys have spent a lot of time on safety and third-party testing. Will you share some details with us?

Connie Zack

Yes, safety, for sure. Third-party testing regarding safety. All of our materials are nontoxic and extremely safe to use. We have done third-party testing on our EMF electromagnetic field and shown that it is virtually nonexistent, and that can be found on our website. All of our wood is renewable. We pay attention to and are intentional about every material that we use because our goal is to leave this world a healthier place as a result of what we do. We want to make sure we do that in a way that we do not induce any more toxins into the body. I just read recently that we were exposed to 700,000 chemicals a day in our environment. We do not want to be one of those companies. that contributes to that. We want it to be a safe sanctuary that is not only extremely effective but also healing as well.

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

You mentioned that people know about EMF, so your sauna has been tested, what would you say about that exposure?

Connie Zack

Yes, it is virtually non-existent. Anything that plugs in is going to have a little tinge, but in the testing company that came out and did, the report said it was extremely safe, nonexistent, passed all the tests with flying colors, and I would feel and have peace of mind that it is extremely safe and no EMF.

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

I know that having one of these in my home and using it regularly means you have some preset protocols. A lot of people listening are struggling with their weight and looking for solutions. One of your protocols is a weight solution, so tell us a little bit about how you think infrared saunas help you manage a more optimal weight.

Connie Zack

Yes, so one of the benefits of our infrared specifically is that it is going to elevate the body’s core temperature and create that fever effect on the body, which has a lot of other immune systems. There are a lot of other benefits. But let us just talk about calories for a second and weight loss. As your body is heating up, you are also working to cool itself down. You are burning calories. Is it an exercise mimetic? What I mean by that is that it is copying what exercise does in a passive cardiovascular way. somebody who is trying to lose weight, but maybe they are overweight and it is really hard for them to exercise. Maybe it is hard for them. Maybe they have pain in their body. This is a great solution because you are going to burn calories while you are inside. We know there is a study that was done by Dr. Beaver in Canada years ago that showed a reduction in waist circumference as a result of sitting in Sunlighten Saunas. Then we also worked with scientists to develop. What you are talking about is a specific program in the Center Impulse Smart Sauna. That is a weight loss program, one of six we have. It is one of six programs, and it is science-based evidence based on how to pulsate the different wavelengths in the infrared spectrum to deliver the greatest weight loss program.

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

Great. If people are wondering, is this woman in that red dress talking science or not? I send out a newsletter to about 25,000 doctors once a week. I included this week a randomized study from March 2022 in a medical journal where they had ten women either exercise 45 minutes a day or use an infrared sauna regularly. When they looked at the health outcomes, they were identical to sitting in a sauna. Everybody likes to sit. I encourage you to exercise, do both, or exercise. Their conclusion was a term you just use: the sauna is an exercise mimetic. That it mimics the benefits, and again, I would suggest doing both and getting maximal recovery. You are talking about their current and up-to-date science, which is wonderful. Anyone listening to this summit and asking, I wonder, if saunas as for me, are there indications to use? What are some of the safety guidelines?

Connie Zack

Safety. The number one safety guideline is hydration. I recommend staying hydrated before, during, and after. But, just as long as you stay hydrated, you should also consider replacing not just water but also your electrolytes if you are monitoring that. Also, if you are pregnant, you should not use the sauna because your body’s already heated up, and there is no reason to put yourself in that environment when you are pregnant. Those are the two main safety.

Of course, you should listen to your body. I know there have been times when I have gone for a long run, and then I always exercised and then went to the sauna. If I am going to do it the same way, I am going to stack them. Sometimes, you can push yourself. If you feel lightheaded, then get out and just listen to your body. If you have any questions about anything that is going on with your body, then consult your physician.

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

That is good advice. I encourage people who are listening, I love companies that have science on their websites. Everybody has a website to sell you something but Sunlighten.com, that pretty simple website has a tab for health benefits and a tab for light science. There is a link to published science and research on the way doctors evaluate and make recommendations to patients. It is all there, including the data on how these are crafted, the safety, the low EMF, and the product line. I think that is good. 

What we are going to do is say everybody’s got a really good foundation now on infrared saunas for a variety of cardiovascular conditions and far infrared versus what is called a full spectrum. And there are price points, and it depends on what you can handle. But go over there and take a look. Connie, you stay around. We are going to say goodbye to our general audience. Thank you for listening to the Reversing Heart Disease Naturally Summit 2.0. We are going to go a little deeper with our subscriber group and ask a few more questions about red light. Do not go anywhere. Okay? Alright, Connie, thanks for sticking around. We are going to go for a few more minutes since you are such a wealth of knowledge. I have known of your company now for, I would say, at least a dozen years. You did not use to have red light panels in the infrared sauna as an option. I am not sure if that is a couple of years now that that is a technological advance.

Connie Zack

No, it is very recent. You are on the cutting edge. It is just this year. Yes, there is, and we still do not have a full inventory because, as it is, we are turning them. We are excited to have that new addition. I feel the Smart Sauna, which we launched in 2010. A long time ago we launched with three different wavelengths: far infrared, mid-infrared, and infrared. We decided, based on the science again we have talked about, that there was a need to add red light in addition to near-infrared. Because a lot of people do not understand that near-infrared is next to red light. The only different thing is that it is just 100 nanometers to the left. You are in the invisible range with near-infrared. We worked with some dermatologists and some doctors. We learned to figure out the precise wavelength. We developed impulse, and then there became some new information about if you go over and have the visible light spectrum, which is red, then there are some benefits as well. We decided to add it on, and now I feel that the sauna is complete. It has the entire infrared spectrum. Four different wavelengths and four different modes of action for different ways we are delivering them. You cannot get that anywhere else, which is cool and cutting-edge as well. You cannot get the four different wavelengths.

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

It just needs to add an espresso maker, and we are all set. 

Connie Zack

Over hot water and a lemon maker.

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

There you go. I have been reading and studying about red lights for at least half a dozen years, and a lot of people do not understand. When you sit in your infrared sauna, the one behind you, there is a light you can turn on in the sauna, but there is no actual light; infrared is invisible, and near and far there is no light. Although you have added, I think you call it promo therapy, you can have some pretty wild lights. But now we are talking about adding on something that has too many different names. It is called Red light therapy. It is called Low-level laser therapy, LLLP. It has the scientific name; Photobiomodulation PBM, and people do not know much about it. I do not think you; you and I both mentioned the name. There is a professor at Harvard, Michael Hamblin, and I think he is a Ph.D., and he has published textbooks and literature for decades on how the human body responds favorably to various wavelengths of red light. Now you will know because you are bathed in red light. Very often you keep your eyes closed or even wear eye goggles if you choose to, but you have added that to the saunas. All of a sudden, it is the matrix. It is red, hot, and very devilish.

Connie Zack

Yes, it is awesome. I love the addition of it. It is a different experience. We did some research on blending, and because we did not change because there is such a value in the invisible near-infrared LEDs that are in there, they are at a different wavelength. But we change those. We wanted to make sure and deliver both because the data says if you blend the two then you are exponentially getting greater benefit.

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

Let us talk for a little bit about the potential benefits of red light therapy and photobiomodulation. Now inside of Sunlighten Sauna, lower inflammation, is that fair to say?

Connie Zack

Yes, lower inflammation. Well, first, we can talk about enhancing the skin. I have always called our near-infrared the vanity wavelength because it is. Before going out to an event, I would always sit inside my Sunlighten and then put my face up next to the LEDs. You can almost feel your skin, the collagen, as it increases. It helps to accelerate cell turnover. It helps with fine lines and wrinkles. It helps with wound healing significantly, and near and red, penetrates the skin at different levels. That is the big, huge difference between the two. Aside from the fact that one is invisible and the other is red, they affect the skin differently. When you give them both, you are doubling up on the repair benefits to your skin. Yes, it reduces inflammation, helping the skin. 

There is also great science, you can research PBM; that is how you can find it. When you mentioned that photobiomodulation, benefits the brain, and getting light therapy into the brain helps to activate the brain cells and help with depression, there is data that a decrease in depression is also great for depression note that since we are going deeper, there is a great study. I do not know if we talked about this in the past, but it is worth mentioning because it is so powerful. This is a great study on far infrared. Dr. Rosen from the University of Wisconsin Madison did a study with far infrared on severely depressed patients and found that in only one session, It significantly reduced depression for up to six weeks. That is powerful. If you combine, imagine it, the far infrared with also the data and the science of PBM. On near-infrared and red light therapy, you are getting the brain and the skin in two different ways, with two different wavelengths. You are getting the light therapy, and then you are getting the heat therapy on the brain. There is also data on dementia and Alzheimer’s in the brain as well. There are some significant studies, papers, and abstracts relating to PBM and near-infrared red light therapy, as well as blending the two. It is really exciting.

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

It is and again, this is a cardio-vascular summit, a heart summit. I know there are lots of suggestions that photobiomodulation by penetrating and interacting in the mitochondria can increase that famous molecule, ATP, which is an energy molecule. Either you might feel more energetic or your heart may benefit your muscles. In general, there is some data about nitric oxide. The Miracle Killer won the Nobel Prize, and red light therapy may do that. Let us go back to Vanity. It may not be vanity that there may be some impact on collagen formation and the basic structure of skin and hair. But our blood vessels are made of collagen, and we need strong collagen. I do not think it has been determined for sure that being exposed to photobiomodulation and red light impacts the status of our arteries. I think that is a science to be done, but theoretically, it is not hurting them and it may help them. I think there is so much to be excited about sitting, relaxing, detoxifying, and enhancing your parents and maybe your cardiovascular health.

Connie Zack

Yes. Ultimately, if you. I feel so much better, when I, after a session think about your heart, you think about; I always say that a happy heart is a healthy heart. You just when you are decreasing stress and you are in there and you, maybe do whatever other habit you want to do, I call it habit stacking. You meditate. You can close your eyes, and you can do yoga. You can stretch while you are inside there. That is reducing your stress, which is, it is such a big factor in cardiovascular disease.

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

Yes, some saunas are big enough. I had a patient yesterday who had a stationary bike inside the sauna.

Connie Zack

Awesome.

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

Does his routine, and you have to be careful, check with your doctor, and make sure you are in the shape to do that and hydrate. But if you can imagine now exercising, heating, getting photobiomodulation, and stacking, maybe you should put a vibration plate at the bottom of your sauna next to the espresso maker. Then.

Connie Zack

Yes, you could do that. That would be just the sound. It just sounds perfect.

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

Yes. That is good stuff. I have a vibration plate and a red light panel, combined. I do that myself. I just do not wonder one. Thank you for this extra 10 minutes or so of going deep on low-light laser therapy, red-light therapy, and photobiomodulation, all now incorporated. If people go over to Sunlighten.com and look at the tab that says mPulse, M-P-U-L-S-E, you will see that you can see behind you, Connie. You will see beautiful pictures of these brand new, up-to-date state-of-the-art safe saunas too, so thank you.

Connie Zack

We also, before we log off. We have a discount that we are offering for summit listeners. All you have to do is mention Dr. Kahn and Dr. Kahn’s Summit, and you will be eligible for up to a $600 discount. Make sure that you mention this summit when you call in or, if you are going, enter a form. Just when it says, How did you hear about us? Make sure you have Dr. Kahn Summit.

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

That was very gracious of you. That was not prearranged. It was very spontaneous and exciting, and I appreciate that. I might call myself. Thank you. Have a wonderful day. Say hello to Aaron.

Connie Zack

Okay. Thanks so much, Dr. Kahn.

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

If you see Taylor Swift in Kansas City.

Connie Zack

I will tell her you said hello. Okay.

Joel Kahn, MD, FACC

Okay. Bye bye.