Uncover Light Therapy’s Role In Chronic Healing

Introduction and Guest Background 0:00

Welcome back. We are continuing our conversation on reversing chronic gut conditions. I am your host, Sinclair Kennally, and today I am joined by my wonderful friend and colleague Jennifer Miele. She is the founder and director of New Bay Health, as well as the co-founder and clinical director of the Baja Medgate Clinic in Tijuana, Mexico. Jennifer is also the representative for Weber Medical as the North American partner to support and educate in the field. She has a doctorate of recognition from the Institute of Mexico's.

Oh, dear. I'm going to say that wrong. And really, that is the excellence in that area of medical research. And what Jennifer really specializes in is medical research and nutrition and has worked with several hospitals, integrative health centers, research centers, stem cell therapy specialists, immunologists, chemists and many specialists in their field. She continues to strive and accomplish the goal of offering the most integrative medical programs available. So what I really wanted you to benefit from today is Jennifer's expertize in light therapy and also understanding integrative medicine and really the edge of our understanding there.

How does bio regulatory medicine root cause medicine? Integrative medicine. How do these all intersect to really help deal with the most chronic, complex conditions of today, as well as systemic issues in the body? So Jennifer runs an amazing center in Mexico and she's really at the forefront of some of this research. She's also one of the most generous human beings on the planet. And I really wanted you to benefit from her insights today and have her help you unpack these concepts of light therapy that have just taken the biohacking world by storm.

And what does it really mean for you? Can you use it to actually heal faster? What does how can you do that from home? What are the clinical settings for it and all sorts of other good stuff. So welcome, Jennifer. Thanks so much for sharing your expertize with us today. Well, I thank you, Sinclair, for having me on this. And for the beautiful words and for recognizing generosity. That means the world to me. And I'm going to point out that you were also that way. So if you're well. Let's dove right into it.

I really want folks to understand we're going to remember our audience here for reversing chronic conditions. It has been on a long road. Right. And I know that this is my population as well as yours. And and we've both been there with our own personal health journey. So we really empathize and understand the complexities and also how medicine may not have met folks really dealing with these chronic conditions in a way that one would hope given the data available to us today. So what I would like to start with actually is

Overlooked Tools for Chronic Gut Support 2:53

what do you think are some of the most overlooked tools when it comes to supporting people with these chronic, persistent gut conditions and looking at how can we make use of those today? So I think that some of that is actually that's a very good question. So we're focusing more on the photobio modulation, light field. It really is a tool that I think we overlook because everyone that we see, to be very honest, are dealing with chronic gut issues. It doesn't matter if they're coming in with just general malaise, they're not feeling well or have a specific diagnosis of some kind, whether it be oncological or autoimmune or just in general not feeling well, low energy.

And a lot of our food sources these days are compromised. We know all these things. Right. So we're dealing with a lack of nutrients, absorption, enzyme enzymes, hydration and cellular energy. One of the biggest things that I think none of us ever think about is the gut is our like, are we always these second brain? To be honest, I think it's almost like the first brain as anything that goes in processes and keeps the body right. So it's it's the filtration, it's the battery source of the body finding proper foods and not overprocessed foods.

I think this is a big one for people. We buy everything in packages and over processing. I think that's a big one. But most people know this. And then also, you know, some people are on so many different medications and supplements and their body can't absorb it anyway. So trying to find a balance there and we always focus on how can we give energy back to the body because the body is given energy literally. We can heal. Our body has the ability to heal. Looks we need to do is give it the state and support be able to do that right.

I think we overlook the intelligence of our bodies so much of the time we overload a little too much, which is what I love about photodiode modulation and laser therapy. Because most of us don't go out in the sun, even though all of us say, Hey, go out in the sun or vitamin D levels are low. We don't do that. Right. And so having these little devices that can give your body back, mitochondrial energy, cellular energy through light, it's it's you can look at it through as an energy medicine or you can look at as pure scientific.

It can be explained both ways. Both spectrums can be brought together. And it comes with some of the things that are overlooked in gut health. I think that simple things are being overlooked. The basis is also these different tools like photo by modulation to give their energy back to the cells are very important. I mean, there's a number of things that all of us use different tools and then access to devices that are available to us that we overlook. So I don't know if that answered the question well enough, but it's it's an important little factor.

And I think we do overlook it quite frequently. I agree. Absolutely. So could you help the audience understand what photobiomodulation is and. In general? So to explain photobiomodulation in like a general terms, there are so many ways to go through that. We so in general there are specific structures and and cells in our body that absorb with specific wavelengths of light. So you hear most of us are vitamin D deficient in a lot of us are sitting indoors, we're wearing sunscreens, we're protecting ourselves from the sun by then going out and getting that absorption.

And also, most of us are not people that work outside, you know, people that work outside and in farms or our surfers or outside a lot and gardens. You'll notice usually that they do have a little bit more strength of energy per se. So they're getting a little bit more of that cellular energy into their body, like recharging solar power for solar power on steroids. There's so many ways to do it. Most people are going to be aware of these infrared light pads for pain. We see them almost everywhere.

The devices we're referring to that I'm talking about are different devices that are versatile. They can be utilized in different situations, including like when I'm wearing a little wrist rest and a light band which has lasers that hit the specific artery or key points on the left wrist. So it creates more of a systemic blood flow. We know that certain colors of light have different effects on the body, for example. And I'm cheating a little bit because my brain is like, I need to make sure here.

What Photobiomodulation Is 7:03

So red light and infrared light ranges and oxidation increases, oxidation increases, circulation increases, mitochondrial function, ATP production. So it's improving. Cardiovasc circularity, it's improving circulation, yellow light, for example, or the spectrum of yellow enhances serotonin, dopamine increases, vitamin D opens, detox pathways. These are all things that we've seen, studied and scientifically shown. But also in our own medical practices, we're seeing these results. Same thing. For example, we have green lights, then we have blue, light blue and ultraviolet.

I think is one of the two main ones that most people hear about out there in the infection field. Because many places we use ultraviolet, there's different types of ultraviolet. So different devices will combine different wavelengths or colors of light in a way that can be given back to the body and given that energy back. So we have a gastrointestinal issue with severe inflammation and discomfort. We're not able to absorb. We can utilize light therapy and we know that it's never one thing, but we can utilize this light therapy, the different wavelengths of light, laser LEDs, etc., into this different types of devices to give that energy back to the body.

And you can target it more specifically if you combine or choose which wavelengths of colors you'd like to use. So because each wavelength or color has a different effect, a physiological effect on the body that kind of a general explanation of photobiomodulation. I think it's super helpful because people have seen, you know, the red light devices out there and you know, they're a little pricey side. And so it's important to understand, like, is this actually a good use of my time, of my money? How does this actually contribute to my protocol?

You know, what else do I need in place if I have photobiomodulation as part of my protocol? You know, all those questions, I think you search for people, you know. So, yes, yes. It's very important. So let's talk about that. So what what would you describe is photobiomodulations place light therapies place in a chronic condition, you know, for support protocol. What do you see is like a beautiful stack. If you're really going to optimize the benefits of the light but also of light therapy but also acknowledge its limitations.

There are limitations in any therapy, right? But with light therapy we really haven't seen or laser therapy we haven't seen that there is a a limitation per say or an area where it would not be indicated because we're just getting back cellular energy to the body right. So there's specific cellular structures and those structures can absorb specific wavelengths or colors. So let me go to. Okay, so light stimulates cellular signaling. It stimulates the metabolic the metabolic system, it stimulates circulatory systems and it gives back energy to the system.

And also, if we look at what light does when it's exposed to cells under microscopes, we can see that we're affecting enzymatic properties, protein properties. So we're seeing that it's actually working in the sense of giving energy back to the body rather than pulling out. It's not like taking a medication or supplement where we can overdose, right? We're doing something that the body is either going to utilize it or it won't because it's just like there are so many different devices. You're right out there.

So this is going to help me. This is not going to help me. There's no way that it would not help to a certain extent because it's light. But there are differences in the kind of diodes you use. So they're LEDs, light emitting diodes. Light emitting diodes are still great. We even use them. But the quality of diode, it's kind of like going in. And you know what would be a good explanation? I would say, you know, go in and you get a coffee at the coffee shop and it comes in a prepaid machine or pre machine that you hit the button.

It's all mixed and it's been sitting there for days and the coffee is already ground. Or you go into a coffee shop and they pull out the organic coffee and they grind it. At the moment, you know, you have a different a different value or a different quality to the product.

Light Therapy in Chronic Condition Protocols 10:51

And no, I'm relating it to coffee and most probably shouldn't be because this is gastrointestinal. But you know, and a lot of people say you should be drinking coffee if you're doing this right. Gut health, but I'm using as an example or the difference between, you know, you know, driving a car, albeit a car or a brand new one, you know, where the diodes have different qualities. It doesn't mean that it doesn't work. You're going to get from point A to point B, but the quality of getting there and how your body responds to it is different.

So I'd say for the people looking at different units, you know, we work with whatever medical I work with so many different companies and they're German. So their quality, I mean, it's kind of goes with the name, right? We always think of German companies as having this high standard. And I will admit they really do. So the diodes that they use and one of the reasons why I work with them, we all work with them as a team, right? And they're constantly doing research and trying to find the best next thing, but also making sure that it's not just the best, next thing, the trending.

It also has some kind of science behind it somewhere where we know what's been used. So we've had these different like end delights and watches where you go online and you find one for X amount of dollars, you see another one for two times the price and go, Which one would I go? How do I know the difference? Encourage people to research it because you're going to get a benefit from either one. But if you know the company, the background like a medical, the diodes for example, are pure lasers with one leg, the others are pretty much pure LEDs.

Also, the type of diode makes a difference. You know, you can have, like we were just talking about between one part versus another, the quality of the diode, the gases in the dye to create that light have an effect and have a different effect on how you penetrate the body. The specific wavelength that is chosen to combine those light colors in a device is also very important. The layout of how the device is prepared is also very important. There's a method to the madness, as they say. There's a research behind everything that's done, and a light band is one thing from the Weber company and it has pure laser diodes except for yellow.

So you're going to get a much better penetration where the version we had will only read like the rest reality. We still got an amazing result, putting it on topically and open about three days. So we see that it is affecting the body in a positive way. So people who are looking for these different devices and knowing if they're going to buy something that's good or bad, reach out, ask questions, research and look for the company. You may be spending a little more, but it's also important that the company offers you good support and that you're also looking at what's behind the science of that product is really important, that the company is not just selling something.

They're actually trying to continue to do research and make the product better, which you'll notice with us that it's constantly something new for that reason, but new with a science background of understanding that answer that question as well. Yeah, I think the. Thing to underscore, like we've tried, you know, I hate to admit it, but like well over a couple dozen devices, you know, only two. Right? Yeah. Yeah. And they're not true. So, you know, on one end of the spectrum and I even tried to use a, I, I, what I realized later was it was a knockoff of the Weber Laser.

Right? But I didn't realize it at the time. I used somebody else's laser watch and I was trying to use it to with the nasal diodes to help my sense of smell recover after having COVID. Because. You know, I really lost my sense of smell with that. But it didn't help. Even the research was there and we were seeing it clinically in some aspects. So I didn't get my sense of smell back until I used the Weber laser helmet and the Weber laser watch with the sinus styles. So it was an. In combination and it was it was like instantly I could smell the sea for the first time in a year.

Oh. Isn't that amazing? I love it. That's the kind of thing I'm referring to. Yeah. Yeah. So it's true, you know, the quality does make a difference for sure. Let's talk about different ways for people with chronic conditions. They can really use these therapies at home or also look for clinicians who have these set ups. And, you know, part of our audience is practitioners on the hunt for new tools. So feel free to nerd out and share some of the, you know, clinical applications. I get some nerd out and getting permission to nerd out this one.

All right. So as far as clinical applications, I'll explain a little bit about the different devices. So the listeners kind of know what we're referring to. I'm sure they're listening going, okay, what is she talking about? So there are most of you have probably seen those light pads out there, right? People who are listening to us or seeing those light pads or infrared pads for pain or a number of those different type of things. Well, Weber has created that as well. You have an infrared and red light pad, which is a small one.

Then we have also a full body one. So these are more for systemic inflammation and to see kind of an idea of what's out there and then the practitioners as well. Then there's this light that which is the newest model of the laser watch. It was first a spectrum which is still available, but now it's the light. The light has different settings on it for either recharging general inflammation or kind of, you know, you can utilize it more for dealing with like infection issues or something like that.

And I'll bridge this back into the gut issue if I have a point in going somewhere. And like you were saying, too, during the time of the pandemic, we actually they designed Weber designed a home care device that could be utilized at home because there's also a device with red light that goes for intranasal, also ear adapters for doing. And these are lasers, ear application as well. And then as a little pad, that was also the different multicolored red, green, yellow and blue. So you had the spectrum of lights together where you could put it on different parts of the body topically, in addition to using the delight of the smartwatch on your wrist.

So these are different applications, but during the pandemic we were saying that we need to work with people to bring viral loads down.

Home and Clinical Applications 16:48

And there's tons of studies showing that ultraviolet and blue light bring viral loads down our own clinical practice and what we do as well we do with a ton of chronic infection issues, oncology, all these different things. Now, even prevention, which is great, more people are paying attention to that now. So we saw that ultraviolet and read Ultraviolet and blue light together were having an antiviral effect. Studies have shown this and when you use a natural substance or you use a pharmaceutical in combination with light therapy, you get what we call photodynamic, which is the combination of using a natural substance, in combination or substance in combination with light and matching the absorption rate of that substance with the color or wavelength of light.

So it enhances the absorption. So and this is you can look up online on Google and actually type in green tea extract and nanometer absorption with a question mark. And you get all these solar articles and the wavelength of light is very funny. Most people don't even realize even I didn't know it for years. Like, wow, google wikipedia, Mayo Clinic. You've got all these traditional websites out there coming up with photobiomodulation of photos, therapy in combination with natural agents like wow, that's interesting.

So it's, you know, it's out there, it's available to us just to research and find. So we combine these things together, we get a better effects, which is what we were seeing with using riboflavin or some people use methylene blue, they activate with certain spectrums. So you were talking about using the red, the ultraviolet and blue light intranasal as well as red light. That's actually what we do. So we created a device that also could be used with ultraviolet and blue light, intranasal and orally.

And there was even a study done out of country, which we have the published study showing that within X amount of days it was 5 to 6 days. All the viral Tartars went, titers went negative. So we're seeing this amazing result. And the biggest one was long hauler syndrome. What you were experiencing, you know, not having the ability to smell or, you know, having these different taste buds changed. So when we use red light, it's reducing inflammation, circulation, it's repainting the body repair itself.

It's not doing it specifically. It's signaling your body's reactions and cells to to heal. So this is where these different applications come in. And then there's this helmet that goes on the head. The helmet is used infrared and red light. And funny enough, it's even sometimes we have got issues in neurological issues that are connected. We can utilize it for that Parkinson's and a number of different things have been utilized to see if it helps with the symptomology and the condition. And it has.

Then there's of course the practitioners out there where there's the professional device, where you can do topical applications, you can do needless laser acupuncture with these certain fiber optic lines, and you can also do inter articular joint injections with it. So you activate PRP or the running acid. We've even done people, we even work with people that have gastrointestinal issues that had issues going in, let's say the rectum. We've even done it that way. We've done intravenous I.V. laser therapy, which is truly intravenous, a fiber optic catheter.

I mean, there's so many different ways to do these things. It kind of sounds like Star Trek medicine, and it kind of is because again, it's never one thing. Here in our clinic, for example, we combine nutraceuticals with very we've worked very long and hard to develop the different immunotherapy protocols that we've designed from your own body, as well as the nutraceuticals and how they combine together. And then obviously when you integrate laser therapy for ambulation, it has a whole different range.

So with the gut issues, we have to think of it almost as a systemic thing, right? So if we're reducing systemic inflammation, increasing vascular clarity, supports getting back under control, need to see production back, it's work and sometimes even gut issues have an infection aspect, have some kind of issue going on, whether it's parasitic or viral or whatever. Right. And half the time we don't even know what it is. So or it's injury related. A colleague of mine was sharing that earlier today, that there was an injury related that was affecting we got to use the laser topically in the lower back, helping the inflammation down.

I mean, there's so many different ways to utilize these things. So with gut health, we've used it in different ways. One is just giving the body back general support by using it on the wrist, and another would be to actually do topical applications around the points of the get the help that repair which we've done when we have systemic inflammation. But again, the biggest thing is if we can give the body back the support and if you're taking certain supplements or certain protocols to help gut health and repair, you can enhance the cellular energy by either doing an intravenous or topical at home for your body to have the energy to utilize the things you're doing, which is a big one for people these days, were either overstimulated or under stimulated.

This kind of helps rebalance that. Does that make sense? Yeah. It's so beautifully said. Overstimulated or under stimulated. What a great point to end on. I mean, it's so true. We're overfed and malnourished or overstimulated, but under energized. It's like a very. Yeah. A very. We are living in it. It's just like it's it's the player. It's that way. Do this or do that. Now, what about the balance? It's really about balancing and bridging, finding the connection for each individual person and not one person's going to react the same way we all know this.

Yeah. What I really like light therapy is ability to do for our population of chronically ill people. People who have really struggled with multiple root cause exposures, you know, for decades, not knowing it, whether it's moles, parasites, heavy metals, industrial toxins, you know, systemic infections, focal infections, dental issues, you know, whatever it is, that's really that started the ball ball off running, so to speak. You know. We're so far downstream in how many practitioners try to deal with that, whether it's an ethic or natural health.

There's a lot of symptom management, but or that's palliative in nature or suppressive in nature, you're still not really getting to the root causes. What I really like about life is it energizes the body enough to reduce inflammation and also allow you to go to work on those root causes. Very well said. You know, so it could actually be palliative in nature, but that's a side effect. It's really preparing the body to do that deep lasting healing in a way that you can't get at it any other way, you know?

No, no, no. That's very true, because we you know, to give that cellular energy and energy back to the body, you'd have to do all these other things to do it. And it could be invasive or procedures. Right. This is a way that even just through the derma, your body can absorb, just like going outside of being the sun. But this is giving you the full spectrum. These different light therapies are giving you. You know, it boosts cellular energy. It helps with lactic acid regulate lactic acid regulation.

My mouth not working. It's amazing. Reduction of inflammation and inflammatory processes. Right. Stabilizes different receptor pathways.

Using Light Therapy for Gut and Systemic Issues 23:38

I mean, these are all things that have been studied and shown. But also we're clinically seeing these things work. People come in all the time. They're just so exhausted and they they reacted. Everything of the hurts, reaction of everything their bodies are over, under stimulated. We go in there and do you know some general really targeted support to the individual and then utilize light therapy and it could be different application but it brings them back into this rebalancing state, like you said, where the body has enough energy to actually utilize what's there.

I think that's a key point. Giving energy back to the body in a noninvasive way or less invasive possible to support the body's innate ability to heal itself. And I think that's something that we're missing a lot of. Yeah, I totally agree. That's so beautifully said. I have to tell you something. I meant to tell you this, that it happened. I was at a conference recently and I was sitting next to Michael, spend all my my partner for the audience who doesn't know he's my partner in all things. And he's the reason I didn't die.

And Kelly Kennedy. Says that the reason. Is that one reason is that Christine Kelly and Sasha Battelle and I and we were all sitting there in a conference with our endo light watch design. Which, you know. A conference environment is not exactly pro human. It's not pro-life. It's sort of no. No, it's. Singing with wi fi and terrible light wavelengths and terrible food and water. You have to work so hard to like, maintain. Sight all the time. And you're. Just like sitting there with our little. Light therapy.

It was hysterical. I love it. Yeah, I do that sometimes when I'm on the airplane, you're like, Yeah, I'm going to give my body some energy now. They're like, What is that? You know, you see this light flashing. It's like, you really want to know, Are you just asking? Because you feel pretty light? Like, Yeah, people are always fascinated by it. It's actually really fun, you know? And it's again, this feeling is exciting, is innovative because it supports all the other therapies and treatments and things that we do.

There's no negative interaction. It's like you're not going to over under stimulate because your body is going to utilize what it needs. And that's the beautiful thing about photobiomodulation or laser therapy and what we all do with these, right. Like you said in the conference, like conducive to staying healthy. If you think about we go to medical conferences, unhealthy environment constantly on call. It's a huge dichotomy there. It's quite funny, but yet you've got your tools. Yeah. So one of the things I'd like to do with the web like pads is just there.

There are smaller ones that are more cost effective and I have really sensitive people lay them across our app. Yeah. Because it's not an idea. You know, like the lymphatics and there are all kinds of messed up and it's so inflamed that you don't want to spend most of the protocol trying to get somebody calmed down enough to get some healing work done. You know. If that actually. Yeah. So that's a very good point. Yeah. Yeah, there's, there's so many ways you can utilize this. That's a very good point you had. So true.

So I, I know we want to we need to wrap soon, but I want to give you a chance to speak directly to those people who have been on a long health road and they've tried everything and they're really looking for that that one stone that's been unturned or the one thing they overlooked or what is the right stack that's going to help them make progress. What advice do you have for those folks? I think there are many things and each one's going to be a little bit different to the individual right. But I think the biggest one is it's not usually about finding one magic bullet.

It's about finding an integrative program that works for you, that is designed to them and if something is not working for any reason, you sometimes you need to make one small little adjustment that makes everything else work. And it's not that you add in one other thing and suddenly it was that thing. A lot of times it is, but a lot of times it's the integration. It's that puzzle piece of putting all the pieces together, and then suddenly everything clicks and it works together. Synergistic. That's a huge one.

And I think that's a that's a something that's overlooked by frequency frequently that we add all these different things in that we're not really looking at how they work together. What I love about light therapy is does it matter all those things that you're utilizing laser therapy, light therapy will actually enhance whatever you're doing, work more effectively. And again, we go back to sound like a broken record, but it gives energy again back to the body in a noninvasive way. So if we need to make adjustments or changes, those stones that are on turn the stones around the look, I encourage people to look at what they're actually doing and see what is and isn't working.

And also don't give up too early because it's not a magic bullet.

Integrative Healing and Final Advice 28:28

How long did it take you to get to this point? Right. And I've had my own as you know, I've had my own health issues. I've been through severe Lyme disease and supposedly an archeological issue and also lupus. And it's been a very interesting road. And coming through on the other side and maintaining myself has been it's a journey. It really is. And sometimes you get so frustrated because you don't know who to believe or what to listen to, or if something's working or not working. And you get in this place of, Oh, yeah, it's just another way, and you're trying to get me on.

Yeah, no, yes and no. We want you to be educated. We want you to know what works, how it works, and it has to resonate with you. And I think that that one, the stone unturned is remember to give your body energy and balance that it can use what you're doing and really look at what you're doing, how you're integrating it, and don't go out of a panic and start adding so many things and that you end up overdoing it because we all have that role and there you are, so guilty. You know that. I think that's a that's a big one.

I think people I mean, I know we're talking about light therapy specifically, but I think in general, that's that's a good tone. I think adding to of them would be vital and incredibly important to them. But it's an it's it's the integration. It really is. It's not about just, you know, get this device and use it. No, it's about making sure that it fits for you and what fits for that person individually, which is the huge key, because you can buy all the machines and equipment the world that you want.

But if it's not right for you and how you're doing it and you're not actually putting together a program that's designed for you, and there's too many generals directing things, you know, you need it. And we are always about a roundtable approach, and one of us always has all the answers. That's why we work together as a team for the individual, the healing tribe. Right. But it's very important, I think, to find that balance for them. Yeah, I totally agree. I love everything you just said. It's so important to remember that more is not always more, and also that the balancing elements in the protocol are actually what's going to make this work for you.

So yeah, sure. Yeah. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom today. So generous. Thank you. In this space, I know so many, so many quiet little deeds that you've done that I think that went unheard of or unnoticed and so Jenny's really a force, a force for good, especially for the chronically ill. So thanks for sharing your way. Thank you. Thank you for recognizing that that I feel good. Thank you.