A Trojan HorseOur mind set in America is to always try and improve our lot in life. Sometimes the results are positive and sometimes the outcomes are less than stellar. For instance, cars use to not have seat belts. When seat belts were first introduced, it was only in the form of a lap belt with no shoulder strap. The shoulder strap came later as people learned their essential importance. End result: very positive. Just for historical reference: the dashboards use to be metal, no cushioning what so ever.On the other side of that equation, remember how the toilets were flushing too many gallons of water. Our esteemed government decided to limit the flow to 1.6 gallons per flush. I don’t know about you but, sometimes, finishing one’s morning constitutional can be a challenge timewise. And I’m sure the sale of plungers spiked to some degree. End result: mixed at best.In the BeginningA more recent example has been the ‘demonization’ of the incandescent light bulb, that evil energy hog. Technology took the bull by the horns and introduced LED lighting. At first glance, this was a great idea. Right off the bat we got 95% reduction in energy usage. Score one for LED. They lasted longer. Another point for LED. (I have heard rumors that incandescent light bulbs were designed with an artificially shorter lifespan from the beginning – speculation or fact?)The legislators around the world started to expound the virtues of LED lighting. Convert to LED and cut your energy costs. Who wouldn’t be in favor of that! But just to make sure the populous got the message, let’s throw in some new laws which would ban that old fashion, ‘past its prime’ light bulb. That will do the trick.Unintended Consequences That ball got rolling and the world was now becoming a better place. But, just like our 2009 health care bill, seems nobody took the time to look past the initial sound bites. (I’m still trying to figure out how politicians can pass a law they don’t even read or how their supporters were ‘okey-dokey’ with it. ‘Like lemmings to the sea’ comes to mind). But I digress.Once researchers looked at the science, some truths started to make themselves self-evident. Note that most, if not all, of the LEDs have no infrared or near infrared wave lengths in their light spectrum. Ok…so?Infrared waves, which penetrate into our body by an inch or more, stimulate our cellular structure, in particular the mitochondria, our energy units. Free radicals called ROS (reactive oxygen species) are produced as a by-product, just as car engines generate heat and waste gases. The infrared waves also stimulate the anti-oxidant capacity of the mitochondria in order to counteract the free radicals. That’s the beauty of Mother Nature.Here in lies the problem. The light waves from LED will stimulate the mitochondria but……they apparently don’t trigger the follow up anti-oxidant production, again because their wave length spectrum does not include the infrared and near infrared range.Mitochondria are the energy engines for the whole body. One theory of the origin of illness states that as the mitochondria begin to loss their optimal level of function, begin to breakdown, your physique becomes stressed and your health starts to trend downward. Anything that has a negative influence on mitochondria will impact your long term health. Those free radicals, which I have touched on in the past as the ‘rusting’ of your body, need to be counteracted.Tip of the Iceberg LED lighting definitely has issues. A key disclosure that really caught my attention was the possible impact on the eye. The increased production of ROS with no offset could accelerate macular degeneration! One caution I could glean from the lectures was that reading under LED lighting, particularly at night, might be a practice that should be closely reevaluated.Another fascinating reveal. Less than half of our body’s energy comes from food. The remainder comes from our light sources. Certain light sources are better suited to help the body function optimally. Our overall vitality levels day-to-day may be compromised. This is where the data became more complex. I will definitely need to do a lot more investigation before I delve into a possible column on this facet – food vs light as fuel.Maybe the science is catching up as we speak but, for now, it is suffice to say that there is enough research currently available that strongly implies the LEDs we are exposed to are precarious toward certain aspects of our overall well-being. Subsequently, shouldn’t we make sure we are attentive to the pros and cons of the various light sources available to us?A Caution In order to even attempt to write this column, I listened and read numerous interviews and articles covering incandescent, LED, halogen and fluorescent lighting. Besides the concerns mentioned earlier in this column, melatonin issues, flickering, vitamin D production and other aspects also arose. The result: I almost didn’t write this column because I don’t fulling understand all the nuances, all the technical levels of this subject but…….just that single concern about the health of the eye drove me to step forth and issue this caution.I have always encouraged my readers to do their own research. The internet, particularly the interviews I gleaned from YouTube, should awaken a curiosity, or more likely, a concern about what light source you want to use going forward.Still skeptical? May I suggest, as a starting point, go to YouTube and type in “Dr. Mercola and Dr. Wunsch on the Dangers of LED Lights”.Then, you just might begin to see that what you have freely introduced into your environment could indeed be a Trojan horse.Good Luck and Good Health!Rick AlmandYour Personal TrainerUltimate Best LLC