1298: Bjorn Ekeberg | The Evidence-Backed Benefits of Red Light Therapy

What It Covers

Jordan Harbinger interviews Bjorn Ekeberg, CEO of Recharge Health and creator of Flexbeam, a wearable near-infrared therapy device. They examine the evidence-backed mechanisms behind red light therapy, proper dosing protocols, legitimate versus fraudulent applications, and how concentrated near-infrared light affects cellular energy production and recovery.

Key Questions Answered

• •Dosing Window: Red light therapy operates within a precise therapeutic range — too little produces no effect, but too much causes the body to over-adapt, also yielding zero results. Athletes using devices for two-plus hours report feeling nothing. Effective sessions typically run 10–20 minutes, with dosing individualized by age, body mass, and health condition.
• •Near-Infrared vs. Red Light: Standard red light only penetrates skin-deep, making it useful solely for collagen and cosmetic applications. Near-infrared wavelengths — invisible to the eye — penetrate tissue at measurable depth, with detectable energy registering two inches below the skin surface, enabling effects on muscles, organs, and inflammation rather than surface-level results only.
• •Sun Equivalency: On a summer day, 10 minutes of direct Flexbeam exposure delivers roughly twice the near-infrared energy of 10 minutes of sunlight on bare skin. In winter at northern latitudes, replicating that same dose through natural sunlight would require three to eight hours of outdoor exposure, making targeted devices practically relevant for year-round cellular energy maintenance.
• •Sleep Protocol: Placing a near-infrared device on the gut or spine for 10–20 minutes, combined with morning use to reset circadian rhythm, has produced measurable deep sleep improvements in Oura Ring data across multiple users. Results require three or more consecutive days of consistent use and are not universal, but a meaningful subset of users shows clear data-tracked improvement.
• •Device Quality Indicators: Low-cost devices ($10–$50) typically produce insufficient power output to penetrate beyond the skin surface regardless of wavelength claims. Effective near-infrared therapy requires high power density delivered directly against bare skin — not through clothing, at distance, or via low-wattage LEDs — making physical contact, wattage output, and build quality the primary purchase criteria.