Jonathan Jarecki

Infrared light reduces the viscosity of water surrounding ATP synthase, enabling its rotor to spin faster and produce more ATP.

"this rotor also has water around it. And the water is viscous. So, if we can reduce the viscosity of the water around the rotor, the rotor can spin faster, right? Makes sense. You have lower viscosity, the rotor can spin faster, thus producing more ATP. And that's exactly what infrared light does. So, infrared light can be absorbed by this water around ATP synthase, reducing the viscosity of the water, and then ultimately producing more ATP." (said at 0:11:08)

The speaker presents this mechanism as an established fact ("that's exactly what infrared light does"), whereas in published biomedical literature it is a proposed theoretical and biophysical model developed primarily by Andrei P. Sommer and colleagues. In vitro nanoindentation experiments demonstrated that red/near-infrared (NIR) light can reduce the viscosity of interfacial water layers, leading to the hypothesis that lower interfacial water viscosity around the ATP synthase rotor decreases frictional drag and enhances ATP synthesis. However, direct real-time measurement of this exact mechanism inside living human mitochondria remains unproven, and it remains a competing hypothesis alongside classical photoacceptor models (such as cytochrome c oxidase).

• partial: Light Effect on Water Viscosity: Implication for ATP Biosynthesis. (Scientific reports 2015) · cited 86x in the literature

  "Here, we wish to suggest a physicochemical mechanism which assumes intramitochondrial water viscosity gradients and consistently explains two cellular responses: The decrease and increase in ATP synthesis in response to reactive oxygen species and non-destructive levels of near-infrared (NIR) laser light, respectively. The mechanism is derived from the results of a new experimental method, which combines the technique of nanoindentation with the modulation of interfacial water layers by laser irradiation." (abstract, results, passage verified)

  pubmedfull study (doi)
• partial: Quantum biology in low level light therapy: death of a dogma. (Annals of translational medicine 2020) · cited 39x in the literature

  "By reducing the viscosity of the nanoscopic interfacial water layers within and around the mitochondrial rotary motor in oxidatively stressed cells R-NIR light promotes the synthesis of extra adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Based on the results of our own work and a review of the published literature, we present the effect of R-NIR photons on nanoscopic interfacial water layers in mitochondria and cells as a novel understanding of the biomedical effects R-NIR light." (abstract, results, passage verified)

  pubmedfull study (doi)

LED lighting damages mitochondria.

"So, one, they have LED lighting, which is damaging their their mitochondria" (said at 0:30:50)

The claim that LED lighting damages mitochondria overstates preclinical findings. While high-intensity blue-wavelength LED exposure can induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, mitochondrial depolarization, and cellular apoptosis in isolated retinal cell cultures and rodent models, these laboratory models use intense, direct light exposures. There is no high-quality clinical evidence demonstrating that standard ambient indoor LED room lighting causes systemic or ocular mitochondrial damage in humans under normal daily conditions.

• partial: Effects of light-emitting diode radiations on human retinal pigment epithelial cells in vi… (Photochemistry and photobiology 2013) · cited 71x in the literature

  "This study indicates three light-darkness (12 h/12 h) cycles of exposure to LED lighting affect in vitro HRPEpiC." (abstract, conclusions, passage verified)

  pubmedfull study (doi)
• partial: Mitochondria as Potential Targets and Initiators of the Blue Light Hazard to the Retina. (Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity 2019) · cited 120x in the literature

  "excessive exposure of the retina to blue light tends to cause ROS accumulation and oxidative stress, which affect the structure and function of the retinal mitochondria and trigger mitochondria-involved death signaling pathways." (abstract, results, passage verified)

  pubmedfull study (doi)
• partial: Spectral and color temperature dependence of LED exposure on retinal damage and the protec… (Journal of photochemistry and photobiology. B, Biology 2025)

  "After LED exposure, retinal tissue damage was observed in the rats. 661W cells exhibited upregulated levels of ROS, JC-1 monomer aggregation, and cell apoptosis." (abstract, results, passage verified)

  pubmedfull study (doi)