Color Therapy: A Scientific View

By Tony Cocilovo

All colors are not equal. Our eyes have very gross abilities compared to the sensitivities required by each cell of your body to distinguish magnetic, electric, optical and acoustical information—which dictates what those cells do, where they go, what enzymes to produce, and what they change into. If two green colors look alike to our eyes, they probably are not similar when spectrographically analyzed.

The Russians did a vast amount of research on what happens when intense light is applied to the body. They found that the places where light enters the body happen to be the same as the traditional acupuncture meridian points.

Light has beneficial effects on the body by the following actions:

• Enables therapeutic entrainment (entrainment happens when brainwave frequency becomes synchronized with an external stimulus)
• Excites cells to higher energy levels
• Improves transcellular permeability
• Strengthens and unblocks meridian flow
• Predisposes the organism to parasympathetic normalcy
• Helps remove sympathetic nervous system blockages
• Helps re-establish the body’s own communication network

A Word About “Frequency”
It gets confusing trying to figure out all this talk about “frequency” and how the body or the skin is affected by particular frequencies. I have found the word “frequency” to be used two ways. One usage refers to the rate at which the light is pulsed—also referred to as Hz (hertz), or cycles per second. The second usage of the term “frequency” refers to a specific color, or more particularly, a specific location on the visible electromagnetic chart. Although the term “frequency” indicates color to the eye, the more specific nanometer bandwidth indication (which is also a specific color) is not what we perceive by the eye. It is what is read by a spectrometer (a device for studying radiant emissions and wavelengths). The spectrometer indicates the bandwidth and wavelength formation pattern of a particular light emission.

Visible light is actually made up of electromagnetic waves—vibrations of electric and magnetic fields that travel through space. In contrast to slow-moving ocean waves, electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light: 300 million meters per second, or 669.6 million miles per hour.

Below is a chart of colors (plus infrared and ultraviolet) and their wavelengths:

Corresponding Colors and Wavelengths

Infrared: 1100-700 Hz
Red: 700-625 Hz
Orange: 625-595 Hz
Yellow: 595-570 Hz
Green: 570-495 Hz
Blue: 495-440 Hz
Indigo: 440-410 Hz
Violet: 410-380 Hz
Ultraviolet: 380-290 Hz

Every electromagnetic wave exhibits a unique frequency and wavelength. For instance, the picture below represents an electromagnetic wave corresponding to the color red.

Its frequency is 428,570 GHz (pronounced gigahertz), which can also be stated as 428,570 billion cycles per second. So when you look at red light, your eye receives over four hundred trillion waves every second!

The wavelength of such light is 700 nanometers long, which means that one wave spans 7 ten-millionths of a meter. A nanometer is a unit of spatial measurement that is 10-9 meter, or one-billionth of a meter.

All electromagnetic waves are classified according to their characteristic frequencies into what is known as the electromagnetic spectrum. Visible light deals with the light energy of wavelengths that can cause visual sensation. The human visual range is typically from 380 namometers (nm) to 780 nm. Wavelengths outside this range do very little in stimulating our eye, but do affect us by heat, X-rays, gamma rays, etc. Infrared light is heat; our bodies emit infrared rays.

Light Sources
The light source we evolved with was the sun. Since the advent of the light bulb, there have been a number of artificial light sources. The earliest consisted of a vacuum (a glass bulb) with an electrically stimulated filament (tungsten in our current household bulbs). The particular color (frequency) that the bulb emitted depended on the composition of the metal filament. Other types of bulbs consist of gasses (such as xenon and neon) in a glass vacuum bulb. There is no filament, but an electrical current is applied to the bulb to stimulate the gasses to emit light. Color is a result of the addition of other gasses and elements in the bulb (such as in neon bulbs).

The bulb which emits the most “full-spectrum” white light is xenon. It is considered “full spectrum” because its light covers the widest area of the visible spectrum of light (closer to the emissions of the sun than any other). A white LED is actually a blue LED and a phosphor. It works in a way similar to the fluorescent light bulb, where the blue light excites the phosphors to make a white glow. In full-spectrum lighting, each color produces a fingerprint or “barcode” of a variety of wavelengths.

LEDs. A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits visible light when an electric current passes through it. The light is not particularly bright. The output from an LED can range from red (at a wavelength of approximately 700 nanometers) to blue-violet (about 400 nanometers).

Infrared Light. Some LEDs emit infrared (IR) energy (830 nanometers or longer); such a device is known as an infrared-emitting diode (IRED). Traditional tungsten-filament heat lamps used to relieve aches and pains were found in many households in the 1950s and 1960s. Infrared lamps and bulbs are still available for home use and available in hardware stores—often used in bathroom ceiling lights. Your eyes are very susceptible to high-intensity short-wave infrared radiation. Long-term exposure to infrared radiation can permanently damage the eyes. (Editor’s note: These lights are safe in therapy devices as long as you don’t stare at the lights or point them toward your eyes.)

Lasers. An acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, these devices amplify light, then release it in a coherent powerful beam. The term “coherent” refers to the very straight pathway that the light particles travel in. It’s a narrow band of light of the same wavelength and phase, and it is very intense. LEDs, sunlight and all bulbs produce “incoherent” light, which means the light they produce spreads out in all directions equally.

Only lasers are truly “monochromatic”: their light output occupies a very narrow band on the visible electromagnetic spectrum. Monochromatic is a term that literally means “one color,” and it is used very loosely. Laser light occupies a bandwidth of about 10 nanometers or less and is truly monochromatic. In comparison, LED light occupies several tens of nanometers. LEDs have broad spectra and their light consists of many different wavelengths. The specific wavelength that is attributed to any one LED color is only its peak wavelength. Many people refer to LEDs as monochromatic when they are not truly monochromatic. However, their bandwidth is narrower than full-spectrum light.

Colors and the EMF Spectrum
There is a direct relationship between colors and the electromagnetic field spectrum. There are many devices that use a variety of high frequencies, with claims that these frequencies alone have beneficial effects on the body. There are two primary sources for substantiating this information. One is Dr. Royal Rife, who in the 1920s developed an electronic device which sent pulsed electrical signals to a plasma gas-filled vacuum tube. The tube emitted light—a purple or pinkish pulsed glow depending on the gasses he used (which was usually argon). He came up with a number of frequencies for destroying pathogens, but today his frequencies are often passed around and used without discretion. These frequencies can also have a harmful effect on healthy tissue and healthy intestinal bacteria.

A very serious point that is not taken into account is that before Dr. Rife used any “frequency,” he would run lab tests on tissue samples that would be taken from the individual’s cancerous tissue and actually see which frequency was appropriate to cause the outer cell walls to deteriorate. He never blasted frequencies at individuals without first looking into his very unique and powerful microscope to understand the effects of such frequencies. Also, the effectiveness of his device was not due solely to the electronic frequency, but also to the effects of the plasma gasses. The high frequencies that were used by Dr. Rife were used not only to destroy pathogens, but also to increase white cell production. So many devices claim that they are “Rife” devices, and they don’t even have a plasma bulb.

The second “frequency” influence comes from work done by Dr. Paul Nogier in Lyons, France in the 1970s. Dr Nogier found that micro frequencies exist which correspond to the three types of embryological tissue. He developed a system for using these three frequencies on acupuncture meridians—especially in the ear. These systems are micro-systems with micro-sensitivities. They do not take into account dominant overriding influences. The earth’s electromagnetic field is so huge that it, and its influences, are easily overlooked. In the article “The Schumann Resonances and Human Psychobiology” by Richard and Iona Miller (Nexus Magazine, Volume 10, Number 3, April-May 2003), the authors explain that our brain waves share, and are attuned to, certain frequencies of the Schumann resonances—the ELF (extremely low frequency) signals that pulsate between the Earth’s crust and ionosphere.

Colors and Brain Waves
Lewis B. Hainsworth, a researcher from Western Australia, was one of the first researchers to note the relationship of brain waves to the Schumann resonance. It was obvious to researchers as early as 1977 that brain-wave rhythms, and human health and well-being, were intimately related to the pulsations of the earth’s electromagnetic shield. Some color therapy devices pulse the light at approximately 2–20 pulses per second. This reinforces the pulsed information from the Schumann Resonance.

Hainsworth found that human health is dependent upon the earth’s frequencies under which we evolved, and in fact our human DNA encodes patterns of information based on these frequencies. In addition, variations in these patterns can produce mild to disastrous health and behavioral changes. When the body receives signals that distort the naturally occurring resonant field, a variety of stress-related conditions appear such as mental disturbance, antisocial behavior, psychosomatic conditions and neurological disturbances. However, when we are exposed to reinforcing and entraining frequency signals that match those of the Schumann Resonance, we increase health and relaxation, which can be detected via EEGs and heart-rate variability monitors.

Hainsworth wrote: “Oscillators alter the environment in a periodic manner. Thus, standing waves in the body, whether during meditation/relaxation or not, can be driven by a larger signal. Progressively amplified wave-forms, created by resonance, result in large oscillations entraining other circuits in the body tuned to those frequencies. A hierarchy of frequencies thus couples our psychophysical selves to the harmonic frequency of the electrical charge of the Earth, which naturally pulses at the same frequencies. This is hardly a coincidence, as we are adaptive products of our environment.”

The brain waves that we are most familiar with are Delta (.5-4 Hz, deep sleep), Theta (4-8 Hz, drowsy/dreaming) Alpha (8-12 Hz, relaxed), and Beta (12-25 Hz, active). These different rhythms are detectable by an EEG and match perfectly with the signals of the Schumann resonances. “The brain is a massive source of ELF signals that get transmitted throughout the body through the nervous system, which is sensitive to magnetic fields,” wrote Hainsworth. These field signals are not constant but fluctuate (just like brain waves) due to solar events, geographical location and lunar cycles.

In another article, “Effects of 6-10 Hz ELF on Brain Waves,” by David S. Walonick (http://borderlands.com/archives/arch/elf.htm), the issue of entrainment is examined. Walonick found that we respond to external ELF signals differently. Some brains would “lock on” to a frequency immediately, while others would not register a change. He also found that the subjects’ brains locked on to 9-10 Hz signals more readily and maintained the lock-on for the entire length of signal transmission.

Walonick tried to find out if any of the subjects were able to consciously detect the presence of the ELF fields. Although one female subject could detect when they started and ended, no one was able to detect the presence of the magnetic field itself. Some other interesting findings:

• The brain prefers a gradual lowering of frequency rather than a sudden or abrupt change in frequency.
• Psychics and “sensitives” were not predisposed to “lock on” any more than anyone else.
• The brain is sensitive to a wide range of intensities down to one-half of a milliwatt.
• Exposure to ELFs does alter moods, but the effect is subtle. The subject may or may not notice a change, but outside observers and EMG monitors do.
• The author found three beneficial uses for ELF entrainment: for relaxation, to eliminate jet lag, and to eliminate seizures in a dog.

“It is clear that brain waves do in fact lock on to artificially produced ELFs in the 6-10 Hz range,” Walonick wrote. “Even low-intensity 60 Hz fields are capable of causing DNA damage and weakening the immune system. Cancer cells exposed to 60 Hz electromagnetic fields for 24 hours show a sixfold increase in their growth rate.”

In the article “Energy: Source of Life and Health” by Josef Plattner and Roland G Heber, MD, there is a list of health benefits associated with specific frequencies: “According to the long-term experience of scientists and engineers, the frequencies listed below have proven beneficial in the treatment of the following problems,” they wrote. “The indications for the various frequencies were derived from clinical experience, i.e. based on analysis of practical data collected over 30 years.”

1–2 Hz: inflammation
1–3 Hz: sleep disorders, heart problems
1–3 Hz: promote relaxation and sleep
4 Hz: sensitivity to weather changes, bronchitis
4–5 Hz: migraine, sinusitis, nervousness, sciatica
4–7 Hz: relaxing and calming
5–8 Hz: blood pressure regulation
9 Hz: fatigue, weakness
7–13 Hz: promote learning
8–10 Hz: headache, weather sensitivity, arthritis, joint and rheumatic pains, pains from scars and phantom limb pain, hay fever
10–12 Hz: circulatory and vascular disorders, headaches, muscle tension
10 Hz: low blood pressure, weak blood circulation, allergies, sprains
14–15 Hz: fatigue, chronic tiredness, bronchial asthma
18 Hz: rheumatoid arthritis, arthritis, intervertebral disc problems
18–23 Hz: degenerative diseases of the musculoskeletal system, osteoporosis
13–23 Hz: vitalize and increase energy levels