In today’s world of wellness, two potent strategies are quietly reshaping how people approach hormonal health: the keto diet and red light therapy (RLT).
While one improves your metabolism through nutrition, the other energizes your cells using targeted wavelengths of light. On their own, each offers promising benefits. But together? They could provide a science-backed, synergistic approach to achieve hormonal balance — naturally and holistically.
Why Your Hormones Are So Important
Hormones are not just the background chemicals but rather your body’s messengers. Produced by the endocrine glands, they are key to regulating every aspect of your life, from metabolism, mood, daily energy levels, sex drive, weight, and sleep quality, to how your body manages stress.
When balanced, you feel centered, focused, and energized. When are they off? Fatigue, weight gain, mood swings, disrupted and painful periods, acne, brain fog, and disturbed sleep are all common manifestations. [1]
Hormonal imbalance is more prevalent than you think— it's affected by chronic stress, poor diet, environmental toxins, lack of sleep, and even blue light exposure. But here’s the good news: small, targeted lifestyle changes can have a big hormonal impact.
How the Keto Diet Influences Hormone Levels
A keto diet focuses on reducing carbohydrate intake and increasing healthy fats, which puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis. At this point, you begin to burn fat for fuel rather than glucose. This metabolic shift is not just a weight-loss hack — it can help induce the transformative changes in your hormonal landscape.
Most importantly, keto helps normalize insulin, the hormone that’s in charge of regulating blood sugar. Chronically elevated insulin (as with a carb-filled diet) is correlated to inflammation, fat storage, and hormone disruptions such as PCOS. By limiting carbs, insulin levels drop — and this can stabilize other important hormones.
Evidence suggests that the keto diet may have a positive impact on the stress hormone, cortisol. When sugar levels are stable, the body doesn’t trigger a stress response frequently. [2] Many keto fans also reported stable mood and higher energy levels — indicative of healthier adrenals.
Can Red Light Therapy Help Balance Hormones
While nutrition targets the hormones from the top down, RLT works from the inside out – directly at our cellular level.
Red light therapy harnesses the power of certain wavelengths of light (typically between 600 - 850 nm) that penetrate and are absorbed by mitochondria, the “powerhouse” of your cells. Once energized, these mitochondria can generate more ATP (cellular energy) to improve tissue repair, rejuvenation, and performance. [3]
What does this have to do with hormones? Endocrine glands — adrenal, ovary, and pituitary contain a high density of mitochondria. If the glands receive more energy, they can work better, leading to better hormone production and regulation.
Consistent use of RLT has been reported to bring users reduced PMS symptoms, improved sleep and anxiety, and increased libido — all symptoms associated with hormonal disruption.
A Closer Look at Red Light Therapy and Thyroid Function
Of all the endocrine glands, the thyroid especially merits notice. It is mainly responsible for regulating metabolism, energy, and body temperature, and its function can be compromised due to stress, nutrient deficiency, and inflammation.
Some studies found that red light therapy may help with thyroid health — particularly in people diagnosed with hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) or Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.
In a small clinical trial in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine (2010), people with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, who underwent red light therapy on their thyroid gland twice a week for 10 sessions, reported that their levels of thyroid hormones rose, and some were even able to lower the amount of medication (Levothyroxine) intake. [4]
Numerous users with symptoms of slow thyroid (like fatigue, weight gain, or feeling cold) experience higher energy and increased mental clarity from using RLT as part of their regular routines.
RLT may:
- Enhance local thyroid blood circulation
- Reduce the oxidative stress and stimulate mitochondrial activity in thyroid cells
- Lower inflammatory markers in autoimmune thyroid diseases
If you have an active thyroid nodule, goiter, or history of thyroid cancer, it’s also important to consult with your healthcare provider before applying red light therapy to these regions.
Why Keto and Red Light Work Better Together
When you use a keto diet with red light therapy, they create a more powerful effect on your hormones than either method alone. Instead of just getting separate benefits, they actually support each other to help your hormone system work better.
1. Keto Calms Inflammation
A keto diet stops the constant blood sugar spikes that create inflammation throughout your body. Less inflammation means your hormone glands can work more efficiently. When inflammation decreases, your thyroid, adrenals, and ovaries can focus on hormone production instead of dealing with ongoing stress.
2. Red Light Powers Up Your Glands
Red light therapy gives your hormone-producing glands more cellular energy. Your thyroid, ovaries, and adrenals need this energy to function properly and make hormones. With more energy available, these glands can produce hormones more effectively and repair any existing damage.
3. They Support Each Other
Keto provides steady energy from your food, while red light delivers direct energy to your glands. Your body doesn't waste energy fighting inflammation or blood sugar crashes. This allows more energy to go toward proper hormone production and balance.
4. They Restore Natural Timing
Your hormones follow daily and monthly patterns that stress and poor health can disrupt. Both keto and red light help restore these natural rhythms. Stable blood sugar keeps stress hormones balanced, while energized glands maintain better timing throughout your cycles.
Together, keto creates stable conditions for your hormones while red light provides the energy your glands need to function optimally. This combination gives your body the best environment for natural hormone balance.
Practical Steps to Balance Hormones Naturally
You don’t have to completely change your diet overnight. But if you’re looking to incorporate keto and red light therapy as part of a hormone-balancing lifestyle, here’s the strategic plan:
Start with Food
- Focus on nourishing, whole foods: good fats (avocado, olive oil, grass-fed butter), clean proteins (pastured meats, eggs, and wild-caught fish), and low-glycemic veggies (spinach, broccoli, and zucchini).
- Moderate sugar and less refined carb intake to help control insulin.
- Reduce sugar and processed carbohydrates to help stabilize insulin.
- Keep drinking water, and consider adding electrolytes, especially when you first start keto.
Introduce Red Light Therapy Gradually
- You can use the red/NIR light panel or spot treatment device (neck wand for thyroid support).
- Begin with 5–10 minutes per session, 3–5 times per week.
- Additional focus sessions on thyroid, lower abdomen (ovaries), or lower back (adrenals) as per your goals.
Manage Stress
- Both keto and RLT have stress response-reducing effects, and don’t forget mindfulness, gentle movement, or using adaptogenic herbs (under a practitioner’s guidance).
- Chronic stress disrupts sex and thyroid hormones.
Prioritize Sleep
- Hormonal regulation (particularly cortisol, melatonin, and growth hormone) depends on the sleep quality.
- The red light exposure before bed can, in fact, help with melatonin production and the sleep cycle.
Track Your Progress
- Writing down symptoms such as mood, energy levels, sleep quality, and menstrual cycles could help you identify improvements.
- Blood work (such as TSH, insulin, or sex hormones) can offer more clarity about hormonal health.
Charting Your Path to Hormonal Harmony
There’s no faster solution to hormonal imbalance — but not all hope is lost. When you set the right environment for your body to fix its natural rhythm, you allow it to self-correct and flourish.
A ketogenic diet offers the metabolic platform, and red light therapy provides the cellular fuel. In combination, they represent a progressive interventional model to fit your body’s design, helping you to regain energy and vitality.
If you’re experiencing mood swings, fatigue, weight fluctuations, missed or inconsistent periods — or simply want to take control of your well-being for overall better health — these resources are worth considering.
Hormonal balance is not only achievable, it’s closer than you think. And sometimes, a right balance of light and nourishment is all it takes.
References
- Clinic, C. What is the keto diet and should you try it? Cleveland Clinic, Sep 2022.
- MacKendrick, N. A., & Troxel, H. (2022). Like a finely-oiled machine: Self-help and the elusive goal of hormone balance. Social Science & Medicine, 309, 115242.
- Cleveland Clinic. “Red Light Therapy: Benefits, Side Effects & Uses.” Cleveland Clinic, 1 Dec. 2021.
- Höfling DB, Chavantes MC. Low-level laser in the treatment of patients with hypothyroidism induced by chronic autoimmune thyroiditis: a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Lasers Med Sci. 2013 May;28(3):743–53.
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