Sunlight vs. Far Infrared: What Your Body Actually Needs
We all know sunlight is good for us. Step outside on a warm day and you feel it immediately. Your mood lifts. Your body relaxes. Something just feels right.
That’s not in your head. Humans evolved outdoors. Our biology expects light.
But here’s the catch. The same sun that makes you feel amazing also damages your skin, ages you faster, and increases your cancer risk. Every minute you spend soaking up those rays is a trade-off.
What if you could get many of the same benefits without the trade-off?
That’s where far infrared light comes in.
Why Sunlight Feels So Good
Let’s give the sun credit where it’s due.
When sunlight hits your skin, it triggers vitamin D production. You probably knew that. What you might not know is that just 20 to 30 minutes of summer sun can produce more vitamin D than any supplement on the shelf. Vitamin D supports your bones, your immune system, and about a hundred other things your body needs to function.
Sunlight also releases nitric oxide from your skin. Nitric oxide relaxes blood vessels and lowers blood pressure. Researchers at the Universities of Southampton and Edinburgh found that UV exposure significantly reduced blood pressure, completely independent of vitamin D. This might explain why people who live in sunnier climates tend to have lower rates of heart disease.
And then there’s the simple fact that sunlight feels good. It affects serotonin. It sets your internal clock. It helps you sleep better at night.
So far, so good.
The Problem With Sunlight
Here’s where it gets complicated.
The UV radiation that gives you vitamin D and releases nitric oxide is the same UV radiation that damages your DNA. Every sunburn you’ve ever had represents cellular damage. Your body repairs most of it, but not all. The damage accumulates.
UV light also breaks down collagen and elastin in your skin. It activates enzymes called matrix metalloproteinases, or MMPs, that literally chew up the structural proteins holding your skin together. This is why people who spent decades in the sun end up with wrinkled, leathery skin. It’s not just cosmetic. It’s structural damage at the cellular level.
The World Health Organization classifies UV radiation as a complete carcinogen. Skin cancer rates keep climbing. Most of those cases trace back to sun exposure.
So we’re stuck with a frustrating reality. Sunlight provides real biological benefits. But those benefits come packaged with real biological harm.
Far Infrared: A Different Kind of Light
Far infrared sits at the opposite end of the light spectrum from UV. The wavelengths are much longer. The energy is much lower. It physically cannot damage DNA because it doesn’t have enough photon energy to break molecular bonds.
But it still affects your body in powerful ways.
Heat and Your Heart
When you sit in a far infrared sauna, your core temperature rises. This triggers heat shock proteins, the same stress response your body uses during exercise. Your heart rate increases. Blood vessels dilate. Circulation improves throughout your entire body.
Multiple studies have shown that regular sauna use improves cardiovascular health. A famous Finnish study followed over 2,000 men for 20 years and found that frequent sauna users had significantly lower risk of fatal cardiovascular events. The more often they used the sauna, the lower their risk.
Heat itself is therapeutic. This is why humans have used hot baths and sweat lodges for thousands of years. Far infrared just delivers that heat more efficiently, warming your body directly rather than heating the air around you.
But far infrared does more than just heat you up.
Nitric Oxide Without the UV
Research published in peer-reviewed journals shows that far infrared therapy increases nitric oxide production and improves endothelial function, the health of your blood vessel walls. It accelerates blood flow and increases what researchers call “shear stress,” which triggers your body to produce more nitric oxide naturally.
Sound familiar? It should. This is remarkably similar to what sunlight does. The difference is that far infrared achieves it without any UV radiation touching your skin. No DNA damage. No increased cancer risk. Just the cardiovascular benefits.
Your Skin Actually Gets Better
This is where far infrared really separates itself from sunlight.
UV light ages your skin. Far infrared may actually reverse some of that damage.
A 2017 study published in PLOS ONE found that far infrared treatment increased collagen production and inhibited the enzymes that break collagen down. In animal models, far infrared actually reversed UVB-induced skin damage. The mice treated with far infrared had healthier, denser collagen fibers than mice exposed to UV alone.
We wrote about this in more detail in our article on far infrared and skin health. The short version: UV light breaks your skin down. Far infrared helps build it back up.
Detoxification That Actually Works
Your body eliminates toxins through several pathways. Sweat is one of them. Studies have found heavy metals, pesticides, and other environmental toxins in sweat, sometimes at higher concentrations than in blood or urine.
Far infrared saunas make you sweat. A lot. And because the heat penetrates deeper than traditional saunas, you’re not just sweating from your skin surface. You’re mobilizing stored toxins from deeper tissues.
We’ve collected the research on detoxification benefits if you want to see the studies yourself. The evidence is substantial.
The Comparison
Both sunlight and far infrared trigger beneficial responses in your body. Both improve circulation. Both release nitric oxide. Both make you feel good.
The difference is risk.
Sunlight gives you benefits bundled with harm. You can’t get one without the other. Every minute in the sun is a calculation: How much benefit am I getting versus how much damage am I accumulating?
Far infrared gives you many of the same benefits with essentially no downside. No UV exposure. No DNA damage. No accelerated aging. Research suggests it may even help undo some of the damage sun exposure already caused.
What This Means Practically
We’re not saying you should never go outside. Sunlight still has its place. Vitamin D production requires UVB exposure, and there’s no replacing that with infrared. A little morning sun helps set your circadian rhythm. Being outdoors is good for your mental health.
But if you’re looking for cardiovascular benefits, cellular health support, and improved circulation without accumulating UV damage, far infrared offers something sunlight can’t.
You can use a far infrared sauna every day without worrying about skin cancer. You can enjoy the heat, the sweat, and the cardiovascular workout knowing your skin is getting better, not worse. You can support your body’s natural detoxification processes without any trade-offs.
Sunlight is a package deal you can’t negotiate. Far infrared lets you pick the parts you want.
The Science Matters
At High Tech Health, we’ve been building far infrared saunas since 1997. Our team includes doctors, biochemists, and health practitioners who actually understand this research. We don’t make claims we can’t back up.
Everything on this page comes from peer-reviewed studies published in legitimate scientific journals. We’ve linked to many of them throughout. You can verify it all yourself.
If you want to learn more about how far infrared works and why it matters, check out our complete guide on far infrared sauna benefits. Every claim is referenced.
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References:
Vatansever F, Hamblin MR. Far infrared radiation (FIR): its biological effects and medical applications. Photonics Lasers Med. 2012;4:255-266.
Chiu HW, Chen CH, Chen YJ, Hsu YH. Far-infrared suppresses skin photoaging in ultraviolet B-exposed fibroblasts and hairless mice. PLOS ONE. 2017;12(3):e0174042.
Liu D, et al. UVA irradiation of human skin vasodilates arterial vasculature and lowers blood pressure independently of nitric oxide synthase. J Invest Dermatol. 2014;134:1839-1846.
Hazell G, Khazova M, O’Mahoney P. Low-dose daylight exposure induces nitric oxide release and maintains cell viability in vitro. Scientific Reports. 2023;13:16306.
Laukkanen T, et al. Association between sauna bathing and fatal cardiovascular and all-cause mortality events. JAMA Intern Med. 2015;175(4):542-548.
