My sister was visiting this weekend, and she finally got to use my sauna Sunday morning before her flight. She typically does infrared saunas, and was blown away how hot our sauna got. When she would typically go in the infrared sauna for 45 minutes, we could both only last 20-25 minutes in my sauna (which is all you need. My sauna is a traditional Finnish-style sauna which runs much hotter than an infrared sauna.
Heather and I get a lot of questions about our saunas and we did a sauna Q&A a while back on our different saunas and how often we use it etc. However, we did not really dive into the health benefits of sauna and heat exposure. I also recognize having a sauna in your house isn’t realistic for many, so I wanted to offer some alternatives.
Cardiovascular Benefits
The sauna has similar cardiovascular benefits as aerobic exercise. It can improve ventricular function, lower blood pressure, help lower cholesterol, and reduce inflammation. The benefits increase the more you use the sauna.
Metabolic Health
Hello blood sugar control! Sauna has major blood sugar benefits, so if you’re someone like me that has blood sugar regulation issues, the sauna can be very helpful!
Muscle Recovery and Maintenance
I love getting in the sauna post strength training for muscle recovery. Heat stress may preserve muscle by increasing heat-shock proteins (proteins that help cells survive stressful conditions) and boosting growth hormone. It can also help to reduce soreness post training. More research needs to be done on this, but it looks promising.
Mental Health
I honestly feel a high when I get out of the sauna. I have a clear mind and increased energy and mood. Heat stress triggers a massive release of feel-good chemicals called beta-endorphins. Heat has shown some degree of benefit in treating mood disorders.
Growth Factor
Sauna use can possibly increase human growth hormone which may have anti-aging benefits. Check out this study for more info.
Detoxification
This is probably the number one reason people enjoy the feeling of sauna use. The high temps have you sweating like crazy and releasing toxins from your body.
There are definitely more benefits, but I wanted to highlight the main ones. Like I mentioned above, I recognize that having a sauna at home is not realistic for many.
The HigherDOSE Infrared PEMF Go-Mat or Sauna Blanket are both great options that get great reviews. This sauna tent is also an interesting alternative.
A steam room, hot tub, or a hot bath can also have health benefits.
Happy sweating!
xx, A
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