The healing and health benefits of sauna therapy have been enjoyed by cultures around the world for thousands of years. Whether you’re looking to detoxify the body, ease chronic pain, or simply improve overall health—participating in sauna treatments on a daily basis can help us look and feel our very best.
Emerging evidence has suggested that sauna bathing may be particularly useful for pleasure as well as a variety of other health uses (1). Individuals suffering from chronic pain and acute disease especially may enjoy an array of health benefits from undergoing sauna treatment. Furthermore, research suggests sauna baths correspond to the same physiological responses as performing moderate or high-intensity physical activities such as walking.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the benefits of sauna therapy and why you should consider incorporating it into your daily health recovery strategy.
What is Sauna Therapy?
Sauna therapy is a tool used to help the body detoxify itself through sweating. The beauty of sauna therapy is that it can help rid the body of harmful toxins stored deep within our tissues. It works by heating the body’s core temperature and eliminating the body of harmful toxins from the skin, liver, and kidneys.
Although exercise can help detoxify the body as part of a healthy lifestyle, sauna treatment works by inducing the parasympathetic state. Toxins may be found deep within different layers in your tissues or other cellular elements. By exposing the body to elevated environmental temperatures for a brief period of time—sauna therapy works by increasing the heart rate from a baseline of 120 to 150 beats per minute (1).
Sauna treatment is in stark contrast to traditional physical activity which actively engages skeletal muscles. The resulting increase in core temperature can improve your overall health if performed for short 15-20 minute durations several times per week.
Health Benefits of Sauna Treatment
The physiological response associated with sauna treatment can help engage a healthy form of stress on the body that provides healing health benefits. By mimicking the natural stressors in the body—sauna treatment can provide a range of health benefits to the everyday person.
Some of the health benefits associated with sauna treatment include:
- Improved cardiovascular health
- Reduction of high blood pressure
- Reduction of stress and chronic pain
- Improved metabolism
- Improved fat burning and weight loss abilities
- Increase in antioxidant production
Individuals undergoing sauna treatment experienced a 47% reduced risk of hypertension over the course of 25 year period (1). Furthermore, risks associated with sudden cardiac death and all-cause mortality were drastically reduced when undergoing regular sauna treatment therapy.
Cognitive Benefits
The health benefits of sauna therapy go beyond physiological factors. Emerging recent evidence has also suggested that sauna exposure has numerous protective effects to safeguard against neurocognitive disease. Studies have indicated that men undergoing sauna treatment have up to a 66% reduced risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (1).
Although sauna treatment may be seen as mostly a pleasure and relaxation tool—it can actually help reduce everyday stress and help people perform better in their daily lives. Long term it can even help lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other issues related to cognitive decline.
How Often Should You Sauna?
Using a sauna on a regular basis can help leave you feeling invigorated and re-energized. By relaxing the blood vessels and increasing blood flow saunas can provide a number of positive health benefits from both a physiological and cognitive perspective.
Saunas not only detoxify the body, but can also help improve metabolism, weight loss, and increase blood circulation. Most people recommend undergoing sauna treatment three or four days per week. Start with shorter durations of 10 to 15 minutes and increase your time accordingly as your body becomes more accustomed to the higher temperature environments.
Other Health Recommendations
If you’re still attempting to maximize your overall health and prevent anti-aging be sure to do the following:
- Perform resistance training workouts at least three to four times per week (check out Alphashred.com for online training programs)
- Follow a well-rounded balanced diet consisting mostly of whole foods (check out Alphashred.com for online nutrition programs and recommendations)
- Create a supplement stack complete with NAD3 to help boost NAD+ levels, Golden to help reduce inflammation, and S9 to reduce uric acid in the body
If you’re looking to live a longer, healthier life be sure to learn more about the Okinawa Diet. People around the world have used the diet for thousands of years to help them live long lives to 100 years old and beyond.
We’re here to help guide you on the path towards living your best life. If you have any additional questions or are looking for dietary advice and feedback, be sure to contact us for more information.
Kindest regards,
Sean Torbati
References:
- https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(18)30275-1/pdf
