The Health Benefits of Using a Sauna

Traditionally, saunas have hot stones onto which users pour water to keep the room temperature high. It is still possible to get this type of sauna heater, but there are also many different types out there, including infrared heaters. Regardless of the type of heater you get, saunas have a number of excellent health benefits. Let’s take a look.

Weight Loss

One of the most popular benefits of saunas is that they can help you to lose weight. Because your core temperature heats up, the body has to use more energy to keep itself cool. Spending 20 to 40 minutes a day in the sauna can help you burn around 600 calories each day. That’s an impressive amount of calories!

Cardiovascular Benefits

Because your heart rate increases when you’re in the sauna, your heart also becomes stronger. It also helps to lower your blood pressure, as your blood flow rises. Essentially, a sauna is a heart workout. This has been confirmed by medical research, which was first started by NASA in the 1980s. They concluded that infrared saunas were actually the best at improving heart health.

Detox

Because you sweat when you are in the sauna, your body releases a huge amount of toxins that are built up in the system over time. Even if you eat a really healthy diet, you are still exposed to various pollutants in our environment, and these permeate your skin and travel through all your organs and blood stream. This increases the amount of free radicals in your body, which can lead to various diseases. Spending some time in the sauna helps to lower that risk.

Stronger Immune System

Because of the above detox benefits, you will also help your immune system to become stronger. As it doesn’t have to work so hard at getting rid of various toxins in your body, it can regenerate itself and get to work actually protecting you from viruses and bacteria and do what it has supposed to do. Furthermore, a sauna effectively causes an ‘artificial fever’, which means your immune system immediately gets to work.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

If you suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, you can really benefit from spending some time in the sauna. Research has shown that levels of erythrocyte sedimentation rate, which is high in people with rheumatoid arthritis, drop significantly after using the sauna. This has also been demonstrated in athletes, who often have arthritic symptoms.

These are just some of the many benefits offered by saunas and there are many more. Most gyms and health centers have saunas that you can use as part of your membership. Alternatively, you could consider installing a sauna in your own home. They are reasonably affordable and they don’t take up too much space either. If you have a garden, you could even consider installing an outdoor sauna. Do spend some time online to compare the different saunas that are out there and find one that is right for your personal needs and your budget.