Infrared Sauna Health Benefits
1. Improved Skin Tone
Infrared sauna therapy dilates the blood vessels, effectively increasing circulation throughout the body. This increased circulation not only helps remove waste products, but also helps deliver more oxygen and nutrients to the skin. Since our skin depends on these nutrients to form collagen (which keeps our skin firm), infrared sauna therapy can be a great way to improve skin tone and reduce wrinkles.
2. Flushes Out Toxins
Our immune systems are up against an arsenal of toxins that our ancestors never dreamt of: pesticides, toxic metals, PCBs in plastics, environmental pollution, and even GMOs (genetically modified organisms). Combining this with a lifelong poor diet is a set-up for accumulated toxins and a potentially weakened immune system.
Luckily, infrared sauna treatments can give your body an extra push to eliminate these toxins. Specifically, this is achieved through sweating, which has been shown in several studies to increase detoxification and lower circulating levels of toxins in the body.
3. Weight Loss
It turns out taking a rest in an infrared sauna can also aid in weight loss. In a study of obese adults, researchers discovered “… body weight and body fat significantly decreased after 2 weeks of sauna therapy.” Researchers theorize this is due to increased heart rate and the body working (i.e., burning calories) to cool itself.
Interestingly, in the same study, patients at a normal weight with loss of appetite experienced “increased caloric intake and improved feeding behavior.” This shows that infrared sauna therapy may act as a sort of weight and appetite “balancer” by increasing ghrelin (the hunger hormone) in low appetite patients, while keeping ghrelin levels balanced in obese patients.
4. Improves Cardiovascular Function
Infrared sauna therapy has also been shown to be good for your heart. The effects have proven so powerful that studies have associated sitting in an infrared sauna with a reduced risk of sudden cardiac death, fatal coronary heart disease, fatal cardiovascular disease, and even all-cause mortality.
These effects are due to the increased heart rate, blood flow, and improved blood pressure in patients using infrared sauna therapy. Interestingly, researchers compared the cardiac output patients experience in the sauna room to going on a brisk walk.
5. Pain Relief
Another excellent aspect of infrared sauna therapy is its ability to reduce chronic pain – without the negative side effects of some pain medications. For instance, research out of the Netherlands found that patients with rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis who underwent infrared sauna therapy for four weeks experienced reduced pain, stiffness, and fatigue following the treatment. Researchers speculate these benefits resulted from reduced inflammation levels, which lessen the friction between the patient’s joints that result in chronic pain.
6. Wound Healing
Infrared sauna therapy also has the remarkable ability to speed up the wound healing process. Specifically, research out of NASA has shown that infrared light significantly increases tissue growth and cell regeneration due to our mitochondria readily accepting infrared light.
7. Boosts Circulation
Infrared sauna therapy has also been found to improve circulation. This can have far-reaching benefits, from better skin tone (as discussed earlier) to lowered blood pressure. In fact, researchers discovered infrared sauna therapy significantly improves blood vessel function in diabetes and smoking patients with high cholesterol.
8. Fights Chronic Fatigue
A recent study found that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), which results in extreme fatigue with no definitive cause, is greatly relieved in patients using infrared saunas. The study involved CFS patients sitting in a 60°C (140°F) sauna for 15 minutes, followed by bed rest under a blanket for 30 minutes in a separate room. This was performed once a day, five days a week, for a total of four weeks.
The results? Negative mood, anxiety, and depression levels significantly improved after the therapy, with fatigue ratings on a scale of 1 to 10 sliding from 6.7 to 4.8. While there is no clear answer as to why infrared sauna therapy benefits chronic fatigue patients, researchers theorize it may be due to its ability to reduce oxidative stress and improve cardiac output, both of which have been linked to this syndrome.