Staying at a high temperature for the purpose of purification, internal cleaning and healing have been appearing for thousands of years in different cultures such as Indian sweat lodge, Turkish hammam, and Swedish saunas. The first saunas appeared for the first time in history in Northern Europe, mainly in Finland about 2000 years ago.
A dry sauna is heated by a stove on which stones are usually placed or a wet sauna, is heated by jets of boiled water vapor. The temperature in the dry sauna varies between 75-100 degrees and in a wet sauna usually about 45 degrees.
A new type of dry sauna is based on infrared technology. Instead of an electric heater, transducers that emit infrared rays are embedded in the sauna's walls, reaching a temperature of between 45-60 degrees.
An infrared sauna has two important advantages:
First, it is not very hot - which allows you to sit in it longer without feeling extreme and unnecessary weakness.
Second, its maintenance is simple and economical and it does not develop molds and odors for many years.
Using a sauna is simple - sitting passively in high heat causes an increase in body temperature.
In a traditional dry stone sauna, heating is done by heating the air around the stove and then by conduction. The heat spreads throughout the sauna and warms the body. In an infrared sauna, the infrared rays are projected directly into our body and penetrate to a depth of several centimeters, and heat the body from the inside. The time spent there is a minimum of 20 minutes.
Exposure to high heat causes the body stress and causes a powerful and fast physiological reaction. The body's temperature rises initially superficially in the shell and later on the periphery of the body, which is supposed to activate neural, hormonal, and cardiovascular regulatory mechanisms to protect the body's cells and cool them, the output of the heart increases by 60%-70% and a large part of the blood flow is routed to the skin in order to encourage sweat. Sitting for about 20 minutes in the sauna, the body loses about half a kilogram through sweating.
The role of sweating is indeed to cool the body, but on the way, it helps to excrete toxins from the body. Such exposure to stress causes the body to react adaptively - hormesis.
This reaction of the body to staying in the sauna is very similar to the body's reaction to intense activity or fasting. As a response to heat stress, molecular mechanisms have been activated that aim to protect the body's proteins from damage and activate healing mechanisms. One of the mechanisms that are activated involves a group of proteins called Heat Shock Proteins (HSP). These are proteins responsible for repairing damaged proteins or cleaning them from the cell.
When the cells are stressed due to the high heat (as well as lack of nutrients such as fasting) they produce a large amount of HSP and these in turn stabilize and repair the cell proteins that help produce new proteins instead of the broken ones. Another molecular mechanism that is activated by exposure to heat is called FOX03. This group of proteins controls and regulates genes related to DNA repair, suppression of cancerous and pre-cancerous cells, stem cell function, and normal immune system function.
The health benefit of the sauna:
A large study in Finland published in JAMA showed that using a sauna 2-3 times a week reduced the incidence of sudden cardiac death by 22%.
Frequent use of 4-7 times a week reduced the incidence of sudden death by 63%.
Using a sauna improves the function of blood vessels and improves the condition of patients with heart failure.
Also, staying in the sauna can improve the blood lipid profile as well as treat high blood pressure.
Brain health:
Similar to physical activity, exposure to heat and relative stress on the body causes and results in an increased production of BDIVF. It is an important molecule that regulates the neural flexibility of our brain (neuroplasticity) and is responsible for strengthening learning, long-term memory, and cognitive abilities. Frequent use of the sauna reduces the incidence of Alzheimer's disease by 65%.
Fitness:
Sitting in a sauna is very beneficial for recovery after exercise. It is actually in the body a state of physical activity. It actually simulates in the human body a state of physical activity, frequent use improves the performance of athletes, but also of amateurs.
immune system:
When the body temperature rises, the immune system goes into the extra activity. The body simulates a fever as due to illness. This heat kills bacteria and viruses. The body becomes more immune to infectious diseases.
Detoxification:
Urine, feces, and sweat are the body's three ways of getting rid of toxins.
Through sweat, the body gets rid of heavy and toxic metals - aluminum, lead, cadmium, and other industrial toxic substances.
Best wishes for good health,
Inbal,
* The information and contents on the website and in this post do not constitute a medical opinion or a medical substitute for consultation with a doctor, any medical material appearing on this website is informative only and should not be considered in any way medical advice and/or a recommendation for medical treatment and/or a substitute for medical treatment.
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