The Top Ten Health Benefits of Sauna +
One for Mankind
1. Feel better instantly! Because it relaxes muscles, soothes aches and pains in muscles and joints including back pain. How it works: Under high heat, the body releases endorphins - the body’s naturally produced pain-relieving chemicals. Endorphins can have a mild, enjoyable tranquilizing effect and can ease muscle soreness from an intense physical workout. As body heat rises from the heat of the sauna, blood vessels dilate and circulation increases. That increased blood flow accelerates the natural healing process by speeding up the healing of cuts and bruises and muscle soreness.
2. Banish Tension! Using a sauna as a warm, quiet space to let down from the cares of the day, Finnleo users cite “stress relief” as the #1 benefit of taking a sauna. Regular sauna users report that after leaving the sauna, their minds are more relaxed, lucid and free from day-to day worries. The time spent in the still, calm retreat of a sauna provides a pampering retreat. The after sauna glow has a positive effect on mental health.
3. Diminish Joint and Arthritis Pain. The release of endorphins plays a big part in arthritis relief. But it is the high, constant heat that allows users to move joints more freely. Arthritis sufferers report that they can manage their daily pain levels and use less pain relief medication with regular sauna use.
4. Sleep like a baby. The complete relaxation experienced after taking a sauna is a great way to prepare for sleep. Research has shown that the release of endorphins when body temperature is raised in the evening can lead to deeper sleep as the body cools.
5. Be a lean, mean, germ fighting machine. Medical research by German scientists demonstrated that saunas significantly reduced the incidence of colds and flu. As the body is exposed to a sauna’s heat and steam, it produces more rapid production of white blood cells, which fight illness and help kill viruses.
6. Lick stuffiness and congestion. Sauna use relieves congestion from colds and allergies especially when used with steam.
7. More sweat? Deep sweat for health. Deep sweating has multiple health benefits. In the heat of the sauna, the core body temperature rises causing blood vessels to dilate and blood flow to increase. The primary reason for sweating is to cool the body. 99% of what’s produced by the sweat glands is water. But deep sweating can help reduce levels of lead, copper, zinc, nickel and mercury - all poisonous toxins that are more prevalent in our environment than ever in history.
8. Enjoy a cleaner, closer shave, and cleaner skin! Sweat rinses bacteria out of the epidermal layer and sweat ducts. There is abundant anecdotal evidence that regular sauna use reduces acne. At the same time the skin is cleansed, dead cells are replaced, keeping the skin in good condition and creating a soft, youthful appearance. Improves shaving, too. As the heat of the sauna opens pores, hair follicles are softened, making it easier to get a close shave. For a really invigorating sweat, the Finns flog themselves and fellow bathers. We say that flogging is optional.
9. Pump up the (heart) volume. In the heat of a sauna, the core body temperature rises. In response to the heat, blood vessels near the skin dilate and cardiac output increases. Medical research shows that heart rate can rise from 60-70/minute to 110-120/minute in the sauna and then sink to below normal after the cooling off stage. With regular sauna use the heart muscle can be trained and the heart rate/cardiac output can be increased. Further cardiovascular conditioning occurs when the sauna is taken in multiple “innings”, with sessions in the sauna separated by a cool shower. Every time you rapidly change temperature from hot to cold or vice versa, your heart rate increases by as much as 60% - comparable to moderate exercise.
10. Shed pounds. In a sauna, calories are expended in at least two ways. First is the sweating process itself. It takes energy to sweat and that energy is derived from the conversion of fat and carbohydrates in a process that burns calories. According to U.S. Army medical research (Ward Dean, M.D.) “A moderately conditioned person can easily sweat off 500 calories in a sauna in a single session, consuming 300 calories in the process.” The body consumes calories by way of accelerated heart activity. As that activity increases, demanding more oxygen; the body converts more calories into expendable energy.
11. Promote world peace. For the Finns, a sauna is as common a place to meet business associates as a golf course, and sometimes they do both, one after the other. Finnish politicians, starting with the late Urho Kekkonen, former president of Finland, often settled their disagreements with the opposition - including high ranking foreign dignitaries - sitting in their birthday-suits on the wooden benches of a piping hot sauna. It’s the perfect way to “Just be yourself”.
