SAUNA BENEFITS:

The primary benefits of the sauna are unsurprisingly derived from the hot
conditions. Hyperthermic conditioning is the term for the changes that your body
undergoes when exposed to heat “stress”. This is known as hormesis, the
phenomenon whereby the body reaps benefits when exposed to low doses of a
stressor, in this case heat. Building upon that foundation, here are the actual
evidence backed benefits of sauna usage.

Slowing Ageing and Increasing Longevity

The Finns love a sauna session, and a 20 year study of over 2,000 Finnish men
found that the more time they spent in the sauna each week, the less likely they
were to die. 2 to 3 sessions a week decreased the chances of death from fatal
cardiovascular and all-cause mortality events, by around 24%. Increasing to 4 to
7 sauna sessions per week boosts that figure to 40%[1].

Pretty amazing! But why is this? One theory is that the heat from the sauna causes
your body to produce heat shock proteins (HSP), which have been implicated in
increasing longevity[2]. They promote cellular autophagy (the repair and
recycling of damaged cells), and also preventing future damage by supporting the
maintenance of antioxidants such as glutathione[3].

Heat also activates the protein FOXO3 which has been found to play a major role
in slowing ageing and living longer[4]. FOXO3 influences a wide array of other
genes responsible for crucial cellular processes regulating stress resistance,
metabolism, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis (cell death)[5]. Essentially, the sauna
proves to be an excellent method of providing the heat to trigger both HSP and
FOXO3, helping you to maintain your body and live longer.

Boosting the Power of Your Cells

Mitochondria can be thought of as the batteries powering our cells, and as such
they are vital for our health and longevity. We want plenty of big, powerful
mitochondria keeping us super fit and healthy as we grow older. If your
mitochondria are small and weak, then so are you! And this can speed up ageing
and cause multiple diseases[6].

Once again, heat stress has been shown to have a positive impact on
mitochondrial health[7], helping the body to produce more mitochondria, make
your mitochondria bigger and stronger, recycle and repair existing mitochondria,
and better protect your mitochondria from oxidative stress. All of this means a
greater capacity for your body to generate energy, and remain fit, healthy, and
functioning at optimal levels, whilst also once again slowing the ageing process.

Detoxifying and Cleansing the Body

In the modern post-industrial world we are all exposed to a large variety of
potentially toxic heavy metals and chemicals[8]. Even the most health conscious
individual will still have a wide range of toxins in their body. However, the sauna
offers one of the best possible ways that we can manage the ongoing
detoxification of our bodies.

You can probably guess that sweating plays a major role here. Sweating is the
optimal method our body has for excreting toxins in the highest
concentrations[9]. By simply sitting and sweating we are allowing our bodies to
flush out a whole range of harmful toxins, including heavy metals such as arsenic,
cadmium, lead, and mercury[10], as well as accumulated industrial chemicals.

In the modern world we live fairly sedate lifestyles in controlled climates to keep
us comfortable. This means we need to make specific time to sit and sweat and
detoxify our bodies. The heat can also boost the functioning of your autonomic
nervous system (ANS), which actually increases your ability to sweat more. Thus
the sauna creates a virtuous cycle, helping your body to detoxify and balance
itself.

Improving Heart Health and Blood Pressure

Heart disease is the leading cause of death across the world. I already referenced
the study that shows how multiple sauna sessions lower the risk of death.
Specifically in relation to heart disease, 2 to 3 sessions a week reduced the risk of
death from coronary heart disease (CHD) by 23%, and the risk of death from
cardiovascular disease (CVD) by 27%. 4 to 7 sessions a weeks pretty much
doubles those figures to 48% and 50% respectively. Another study showed
similar results, with regular sauna usage showing a 58% reduction in the chance
of dying from CVD[11].

In addition, even just using the sauna every few weeks has been shown to be able
to help hypertensive people experience a drop in blood pressure that matches
that delivered by medication[12]. Another study found that more regular sauna
usage (again 4 to 7 times per week), could cut the risk of high blood pressure by
up to 50%[13].

In the case of the heart and blood pressure, this could well be because heat from
the sauna can improve blood flow, and the function of your nervous system and
heart[14]. All of which keeps your blood flowing as it should, and your heart
healthy, and functioning as it should. Again, some of these stats sound pretty
astounding, but these studies are comprehensive and repeatedly showing the
same results!

Improving Athletic Performance

And what about the rest of the body? Incredibly, just sitting in a sauna can
actually increase athletic performance. One study on male long distance runners
found that regular sauna bathing increased their run time to exhaustion by
32%[15]! These are the sort of results one might expect from performance
enhancing drugs… not just from sitting in a sauna!

Again, a large part of this comes down to the impact of hyperthermic

conditioning. Heat stress causes an increase and improvements in blood flow to
the heart, and an increase in plasma and red blood cell volume. This helps your
body transport oxygen faster and more efficiently[16]. Heat stress also ramps up
your body’s thermoregulatory system, helping you to better regulate your body
temperature[17]. This in turn leads to the potential for improved performance,
and recovery and growth[18].

Increasing Muscle Growth and Recovery

Sauna usage can help increase the size of your muscles, reduce muscle
breakdown or less, and help with muscle recovery. That’s a pretty incredible set
of benefits. Time in the sauna has a huge impact on human growth hormone
(HGH) levels. Spending two one hour sessions per day in a sauna, for seven days
straight, was shown to increase HGH by between 2 to 5 times[19].
HGH activates an increase in insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1)[20], and
increases insulin sensitivity[21]. These factors lead to an increase in the
improved uptake of amino acids, increased protein synthesis and a decrease in
protein breakdown, all of which are the building blocks for putting on and
maintaining muscle mass. The previously mentioned reduction in oxidative stress
(through sauna usage) also helps to minimise muscle breakdown and reduce
inflammation. Both of which help with muscle maintenance and recovery[22].

Helping with Weight Loss

As well as helping you get (and stay) big and strong, sauna usage can also assist
with weight loss. In one study participants engaging in regular sauna sessions lost
almost 2 times more weight and nearly 5 times more body fat compared to the
control group[23]. This is largely due to the fact that sauna usage can help to
regulate the appetite[24], and the heat stress also increases metabolism and
oxygen utilisation to similar levels as those shown during moderate exercise[25].

Fighting Pain and Inflammation

From headaches[26] to chronic pain[27], sauna usage has proven an effective
treatment. A big part of how sauna bathing eliminates pain is the way in which it
works on inflammation. Inflammation is a result of the body trying to heal itself.
However, there are multiple environmental and behavioural factors that can
excessive chronic inflammation.

Inflammation is the hidden, internal cause of almost all major diseases, and
massively contributes to ageing and death. Reducing inflammation is a big key to
optimising your health and longevity, and studies suggest that the sauna can help.
The HSPs I mentioned earlier play a part, as they are anti-inflammatory
proteins[28].

Additional studies do show that regular sauna usage reduces evidence of

oxidative stress, which can often cause inflammation. In particular regular sauna
goers have lower levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), which is a specific indicator
of chronic inflammation[29]. So, heating ourselves up can actually reduce
inflammation. And this is one of the best possible things we can do for ourselves
in terms of optimising our health and longevity.

Beating Illness and Disease

Beyond pain and inflammation, sauna usage can also potentially help to fight a
range of illness and disease ranging from Alzheimer’s and dementia, and
respiratory disease, right through to cancer. As previously mentioned, sauna
usage increases HSP and FOXO3 levels, which can play a key role in repairing
misfolded proteins in the brain (a key component of many neurodegenerative
diseases such as Alzheimer’s). One study has shown that regular sauna usage has
the potential to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia by over 65%[30]!

Moving south of the mind, sauna usage has also been proven to be highly effective
at combatting lung and respiratory disease. Regular sauna usage can reduce the
risk of respiratory disease by over 40%[31]. Sauna usage causes a hormetic
response in the lungs which helps to decrease congestion and increase the
operation and functioning of the lungs[32]. This in turn helps the lungs to fight off
infection, and perform at optimal levels, reducing the risk and symptoms of
illness and disease.

Finally, sauna usage may have a positive impact in helping to fight cancer, by
causing apoptosis in tumour cells[33]. It is suggested that this could be because
normal, healthy cells are capable of adapting to stress, whereas cancer cells
cannot[34]. Again, FOXO3 can play a key role in the suppression of tumours[35].
Finally, tumour cells are far more at threat from heat due to reduced blood flow.
And there are studies that the use of heat can improve the results of treating a
variety of cancers, by up to as much as 50%[36].

Boosting Your Immune System

As well as fighting pain, inflammation and illness and disease, sauna usage can
also help boost your immune system. Making you fitter and stronger and more
resistant to disease in the first place, and more effective at fighting it off when it
does arrive. Heat stress raises the body temperature, mimicking the effects of a
fever, in turn giving your immune system a workout. In technical terms this may
be due to the increase in HSPs, which stimulates immunity[37].

This helps to strengthen your immune system and prepare it for any illness and
disease. For example, multiple studies have shown to reduce the occurrence of
the common cold by up to as much as 50%[38]. These recent sections highlight
many of the ways in which the sauna can help fight pain, inflammation, illness and
disease, and also to boost your immune system. Furthermore, the evidence
supporting these claims is compelling.
Optimising Your Brain Power
Moving from body to brain. The sauna boosts your brain power and health. It
does this by increasing levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF
facilitates the growth of new brain cells, and helps to maintain existing ones, and
it also enhances neuroplasticity (the formation of new neural connections that
help with things like learning and memory)[39].

Boosting BDNF production is often linked to exercise, and whilst this is true, the
effect is dramatically increased by combining exercise and sauna bathing[40].
This helps your brain stay healthy. Supporting this the sauna usage also appears
to support increases in hormones like norepinephrine, and prolactin, which are
very important for nerve growth and repair[41].

Beating Depression and Improving Your Mood

From body, to brain, now to mind. There are multiple ways in which sauna usage
can also help fight depression and boost your mood. Reducing inflammation,
promoting cellular autophagy play a role in making your body, and brain healthy
and less susceptible to stress, which in turn helps with your mental states. Sauna
bathing has also been shown to both release endorphins, and make you more
sensitive to endorphins[42]. Ultimately this helps to put you in a better mood, and
keep you there.

Further studies support this showing specifically how in multiple scenarios, heat
therapy offers substantially better and longer lasting results in terms of reducing
depression, and increasing personal interactions, stress relief and relaxation[43].
Effect which have been shown to persist for as long as 6 weeks[44], which beats
the hell out of antidepressant drugs! In fact, the sauna is an extremely powerful
therapeutic tool.

So, there you have it. Honestly, I’ve always just enjoyed a relaxing sauna session
after a workout. And whilst I’ve become more aware of the evidence backed
benefits over the years, once I got deep into research for this article, even I was
quite surprised by the number of wide ranging benefits of sauna usage. Pretty
amazing! And in many cases the supporting evidence is not tenuous, but highly
compelling.
I do believe that the sum is greater than the parts, and obviously by taking regular
sauna sessions you will accumulate a wide range of overlapping benefits. And all
just from sitting in a sauna and sweating, which overall is a pleasant experience
for most people. And typically it is very complementary when coupled with
traditional exercise and treatments.