Saunas and heat therapies have been a favoured form of cleansing for thousands of years. There are Finnish-dry saunas, Russian banyas, Turkish-style hammams, and recently infrared heated rooms have gained popularity. Medical advice on the use of saunas have been contradictory over the last few decades, however, recent research completely changes our understanding of the risks and benefits of sauna use. Here is the new science showing us why saunas should be included as part of our selfcare regime.
Growing up in Belarus, sauna was part of my upbringing. One of my earliest experiences of sauna (banya in Russian) is of my gran taking me at about age 6. I hated it then. I hated it because Russian saunas are very humid, with temperatures rising to 100° Celsius. It was difficult to tolerate such heat, especially since granny insisted we stay there for 15 minutes at a time, coming back for round two and three.
As an adult, I found my love for saunas as a perfect relaxation place after a tough workout.
When the human body is subject to heat, one of the adaptive responses is to increase the levels of heat shock proteins (HSPs). These act as chaperones to other proteins inside a cell to facilitate synthesis and folding of proteins. Under stressful conditions such as heat shock, the increased level of HSPs protects the cell by stabilising unfolded proteins, giving the cell time to repair damaged ones.
A 2018 paper by Dr Jari Laukkanen, who is one of the world's leading sauna researchers, found that a regular use of sauna lowered inflammation, lowered the risk of cardiovascular disease, decreased all-cause mortality and diminished the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's. The cell protective mechanisms of the heat shock proteins play a very important role in prevention of a range of cardiovascular diseases, such as heart failure, cardiomyopathy and atherosclerosis.
Dr Laukkanen's study observed sauna use in men and women over 15 years (although, originally aiming to study only men, the researchers included women in the later stages of the study). Sauna use was observed at one to four and four to seven times a week patterns. The higher number of sauna visits showed a higher prevention of the diseases studied.
The average duration of the visits was between 20 and 45 minutes and the temperature in the sauna was around 80° Celsius.
During a sauna visit, the demands on our cardiovascular functions increase - the heart rate is elevated, which is a reaction to the body heat load. Heart rate may go up to 120–150 beats per minute, which is similar to a low- to moderate-intensity physical exercise training.
Typical hot and dry Finnish sauna increases body temperature, which causes more efficient skin blood flow, leading to a higher cardiac output, whereas blood flow to internal organs decreases.
Other studies have also shown that regular sauna visits offer a wide range of health benefits, such as a reduction in the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, depression, muscle atrophy. Saunas are also believed to be an effective treatment of chronic headaches.
To sum up, regular sauna use helps with:
- detoxification
- increased circulation
- prevention of cardiovascular disease
- pain reduction
- reduction in inflammation
- prevention from neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's disease
- anti-aging
- enhanced sport performance
- improved immune function
- improved sleep
- stress management
- weight loss
I am off to my HIIT routine followed by 15 minutes in the sauna. What about you?