Similar to the popular trends of intermittent fasting and keto/no-carb diets, infrared saunas are the new way of giving your body an anti-aging boost while maintaining weight loss through detoxification.
Infrared saunas are yet another health craze making headlines in the world of health and fitness. Similar to the popular trends of intermittent fasting and keto/no-carb diets, infrared saunas are the new way of giving your body an anti-aging boost while maintaining weight loss through detoxification.
What Happens When You Go To An Infrared Sauna?
Similar to a regular sauna, when a person goes into an infrared sauna, their body responds by increasing heart rate, increasing the level of blood circulation, and subsequently increasing sweating. However, with an infrared sauna, the body is heated from within, vs a sauna which has hot air that really heats the outside of your body. It’s a similar process that happens when you exercise. The effects of the sauna aren’t the same as getting a good cardio session in, but this is why it impacts weight loss.
Weight Loss & Increased Rate of Metabolic Activities
According to the American Medical Association, there is evidence that regular use of a sauna can help increase your metabolism. In other words, your body works faster in breaking down food that you eat and uses that food to produce energy more quickly. If you maintain or lower your calorie intake while increasing the speed of your metabolism, you should lose weight in theory.
Muscle Pain Relief
We mentioned earlier that an infrared sauna causes blood pressure to increase. According to a 10-person study (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4493260/), “deep penetration of infrared heat with mild temperature, and light humidity appears favorable for the neuromuscular system to recover from maximal endurance performance”. Any muscles and sprains caused by injury get relaxed during the infrared sauna session, relieving muscle pain.
Boosts Immune System
What happens when you get an infection inside your body? Your body heats up, and you get a fever. Creating an artificial fever accomplishes killing away the bacteria while releasing any harmful toxins that might be present in one’s body. This is almost like a mock exercise for your immune system’s reaction against foreign agents; hence, it increases the overall performance of your immune system.
While there are plenty of benefits, people with certain health conditions are advised not to use an infrared sauna:
People with chronic low blood pressure
People with chronic heart diseases
People who have had a heart attack
People who have kidney diseases
Pregnant women
Like any other prevalent trend, infrared saunas need to be used with care. According to experts, it is still too early to reach a conclusive decision about the health benefits and detriments, but we have tried it, and we recommend it!