It’s a cold winter day and you’re out in the elements. The clouds part to reveal the low hanging Sun; despite the cold permeating the air, you soon begin to feel warmth on your skin. The heat that you’re feeling, despite the wintery conditions, is thanks to the far infrared energy from the Sun.

The Sun produces many types of energy waves. One of them is far infrared energy; it’s a wavelength of light longer than visible light, so when it hits your skin, it directly vibrates and heats the cells in your body.

While it doesn’t quite turn you into a superhero, this direct heating at the cellular level (rather than just blasting you with traditional, radiant heat) has sparked the increase in popularity of far infrared saunas.

Traditional Saunas vs. Infrared Saunas

There are a few differences between traditional saunas and infrared saunas, but for the purposes of this article, the main difference is the way the two methods heat your body. In a traditional sauna, the element heats the air, and as your body absorbs the heat of that air, your body starts to cool itself by opening its pores and sweating.

An infrared sauna will still heat the air with its infrared heaters, but the temperature of the air will be a lot lower (which is great for those of us who can find traditional saunas a little overwhelming heat-wise). Although the heat is lower, the wavelength of light emitted by the infrared heaters are absorbed through your skin, and travel much deeper into your body. From there your body cools itself just like in the traditional sauna.

Some amazing things happen in your body when far infrared comes into contact with your body. Far infrared light stimulates enzymes in the mitochondria of your cells.

These tiny organelles are the powerhouses of your body that create energy, called ATP. By creating energy from light, one might argue that the human body is slightly photosynthetic!

Revive That Tissue

Not only does the sauna stimulate mitochondrial growth, it also causes blood vessels to expand (called vasodilation) by the activation of the chemical nitric oxide. Vasodilation is caused by many events including embarrassment, exercise, heat and of course, arousal.

A ‘hyperthermic’ effect takes place. This means your heart begins to beat harder and faster, promoting blood flow and building cardiac strength. Waon (Japanese for “soothing warmth”) therapy is the use of infrared saunas for the treatment of patients with chronic heart failure. An article in the April 2009 issue of the Journal of Cardiology suggested that Waon therapy has shown profound benefits to patients with cardiovascular disease.

It was proposed by Dr. Vatansever in 2013 that the infrared sauna can even promote the growth of new blood vessels to areas of low circulation, providing much needed oxygenated blood to undernourished tissues. Those with previous injuries or aching joints usually experience pain relief from the increased circulation and anti-inflammatory effect.

Prime Your Defenses

The sauna causes a rise in body temperature; think about it as a fever-like effect on the body.

This is a good thing!

The mild heat stress causes viruses and bacteria to be sensitized while your immune cells release powerful mechanisms that prime the body for better defense. After a few sessions, an adaptation occurs due to the body’s production of something called heat shock proteins, which increase antioxidant levels in the body. However, if you already have a fever it’s ill advised to sit in the sauna unless you want to bake yourself to hospital! To boost your immune system, check out this supplement quercetin australia.

Detox Through Your Largest Organ

You also begin to sweat… a lot! According to the-infrared-sauna-effect.com, your sweat glands work overtime producing about 2-3x more than a regular sauna at the same temperature.

Normal sweat is 97-99% water, however the sweat produced while in a sauna is only 80-85% water. That means 15-20% is urea, lactic acid, cholesterol and environmental toxins such as heavy metals, petrochemicals and organic compounds, which are usually extremely difficult to excrete.

Expert environmental physician Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt wrote, “Peer reviewed literature shows that sweating during sauna therapy eliminates high levels of toxic metals, organic compounds, dioxin, and other toxins”.

This makes the sauna a powerful detoxification tool. Toxins are very stubborn and most easily stored in fat cells. By mobilising these stored fats (triglycerides) the toxins are released into the blood stream and are excreted via sweat. There’s also a significant increase of these toxins/chemicals in your stool, urine and breath after a session in the sauna. Better out than in!

Compared to a regular sauna, infrared saunas produce 2-3 x more sweat which is also richer in stubborn environmental toxins.

Turn Yourself into a Fat Burning Machine!

As commented above, triglycerides are broken down in the sauna and converted into fatty acids. These fatty acids are what we ‘burn’ for energy. Yes, that does mean you can burn fat while sitting on your bum, so long as you are subjecting yourself to intense heat and far infrared energy wavelengths.

The less toxic you are, the more effective you’ll be at reducing your body fat percentage. When your liver is under less pressure to eliminate toxins, it better manages its other functions such as glucose metabolism and ultimately, fat loss.

Improve Mobility, Strength and Elasticity- Oh, and Good Looks

Far infrared wavelengths directly penetrate the body tissues to a depth of about 1.5 inches. The cells that are exposed to this wave-length experience elevated growth and regeneration.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick PhD showed the benefits of regular heat saunas in a guest post on the fourhourworkweek.com. In it, she suggested that heat acclimatisation is associated with massive increases of growth hormone and protein synthesis. Collagen and elastin are two essential proteins of connective tissue (such as tendons and skin) that maintain their strength and elasticity.

With an enhanced production of these proteins, the skin can begin to heal the degenerative change that happens over the course of ageing. Also, with frequent trips to the sauna, our tendons & ligaments become durable and flexible. An increase in protein synthesis also means more muscle hypertrophy (growth) for all of you striving to look good naked.

The Journal of Internal Medicine published an article by Japanese scientists who significantly improved symptoms of pain in patients with fibromyalgia. Aptly named, “soothing warmth therapy” can be used as an adjunct to training to hasten recovery and relieve pain from injuries.

So quit icing that week old [shoulder/ankle/knee] injury and jump in an infrared sauna!

Sleep like a Baby (That Doesn’t Wake up Five Times During the Night)

With a busy lifestyle and a never-ending to-do list, it can be difficult to switch our mind off in the evening. The resulting frustration of tossing and turning amongst your sheets with eyes wide open has obvious damaging effects long term. The use of an infrared sauna can help relax your mind and prepare your body for sleep.

Most people comment about the sense of serenity that they feel after using an infrared sauna. This is because the infrared sauna is an effective method for reducing your stress hormone cortisol, while also causing an endorphin release. A well-balanced cycle of cortisol production regulates our fight or flight response so that we are alert in the morning and relaxed in the evening. Have a look at this 5EW article to learn everything you need to know about this extremely important hormone.

One of the most powerful and effective tools to supplement your training program, and your health in general is definitely the infrared sauna. The many benefits this piece of equipment has cannot be overstated. If you’d like to know more, or even try our infrared sauna, just contact us, and we’ll get you started on your way to wellness.

References:

Akasaki et al. (2006). Repeated thermal therapy up-regulates endothelial nitric oxide synthase and augments angiogenesis in a mouse model of hindlimb ischaemia. Circulation Journal: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16565566

Benefits of the infrared sauna explained. the-infrared-sauna-effect.com http://www.the-infrared-sauna-effect.com/benefits-of-the-infrared-sauna.html

Byron Richards. (2012). Why toxins and waste products impede weight loss – the leptin diet weight loss challenge #3. Wellness Resources: http://www.wellnessresources.com/weight/articles/why_toxins_and_waste_products_impede_weight_loss_-_the_leptin_diet_weight_l/

Heavenly Heat Saunas: http://www.heavenlyheatsaunas.com/why-infrared-sauna-heavy-metal-detox/ The saunas we use at 5EW

Kihara et al. (2009). Waon therapy improves the prognosis of patients with chronic heart failure. Journal of Cardiology: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19304125

Matushita K., Masuda A., Tei C. (2008). Efficacy of Waon therapy for fibromyalgia. Internal Med: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18703857

Tim Ferriss & Dr. Rhonda Patrick. (2014). Are saunas the next big performance-enhancing “drug”? The Blog of Tim Ferriss: http://fourhourworkweek.com/2014/04/10/saunas-hyperthermic-conditioning-2/

Vatansever F. & Hamblin M.R. (2012). Far infrared radiation (FIR): it’s biological effects and medical applications. Photonics Lasers Med: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3699878/