Health and Wellness Benefits of Sauna
Saunas refer to small rooms heated to around 65 to 90 degrees Celsius (150 to 195 degrees Fahrenheit). You can see these rooms featuring temperature controls and having unpainted wood interiors. Many go to a sauna for relaxation but do you know that it also has other uses and benefits? Get to know more about that through this article.
Uses of a Sauna
The main use or purpose of a sauna is to add heat to your body. It has the goal of warming up your body, which is good when it comes to sweating out healthily. There are also other uses for it. Some use it after working out in a gym or exercising while others make it a point to visit a sauna to relax and get rid of stress.
You may also be able to use your visit to a sauna to improve your health as it can help detoxify your body and get rid of toxins and other unhealthy substances inside through sweating.
What Benefits Can You Get from a Sauna Session?
As mentioned earlier, even a single sauna session can already give your body a lot of health and wellness benefits. Among the positive effects that your body and health can enjoy from this experience are the following:
Flushes out toxins
The sauna exposes you to heat, which also means that your core body temperature will start to rise. It causes you to produce sweat as a means of cooling your body. The sweating you will experience in a sauna, though, is deeper, which is the reason why it can help eliminate toxins from your body. It can flush out lead, zinc, copper, chemicals, mercury, and nickel – all of which are harmful toxins absorbed by your body in excessive amounts.
Better cardiovascular health
The high temperature in a sauna also heats your skin and increases your core body temperature. In this case, you can also expect the dilation of the blood vessels found close to your skin because of the high levels of heat. This can further lead to an increase in your cardiac circulation or output. This is good for your cardiovascular health. It can even lessen your risk of dealing with hypertension, stroke, and fatal cardiac situations.
Offers immediate stress relief
A sauna session also induces relaxation, which is a good thing if you want to manage your level of stress. Note that extreme stress is not good for your health. It can cause you to develop various ailments, including depression and heart disease.
You can prevent that by relieving yourself of stress through a sauna. It can do so because you will be in a place that is quiet, warm, and does not have any external distractions. A sauna also provides heat to your body, which is an effective way to relax your muscles, stimulate endorphin release, and boost circulation. The kind of relaxation you get from a sauna also helps you sleep better, which is also a good way to fight stress.
Cleanses your skin
A sauna will allow you to sweat deeply, which is good as it can replace the skin cells in your body, resulting in better-looking and healthier skin. As you sweat, you will also be able to rinse out the bacteria from your sweat ducts and epidermal layer. It can, therefore, cleanse your skin, making it glow.
Sweating also results in fluid rushing to your skin, which also does a great job of plumping out your small wrinkles. There will also be a release of minerals and nutrients that can maintain your skin’s collagen structure. Moreover, deep sweating in a sauna can flush waste via your skin cells, which can bring about a better tone, glow, and vitality to your skin.
Relieves pain
Aside from relieving pain, you can also expect a sauna to support muscle recovery. Sauna aids in increasing your heat shock proteins as well as antioxidant enzymes. It also encourages autophagy or the process of stimulating cellular cleanup. This can help your cells work like new. The increase in your heat shock proteins is also a good thing as it aids in boosting your muscle mass. This promotes immediate pain relief, muscle recovery, and injury healing.
