Benefits
6 Benefits of Infrared Sauna Therapy
Infrared sauna therapy comes with many benefits as I outline below. While traditional saunas rely on humidity to heat up the room around you, infrared saunas heat your body directly by emitting wavelengths of light that you immediately absorb. Localized heat sent right to the source means tolerable temperatures and a quicker, deeper sweat.
1. Detoxification
We ingest toxins every day, from the air we breathe to the food we eat. Thankfully, our body has ways to prevent those toxins from making us sick. Sweating is one of the best ways to detox your body. Everytime we sweat, we’re flushing out the toxic substances and heavy metals that we encounter in everyday life. Infrared sauna therapy promotes this process by using what experts call a heavy metal detox protocol to mobilize specific toxins nearly three inches below the surface of your skin. Rather than simply heating the air to draw out toxins, infrared saunas heat your body from the inside to expel them from deep down.
2. Relaxation
Relaxation is more important to health than most people realize. While some stress is unavoidable, chronic stress can contribute to a host of health conditions such as leaky gut, adrenal fatigue, insomnia, heart disease, and autoimmunity. While we may not be able to avoid stress entirely, relieving it naturally can help minimize its impact on your health.
Infrared sauna therapy promotes relaxation by helping to balance your body’s level of cortisol, your body’s primary stress hormone. The heat generated by the sauna helps relax muscles and relieve tension and stress throughout the body.
3. Pain Relief
Heat is great for recovery, pain relief, and inflammation. However, infrared light can penetrate further down into the joints, muscles, and tissues, promoting circulation and blood flow. Good circulation is critical for proper healing. Red blood cells carry oxygen and nutrients to the site of strain or inflammation, which helps increase the production of healing white blood cells.
And because many painful autoimmune symptoms stem from an overload of toxins, sweating them out of your system can help relieve that form of inflammation.
4. Weight Loss
Did you know that a 30-minute infrared sauna session can burn up to 600 calories? While sweating out calories might sound too good to be true, the heat generated by an infrared sauna actually causes your heart rate to increase – the same heart rate you experience when exercising.
During a sauna detox session, your body’s temperature increases. The body has to work hard to cool itself, increasing the blood flow and heart rate as a result. Much like moderate exercise, this helps your body burn calories and supports healthy weight loss. This can be an effective lifestyle choice for those who cannot participate in traditional exercise programs.
5. Improved Circulation
As the heat from infrared saunas increases your core body temperature, your blood vessels constrict and allows for healthy blood flow. Consistent infrared sauna sessions, especially in the middle-infrared level, can cause your blood vessels to dilate. The volume of their inner lining reduces, which in turn increases the circulation needed to maintain healthy blood pressure.
This reaction is similar to the way your body responds to low or moderate exercise. By raising your heart rate and increasing your circulation, infrared saunas replicate a cardiovascular workout. Since your heart is a muscle, each workout makes it stronger, and helps it deliver more oxygen to your body’s cells.
6. Skin Purification
The short wavelengths of near infrared light (NIR) can reach deeper levels of your skin and remove toxins such as dead skin cells, oils, dirt, and bacteria. Additionally, an increase in circulation and delivery of oxygen to injured or damaged areas helps with cell turnover, therefore reducing the appearance of scars.
Heating your body to it’s core triggers it to release the toxins clogging your pores; with each sweat, you’re detoxifying your body and promoting clear, soft, and healthy-looking skin. .