Most people want to live longer and healthier lives, but have difficulty in doing all of the things that you need to do in order to achieve this (eat healthy, exercise regularly, get enough sleep, etc.). Well what if there was a way where you could reduce most of the risks of aging and lower the rate of premature death by 40% just by sitting in a room for 20 minutes 4-7 times a week1? This special room is the sauna, and while it sounds too good to be true, regular sauna use has been shown in numerous scientific studies to do all of this and more. In this post we’ll go over some of the cardiovascular benefits of regular sauna use.
1. Reduced risk of dying from cardiovascular illness: One study conducted on middle aged men found that those who used the sauna 2-3 times a week were 27% less likely to die from aging cardiovascular disorders and those who used the sauna 4-7 times a week had a 50% reduction in death from age related cardiovascular disease1.
2. Decrease blood pressure2.
3. Improve the function of your endothelial cells which line all of your blood vessels3.
4. Reduce your bodies markers of inflammation4.
5. Improve the left ventricular function of your heart5.
So with all of those wonderful benefits you’re probably wondering just how you should use the sauna? Here are a few general guidelines in order to get the maximal benefit of sauna use.
1. Try to have a sauna session 4-7 times a week for optimal benefit.
2. Try to stay in the sauna for 20 minutes, but never over 45 minutes.
3. The sauna temperature needs to be a minimum of 174 degrees F and optimally should be between 176 and 194 degrees F.
4. Stay hydrated! It’s absolutely essential that you drink enough fluids to prevent dehydration. Bring a drink with you into the sauna and remember that if you start to get a headache that is a sign that you are already dehydrated.
5. Most importantly consult with your primary care physician to make sure that it is safe for you to use the sauna.
I hope you enjoyed this info on how sauna use can greatly improve your health and that you start incorporating regular sauna sessions into your weekly routine as soon as possible. Sauna’s have many more health benefits than just cardiovascular. We will discuss those in later posts, but if you want to learn more about that right now then I recommend that you click on the link below that will take you to the site from Dr. Rhonda Patrick where I took most of the information from.
https://www.foundmyfitness.com/reports/sauna-brain-aging.pdf?utm_source=drip&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=day0
Best of health,
Dr. J. Blake Boring, DAOM, L. Ac., Dipl. OM
Citations
1. Laukkanen T, Khan H, Zaccardi F, Laukkanen JA. Association between sauna bathing and fatal cardiovascular and all-cause mortality events. JAMA Intern Med. 2015 Apr;175(4):542-8. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.8187. PMID: 25705824.
2. Zaccardi F, Laukkanen T, Willeit P, Kunutsor SK, Kauhanen J, Laukkanen JA. Sauna Bathing and Incident Hypertension: A Prospective Cohort Study. American Journal of Hypertension. 2017;30(11):1120-1125. doi:10.1093/ajh/hpx102
3. Kihara T, Biro S, Imamura M, et al. Repeated sauna treatment improves vascular endothelial and cardiac function in patients with chronic heart failure. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2002;39(5):754-759. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0735-1097(01)01824-1
4. Laukkanen JA, Laukkanen T. Sauna bathing and systemic inflammation. Eur J Epidemiol. 2018 Mar;33(3):351-353. doi: 10.1007/s10654-017-0335-y. Epub 2017 Dec 5. PMID: 29209938.
5. Tei C, Horikiri Y, Park J-C, et al. Acute Hemodynamic Improvement by Thermal Vasodilation in Congestive Heart Failure. Circulation. 1995;91(10):2582-2590. doi:10.1161/01.CIR.91.10.2582
