During my time at Amchara Retreat in Gozo this month I made good use of the sauna spending most evenings in a state of warm and wonderful sauna bliss.
It feels so incredibly good to be warm and relaxed with intermittent trips to the cold shower. Do we need research to explain that this process is good for us? Well, feeling amazing has always been good enough for me. However, I do appreciate that others value research to back up with sound physiology what we already know – it feels great.
In this systemic review of forty clinical studies (link below) involving a total of 3855 participants we can understand more of the physiological benefits.
Sauna bathing, if you are not familiar, is a form of whole-body thermotherapy that has been used in various forms (radiant heat, sweat lodges, etc.) for thousands of years in many parts of the world for hygiene, health, social, and spiritual purposes. As a human race we tend to continue with habits which give us a clear endorphin lift. Here we have a healthy method of achieving this in a world when many less healthy habits are condoned.
Take Finland, as an example. Sauna bathing has been a tradition in Finland for thousands of years and mainly used for the purposes of pleasure and relaxation. Finland is a nation of 5.3 million people and a grand 3.3 million saunas, found in homes, offices, factories, sports centres, hotels, ships and deep below the ground in mines.
99% of Finns take at least one a week, and much more when they visit their summer cottage in the countryside. Here the pattern of life tends to revolve around the sauna, and a nearby lake used for cooling off.
Emerging evidence which has come out of studies in Finland suggests that beyond its use for pleasure, sauna bathing may be linked to several health benefits, which include reduction in the risk of high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and neurocognitive diseases; nonvascular conditions such as pulmonary diseases; mortality; as well as improvement in conditions such as arthritis, headache, and flu. *
There is considerable evidence to suggest that sauna bathing can induce health giving physiological effects. Intense short-term heat exposure increases skin temperature and core body temperature and activates thermoregulatory pathways via the hypothalamus and central nervous system leading to activation of the autonomic nervous system. This activation leads to well-documented cardiovascular effects with increased heart rate, skin blood flow, cardiac output, and sweating. The resultant sweat evaporates from the skin surface and produces cooling that facilitates temperature homeostasis.
On a cellular level, short bursts of whole-body heat therapy induces discrete metabolic changes that include production of heat shock proteins, reduction of reactive oxygenated species and inflammation pathway activities, increased NO (nitric oxide) bioavailability, increased insulin sensitivity, and alterations in various endothelial-dependent vasodilatation metabolic pathways.
What does this mean?
Heat stress triggers the body to adapt to the heat in a similar way to exercise (except that you are relaxing in a warm room).
Cardiovascular Disease
The biggest killer on a global scale. What does the research tell us about sauna and CVD?
The two largest studies of this review which prospectively followed 2315 men in Finland over 20.7 years of frequent sauna bathing for cardiovascular disease-related outcomes. Their findings included a 66% risk reduction of dementia, a 65% risk reduction of Alzheimer's disease, a 63% risk reduction of sudden cardiac death, and a 40% risk reduction of all-cause mortality.
Depression
One randomized controlled trial that investigated the effects of 4 weeks of sauna sessions on 28 patients diagnosed with mild depression reported improved physical complaints, improved hunger scores, and improved relaxation scores.
Chronic Pain Syndromes
Two randomized controlled trials investigated the effects of repeated sauna on chronic pain disorders with positive results. One New Zealand study of patients diagnosed with chronic tension headaches reported a 44% reduction in headache intensity within 6 weeks of the sauna treatment arm.
All in all, the use of regular sauna, especially as an adjunct to other health boosting therapy not only feels immediately incredible but research backs up the historical nature of this as a wonderful health boosting ritual.
At Amchara Health retreat which I will be taking a group too in OCTOBER 2024, we take time out to indulge in these health promoting strategies. Join us and you will real the benefits for many months after returning.
See my events page for further details.
References –
· https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37270272/
Does the Combination of Finnish Sauna Bathing and Other Lifestyle Factors Confer Additional Health Benefits? A Review of the Evidence
· Clinical Effects of Regular Dry Sauna Bathing: A Systematic Review
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5941775/