Health and Fitness
7 Health and Fitness Reasons to Use Dry Saunas Regularly
I explain the health and well-being benefits of using dry saunas based on reviews, observations, and decades of experience.
Purpose of the Story
This article introduces the health benefits of dry saunas under seven headings. I explain the benefits by leveraging a review of credible sources and my decades of experience with hundreds of sauna users in health and fitness communities.
What is a dry sauna, and why does it matter?
Dry saunas are closed areas warmed by heaters to a tolerable temperature by users. They cause the body to warm up from outside slowly within 10 to 20 minutes. Then the temperature affects internal organs.
Traditional saunas have been used for centuries for whole-body thermotherapy, enjoyment, hygiene, and spiritual reasons in some cultures. Interestingly, as mentioned in this paper, saunas were used as a place for childbirth.
Traditional saunas mainly use wood burning on stoves or heated with electricity. However, infrared sauna cabins have recently become popular and affordable for individuals to use at home.
I visited traditional saunas, such as Finnish, Russian, and Turkish, which operate between 70 and 100 degrees Celsius. Infrared saunas usually work at a lower temperature, between 40 and 60 degrees Celsius.
Scientists have been researching the effects of thermogenesis on the human body. Thermogenesis includes both cold and heat therapy. The use of dry saunas is considered a heat therapy.
As mentioned in this paper, “There is considerable evidence to suggest that sauna bathing can induce profound physiological effects. Intense short-term heat exposure elevates skin and core body temperature and activates thermoregulatory pathways via the hypothalamus and central nervous system leading to activation of the autonomic nervous system.”
Sauna heat can increase skin and core body temperature quickly. This quick increase in body temperature can also raise heart rate and speed up skin blood flow, causing perspiration rapidly. This simple yet powerful physical phenomenon can have tremendous health benefits.
Most of the scientific studies include traditional Finnish saunas. The studies I reviewed all mention various health benefits. However, they all conclude that more studies are required to confirm them in larger-scale findings.
This 2018 systemic review, titled Clinical Effects of Regular Dry Sauna Bathing, investigated 40 clinical studies involving a total of 3855 participants. 13 studies were randomized controlled trials.
“Reported outcome measures were heterogeneous, with most studies reporting beneficial health effects. Only one small study, including fewer than ten people, reported an adverse health outcome of disrupted male spermatogenesis, demonstrated to be reversible when ceasing sauna activity.”
This study citing 287 scientific papers, reports that “as research on heat therapy continues, it is conceivable that heat therapy will one day be prescribed by health care providers for the prevention or treatment of disease.”
A Brief Introduction to My Sauna Experience
I came across saunas in my younger years in various countries in Europe. However, my most exciting experiences with dry saunas occurred in Finland, where saunas are popular and part of the culture.
Observing seniors, particularly centenarians, inspired me to investigate the benefits of saunas experimentally. Seeing happy faces in these saunas uplifted my spirit and enabled me to make many friends.
After decades of experimentation with thermogenesis, I gained many benefits from dry saunas. The most important ones were reducing stress, improving sleep quality, speeding up recovery from exercise, increasing energy, reducing inflammation, and improving skin health.
Even though most benefits were based on my subjective feelings, I also obtained objective results such as reviewing my blood markers.
Two significant changes were related to improved inflammation markers and optimized cortisol levels after regular use of dry saunas. So, I feel confident about stress and inflammation reduction benefits.
The heat in a dry sauna induced noticeable physiological and psychological effects on my body.
In addition to numerous health benefits, I also use the dry saunas for enjoyment as a hobby and a social engagement purpose. I shared my pleasant experiences in numerous stories introducing people in my circles.
I enjoy a sauna by taking a few sessions between 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the sauna’s temperature. After 10 minutes, I can experience a lot of perspiration in many parts of my body, the heaviest on the face.
Then, I have a quick break, usually five minutes outside of the sauna. Then I try another 15-minute session, and after that, I have a cold shower or an ice bath.
Having a cold shower or ice bath after an intense sauna session feels excellent. After the third or fourth session, depending on my time, I keep cooling down with constant cold showers.
When I check from my smartwatch, my pulse fluctuates up and down. For example, it reaches 150 beats per minute when inside the sauna after 15 minutes and drops back to 60 beats per minute after having cold showers for five minutes outside the sauna.
An hour after the last sauna session, most of my stress magically disappears. I feel more energetic, productive, and relaxed both physically and mentally.
Seven Health Benefits of Using Dry Saunas
In this section, I summarize the benefits of using dry saunas under seven headings. I only focus on the essential items linking to a few specific studies.
1 — Improving Cardiovascular Health
When reviewing the literature on dry saunas, I came across many studies related to cardiovascular health benefits.
I won’t repeat those details as I documented my review of the cardiovascular benefits of dry saunas in an article titled Here’s How Saunas Might Improve Cardiovascular Health.
The key mechanism of excess heat is to cause blood vessels to dilate, lower blood pressure, and increase blood circulation.
This 2015 study published in the JAMA Internal Medicine investigated the association of frequency and duration of sauna bathing with the risk of sudden cardiac death, fatal coronary heart disease, fatal cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality.
The study concluded that “increased frequency of sauna bathing is associated with a reduced risk of sudden cardiac death, fatal coronary heart disease, fatal cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality.
Harvard Health informs that “A sauna benefits your heart health, as long as you practice sauna safety.”
2 — Cellular Cleansing to Improve Immunity
From my experience, the most noticeable benefit of dry saunas is cleaning toxins from the body. Heat causes physiological changes in the cells and mitochondria.
The key mechanism for these effects is perspiration caused by excessive heat. In addition, heat activates the lymphatic system to remove toxins via perspiration.
This cleansing through the lymphatic system brings numerous health benefits to the body. A significant benefit is to improve the immune system by lowering toxins and pathogens in our cells and tissues.
As a respiratory infectious disease can manifest as severe pneumonia, this 2021 study published in European Clinical Investigation examined sauna use combined with fitness activities for Covid implications.
The study concludes that “in a general male Caucasian population, a combination of high fitness levels and frequent sauna baths is associated with a substantially lowered future pneumonia risk compared with each modality alone.”
Another study informed that “Data from medical charts, client self-reports, and Short Form Health Survey responses indicated that the Hubbard sauna detoxification method was well tolerated, with a 99% completion rate, including one human immunodeficiency virus and nine hepatitis C positive clients.”
Heat and cold therapies can also initiate autophagy and mitophagy, increasing cellular and mitochondrial health. As documented in this paper, “Acute heat exposure alters autophagy signaling in C2C12 Myotubes.”
3 — Increasing Metabolism
Thermogenesis from cold and heat adds stress to the body and can increase metabolism. For example, the heart rate can increase when the body is exposed to heat.
When the heart rate increases, the body burns more calories. Studies indicate that saunas might increase metabolic rate by around 20% based on heat. Due to their metabolic effect, saunas have been used for weight loss and fitness improvement purposes for many years.
Even though weight loss is linked to lowering water retention, as mentioned in this study, the metabolic effects via hormonal changes are believed to cause fat loss and muscle retention.
This paper points out that “Compelling data from observational, interventional, and mechanistic studies support the assertions that sauna use extends healthspan, and multiple recent reviews have described the cardiovascular, neurological, and metabolic benefits associated with sauna use.”
4 — Reducing Stress and Inflammation
Saunas create a paradoxical situation for stress. Initially, heat increases the stress in the body. However, the body reacts to stress response via hormonal and neurotransmitter changes to lower it.
Consequently, heat has a relaxing effect on the human body in the long term. When heat therapy is done with control, knowing that it is manageable, it can be joyful. No wonder many people go to saunas for relaxation.
Stress-relieving benefits are noticed by sauna enthusiasts. Sauna users also experience pain relief. The stress responses also seem to cause anti-inflammatory effects in the body.
Numerous studies touch on stress and inflammation reduction in people when reviewing cardiovascular benefits, as I covered in the first section.
Some skin studies also mention anti-inflammatory effects. For example, this paper confirms that “dermatophytes and other infective microorganisms are easily killed by the heat of the sauna.”
From my experience, whenever I do sauna sessions after heavy workouts, my recovery speeds up. The physical discomfort in my muscles disappear. Since I sleep better the next day, I feel like working out again.
This 2019 study informs, “Our results suggest that dry sauna therapy may be useful to improve quality of life and reduce pain in patients with low back pain. Therefore, pain physicians can recommend dry sauna therapy as an alternative and complimentary therapy for patients with low back pain.”
5 — Improving Sleep Quality
From my experience, one of the noticeable benefits of a dry sauna was my sleep quality. For several years I measured my sleep quality using a smartwatch after each sauna session. The results were outstanding.
As mentioned in the previous section, saunas can reduce physical and mental stress via various mechanisms, such as perspiration and cleansing. In addition to stress reduction, lowering inflammation can contribute to sleep quality.
I hypothesize that since the heat induces initial stress on the body, the hormonal and neurotransmitter adjustments activate the sleep-inducing chemicals in the body.
We don’t have much empirical evidence. However, any exercise-induced pain quickly melts away after sauna sessions, which gives me a good night’s sleep.
6 — Lowering Risks of Neurodegenerative Disorders
The stress and inflammation-lowering benefits mentioned in the previous sections can affect the central nervous system and the brain.
Scientists hypothesize that regular sauna use might lower the risks of neurodegenerative diseases hence it can improve mental health.
Even though studies are still at a nascent stage, this 2018 study assessed 2,138 men aged 42–61 with no history of psychotic disorders based on their sauna use behavior.
The paper concludes that “there is a strong inverse and independent association between frequent sauna bathing and the future risk of psychotic disorders in a general male population.”
This 2017 study investigated whether the frequency of sauna bathing is associated with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease risk.
Researchers conclude that “in this male population, moderate to a high frequency of sauna bathing was associated with lowered risks of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.”
7 — Enhancing Longevity through Epigenetic Changes
The benefits mentioned in the previous sections can contribute to healthspan and lifespan. Managing stress and inflammation is critical for longevity. Stress from the heat of a sauna can activate sirtuin genes, particularly SIRT2, leading to longevity.
Elevated body temperatures cause the production of heat shock proteins, which increase NAD+ and activate sirtuins, as documented in this paper. Antiaging experts investigate lifestyle factors activating sirtuins.
As pointed out in this study, increasing sirtuin activity stabilizes telomeres and improves telomerase-dependent disease states. I introduced the importance of telomeres for our longevity in an article titled Protect Telomere Lengths with 2 Healthy Lifestyle Choices.
Saunas might increase longevity by lowering risks of neurodegenerative, metabolic, and cardiovascular disorders. For example, Harvard Medical School informed that “sauna use linked to longer life, fewer fatal heart problems.”
This review paper informs that “in recent decades, sauna bathing has emerged as a probable means to extend healthspan, based on compelling data from observational, interventional, and mechanistic studies.”
Researchers mention that “of particular interest are the findings from large, prospective, population-based cohort studies of health outcomes among sauna users that identified strong dose-dependent links between sauna use and reduced morbidity and mortality.”
Conclusions and Takeaways
There is a growing body of literature documenting the benefits of dry saunas for improving cardiovascular health, lowering stress and inflammation, removing toxins from organs, improving the immune system, inducing quality sleep, reducing Alzheimer’s risks, and leading to longevity.
As I covered in previous sections, using saunas has numerous health and fitness benefits. However, like every good thing, saunas also come with risks. They might not be for everyone.
Safety is the most critical aspect of using saunas, as some people cannot tolerate heat. It can be hazardous for those whose blood pressure changes quickly. Excessive heat can worsen it. Thus it is wise to obtain approval from family doctors before starting sauna sessions.
However, this paper informs that “several studies carried out in Finland did not confirm the adverse effects of bathing on the elderly and cardiovascular patients. The controversial results obtained in Finnish and some foreign studies are partly due to the different test conditions.”
The paper confirms that “The typical Finnish sauna bath is safe, and even patients who have recovered from acute myocardial infarction can enjoy the sauna without incurring any harmful cardiovascular effects.”
If you are into saunas, starting small is necessary until the body adapts to heat. It took me several months to tolerate the heat, for around ten minutes. Nowadays, I can stay for 30 minutes comfortably. But I still take a break every 15 to 20 minutes to get the best out of the sessions.
Incorporating sauna sessions with cold showers or ice baths can bring extra health benefits and make the experience more enjoyable. The body responds to heat and cold differently. Thus, alternate cold and heat exposure can activate the body’s healing systems more effectively.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
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