Are you looking for a 100% simple, natural method to maintain your health and fitness?
Spending less than 20 minutes in a dry sauna can keep your whole body healthy at a reasonable price. A dry sauna’s low humidity and high temperature create unbelievable health benefits.
Regularly spending time in these places will help you decrease stress, remove pollutants, increase immunity, and sparkle your skin. In this article, we will discuss seven dry sauna benefits you can enjoy.
Working of Sauna
A dry sauna is an enclosed, harmless room with a maximum of 195 degrees Fahrenheit. The purpose of a sauna is to promote fitness and ease through excessive sweating.
They provide dry heat with a low moisture level, unlike steam saunas which use wet steam with extreme moisture levels. Their interior is made of insulation and includes water-resistant wood benches and planks.
An electric heater is installed in it with rocks and some necessary controls attached to the wall.
Types of Saunas
Before moving on to the actual benefits of a dry sauna, let’s talk about the sauna types that will find out there. Based on the room’s heating, there are different types of saunas.
Wood-Burning Sauna
In this type of sauna, wood is used in the heater to heat the room. The wood is fired, and rocks are put on it; in this way, the room is heated. They are almost dry; the humidity level is low with extreme temperatures.
Electric Heated Sauna
The mechanism of electrically heated saunas and wood-burning saunas are the same; they both use rocks to heat the room.
However, they don’t use a wood-burning heater; rather, an electrical heater is used. The temperature in this sauna is also very high, and the humidity level is low.
Infrared Sauna
These saunas are not similar to wood-burning and are electrically heated. In this type, the whole room is not heated; rather, a lamp is turned on to heat the person’s body.
This sauna doesn’t use extremely high temperatures like the others, but the sweating level of the person is the same. Their temperature is nearly 60 degrees Celsius.
Steam Sauna
Steam sauna is quite different from infrared saunas. The room of these saunas uses a different way of heating. They provide wet heat with high temperatures with steam instead of dry heat.
Health Benefits of Dry Sauna
Following are some of the health benefits of a dry sauna:
1. Enhanced Immunity System
Dry heat provides calmness at the time of the common cold and flu. If you take sauna treatment regularly, you will find better functioning of airways, and it will also prevent congestion.
It is so helpful that the risk of viral infection will be lowered if you take home a sauna session in a sauna blanket. Exposing your body to the heat rouses your blood circulation to transmit immunity boosters to each part of your body.
So, the heat turns the protein that starts the immunization agent’s cells. In this way, the natural immune system of your body wakes up due to cytokine. Once your body’s resistance is made stronger, fighting bacteria and other flu viruses becomes easy.
Studies have proved that athletes who take sauna baths for 15 minutes immediately increase white blood cells and cortisol levels. White blood cells show the immunity strength in our body.
2. Weight Loss
Physical exercises and a proper diet help reduce weight, which is a little complex process, and only dry saunas are not enough to lose weight. But, after completing your exercise for weight loss, you can use your sauna blanket or chamber to get quick weight loss results.
Sweating also helps reduce the fluids from your body that cause weight gain. High temperatures increase the heart rate; your body starts burning calories when you exercise. So, this process increases your body’s metabolism and helps regulate your body weight.
3. Heart Health
The overall body circulation can be increased by a starter-kit dry sauna also. So, if you take sauna sessions regularly, the internal layer of blood vessels will be stimulated, which controls blood pressure.
Taking sauna treatment every week will help control your vein’s stiffness, and the opening of your blood vessels will be strong. A study has proved that daily high-blood pressure patients taking sauna treatments decrease it up to 50%.
Mostly, circulation enhancement looks like the effects of an adequate workout. Moreover, improved circulation and regular sauna baths will increase your stamina and physical performance.
4. Poisons Elimination
Our body is susceptible to absorbing dangerous things which should be removed through urine, sweat, or blood. So, excessive sweating is a healthy way to get rid of toxins from our bodies.
Phthalates are chemical substances removed through sweat excessively compared to urine. A dry sauna also helps eliminate harmful chemicals stored deep in the skin, such as arsenic, cadmium, or lead.
Some other toxins like nicotine, BPA, and mercury are also eliminated by taking a dry sauna session.
5. Enhanced Mental Health
Dry saunas also help keep your mind relaxed, apart from physical health. The rooms of saunas are darker, more peaceful, and more comfortable, so they boost your mental and emotional health.
Lying in your dry heat sauna will help relax your mind by removing all tension from your mind for a while. You can lower the risks of many mental disorders through deep relaxation and stress relief.
Furthermore, the heat of saunas eases the muscles and motivates the creation of endorphins. Endorphin hormones are natural chemicals that make you feel good and glow after exposure to a sauna every time.
There are a lot of positive mental influences on the mind by taking sauna sessions. Daily taking these treatments will decrease the cortisol level, and your tension and anxiety level will be lowered.
The lower the cortisol level in your body, the higher your sleep quality and spirit will be.
6. Skin Care and Cleansing
If you take a dry sauna bath, it will be very helpful for your skin health. Bringing more nutrients to the skin is a way to improve the epidermis to motivate cell growth.
Fortunately, a sauna session will open the pores of your skin and cleanses your skin properly. A dry sauna is also helpful in treating skin problems like inflammation and irritation.
The reason behind this is that when you take a sauna bath, excessive sweating cleanses your skin and removes dirt from the outer layer of the skin. Regular sessions in the sauna will improve your skin’s redness, itching, and dryness.
Many people have felt a decrease in diseases like psoriasis, acne, and eczema. Saunas are also helpful in moisturizing your skin and lowering skin tension.
The sebaceous glands are activated by the sauna’s heat, which greases the outer skin layer. If these glands make a lot of sebum, our skin will be refreshed and moist.
7. No More Sleeplessness and Fatigue
If you can’t sleep properly or you are suffering from sleep disorders, regular sessions of sauna will be helpful for you. Studies have shown that if you take baths in a sauna regularly, this will leave a positive impact on your sleep disturbance.
Sometimes, steroid medicines don’t improve your sleep patterns, but saunas help a lot in this regard. Many people experience deep sleep after taking a sauna bath. Its reason is that the body temperature increases and combines with endorphins.
In a warm environment, endorphins release and lead to a relaxed sleep. Around four million residents of America are suffering from serious chronic fatigue syndromes (CFS).
It is a weakening disease that affects all body systems. Most people suffer from this disease and feel severe fatigue for months with headaches and immune system shortages.
Using saunas regularly will reduce the long-term and complex disorders resulting in stomach wounds, anxiety, and depression. You will quickly find a positive change in your memory and focus in a short time.
Preventive Measures
Generally, if you use dry saunas moderately, they will be safe for you. If you have not drunk enough water before taking this session, it will harm you.
You keep the body temperature stable by sweating, so when you live in a sauna chamber or blanket for a long time, the more liquids you will lose.
Healthy adults have no side effects from these sessions if they follow the safety procedures. So, it is important to understand how these baths should be taken before stepping into the sauna room.
Sessions Interval
The duration of your sauna bath depends on your heat tolerance, age, and current health. Health specialists recommend a session of 15 – 20 minutes for healthy people. However, if you are healthy, you should take this bath until you feel comfortable.
It’s a good idea to start with short-term sessions and increase this duration gradually. You also have another option to break your sauna period into small portions of five minutes.
Remember to give some cooling to your body after every segment. You can increase the duration of breaks by laying down or hydrating. Some saunas have an exciting feature of a built-in timer which you can set according to your chosen time.
The dry sauna’s suitable temperature should be around 150 – 195 degrees Fahrenheit. One hundred ninety-five degrees Fahrenheit is the public gym, and spa’s average setting.
Other Safety Tips
As there are many benefits of the dry sauna but you need some safety measures. Apart from the duration and temperature information, you should also know other tips about taking sauna bathing:
- It would be best if you took a bath before and after using the sauna.
- As you keep yourself hydrated during these sessions, you should focus on your meals. If your stomach is full, you will not be able to take full advantage of it. So, avoid eating too much before using the sauna or eating food after the session.
- Wear a bathing suit or cotton towel if you use a public sauna. Do not wear any jewelry or metal parts.
- Stop using the bath if you are uncomfortable or have dizziness. If you feel a headache, cold chills, or hot sparks, stop using the sauna immediately because they are signs of discomfort.
- Don’t use it if you are using medicines, alcohol, are pregnant, or trying to conceive.
- Take advice from a doctor about the duration of the sauna bath according to your health. You may be advised to avoid saunas permanently if you suffer from kidney, liver, or heart disorders.
Dry vs Wet Sauna
Most people get confused when they think about taking a sauna session; they can’t decide whether a dry sauna is perfect for them or wet. Wet saunas or steam rooms use a generator filled with boiling water. In this way, the rooms are heated.
The temperature of the room is around 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The steam of the boiling water produces humidity, so a moist atmosphere is created for you.
The wet sauna uses wet air or steam in the room, while in a dry sauna, dry air is produced. Due to this difference, the health benefits of dry and wet saunas are dissimilar.
Steam saunas help improve circulation, relax stiff muscles and joints, boost skin health, and remove blocking inside your lungs.
Infrared vs Dry Saunas
Dry and infrared saunas both help heat your body. Besides heating, there is no other similarity between them. The infrared lamps heat your body instead of the heater when you use them. This infrared lamp has electromagnetic radiation.
On the other hand, dry saunas use a heater to heat the room with an electrically powered stove or wood-burning stove. However, infrared saunas are most popular among people nowadays because of heating your body directly.
The temperature of these saunas is lower, usually around 120 degrees Fahrenheit. So, you can stay there for a long time. The average spending time is 20 minutes for these saunas.
If you have started taking infrared saunas recently, you should take 10 – 15 minutes and gradually increase this time. Most people like to stay there for 30 minutes.
Are Saunas Good for You or Not?
Generally, saunas are not harmful. Some situations come when taking these sessions becomes harmful for you. It can cause dehydration if you have not drunk enough water or liquids before this bath.
When you take a sauna session, your body sweats, so if you are not hydrated, it can make you dehydrated.
If you follow all the safety measures before using it, it will not harm you. People with high blood pressure, pregnant women, patients with abnormal heart rhythms, or other heart diseases should consult a health expert before using it.
Does Using a Dry Sauna Help You Burn Fat?
It is believed that the changes that occur in the body during a sauna session may simulate the effects of a moderate to a high-intensity workout, such as walking. Saunas are also believed to increase metabolism. But further research is needed to verify these claims as the current data is inconsistent.
While weight loss may occur while using a sauna or steam room, it is primarily due to water loss through sweating and not actual fat loss.
Another common misconception is the idea that sweating in a steam room can detoxify your body after a night of drinking. While sweating can remove substances like sunscreen from your skin, it is not an effective method for helping your body process alcohol, food, or other ingested substances.
Are There Any Disadvantages of Saunas?
FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
Now you know about the benefits of the dry sauna so here are some related questions regarding dry sauna:
Is Using a Dry Sauna Good?
A dry sauna is very helpful in getting rid of heart disease. An easy-to-use dry sauna can improve the circulation of the body. If you take sauna baths regularly, the inside layer of your blood vessels will regulate blood pressure.
How Many Times Should a Sauna Be Used in a Week?
Sauna should be used 3 – 4 times a week. But before taking this bath, you should drink plenty of water. If your body can tolerate it, you should use it daily.
How Much Time Should You Spend in a Dry Sauna?
If you spend a lot of time in a sauna, you will be at a higher risk of dehydration. The average spending time should be 15 – 20 minutes. Generally, people don’t leave it until they feel uncomfortable.
Why is a Dry Sauna Used?
Sauna is used for getting relaxation and health through heavy sweating. A dry sauna uses low moisture and dry heat, unlike steam saunas.
Is a Dry Sauna Helpful in Reducing Weight?
Most people believe that a dry sauna is also helpful in burning excess fats. But this is not true; a dry sauna only removes some water from your body through heavy sweating. In this way, your body loses some fluids.
Final Thoughts on Dry Sauna Benefits
A dry sauna has been used for many health benefits for many years. The heavy sweating made on our body makes countless positive changes to our body. It makes our skin healthy by cleansing and eliminating all its toxic impurities.
People who are worried about their weight can take advantage of a dry sauna to get rid of the extra fats from their bodies. However, drinking plenty of water before using a sauna is essential because our bodies will be at risk of dehydration due to heavy sweating.
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