Sauna health benefits

In the article – Sauna health benefits – I discuss why you should take a sauna bath.

Especially in recent years, extensive studies on the health benefits of saunas have been carried out. In this article, I decided to list all the wonderful and positive health benefits of taking a sauna I could find.

I think it’s great that large-scale studies on the positive health effects of saunas have been done in Finland. For example, the University of Eastern Finland has carried out a Sauna and Heart Health research project and they have made some interesting discoveries.

One of their studies found that a 30-minute sauna session lowers blood pressure.

Studies show that those who take a sauna 4-7 times a week, are 63% less likely to have a stroke than those who take a sauna only once a week. Enjoying sauna 2-3 times a week, reduces the risk by 22%.

The ideal time for taking a sauna is just under 20 minutes. People who stayed in sauna for approximately 20 minutes, lowered their risk of sudden death by more than 50 % compared to those who take less than 11-minute saunas.

Asthmatics, in particular, benefit from sauna because the hot air dilates the bronchus.

Sauna also makes you feel good, because the production of endorphin hormone increases.

Furthermore, bacteria, fleas and lice die at temperatures above 50 degrees. However, louse nits do not die in sauna, so make sure you get the right products to tackle them.

To enjoy all the health benefits listed below, you should take a sauna more than three times a week, 15-20 minutes at a time and in a sauna heated to 75-80 degrees.

Health benefits of sauna:

Lowers blood pressure
Speeds up blood circulation and improves peripheral blood flow
Brain starts to produce endorphins (pleasure hormones)
Helps to ease symptoms of chronic diseases e.g. rheumatism, asthma and persistent rhinitis
Increases life expectancy
Lowers the risk of heart disease, hypertension, cerebral infarction, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia
May strengthen the immune system

Other benefits of sauna

Helps to relax
Purifies
Social aspect of sauna and the sense of community
Helps with stress management and also prevents stress
The quality of sleep improves and the amount of deep sleep increases
Raises your heart rate (however, sauna does not replace regular exercise)
Sauna is beneficial for your skin, also those suffering from skin diseases might get help for their symptoms
Reduces pain and relaxes muscles (note that the pains may be worse the next day if you suffer from rheumatism)

So, taking a sauna as often as possible has been proven to improve your health in many ways. Taking a sauna once a week is not really enough. I wish someone could explain this to my German partner!

I hope you find my Sauna Healt Benefits article usefull.

Here you can find some of the sauna research that The University of Eastern Finland has done in English.

How often do you take a sauna?

With love,

Sauna-Kati

I used these three articles as my sources: Saunaseura, Anna-lehti, ET-lehti. Unfotunately, they are all in Finnish.