5 Health Benefits of Sauna Bathing

Saunas have been around in Finland for over 2000 years and have spread throughout the world. These days, you’ll be hard pressed to find a self-respecting wellness or fitness center without one. But while they’re great for relaxing after a long training session or at the end of a day of work, do they actually have tangible health benefits? Let’s take a look at a few ways taking a sauna bath could improve your general health.

Improves Circulation

One of the biggest benefits of saunas is that they can work wonders to boost your blood circulation. When you’re in a sauna, your blood vessels expand, and your heart rate increases. This not only improves your cardiovascular health, but can also boost detoxification and boost your metabolism as well.

The great thing is that you don’t necessarily have to go to a sauna to get these benefits. You could get a sauna vest or suit instead. If you want to see how they work and what they look like, you can find sauna sweat suits, vests, and more here. These can increase your body heat during exercise and boost circulation as well. They can also help you lose weight much faster, which is a major plus.

Improves Your Arteries’ Response

Another thing that saunas do is improve the way your arteries respond to sudden changes in pressure. This has a direct effect on how well the blood circulates to various body parts, including your brain. Saunas have also been shown to reduce diastolic and systolic blood pressure. If you don’t know what that means, diastolic stands for blood pressure between heartbeats and systolic pressure is measured during heartbeats.

They Could Increase Your Lifespan

Going to the sauna could actually help you live longer according to studies. As a matter of fact, various studies suggest a link between lower early mortality rates and sauna baths.

One particular study that was conducted on a group of Finnish men showed that those who went almost every day passed away later on average than those who only went once or twice a week.

While saunas have tons of health benefits on their own that could contribute to this, saunas are also very communal in nature, which helps people form bonds. This alone could be a large contributing factor.

They Could Improve Your Brain’s Health

Saunas have also been proven to help improve brain health. In addition to boosting relaxation and sleep, it also improves mood, reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety, and could even reduce the risks of developing Alzheimer's later on.

Another study that was conducted on Finnish men found that those who went to a sauna regularly had much lower rates of Alzheimer’s than the rest of the population. Here again though, the communal nature and the pleasure people derive from saunas could also delay or stop the development of memory disease.

They Can Help Alleviate Certain Chronic Conditions

Saunas have been shown to be beneficial for a wide variety of musculoskeletal disorders like fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis. Saunas have also been shown to reduce the violence of chronic migraines. One of the reasons cited for these benefits is that saunas seem to reduce the amount of inflammation in the blood. Many of these disorders are linked to excessive inflammation, and the anti-inflammatory properties of saunas may be the reason why they’re so effective for soothing them.

As you can see, there are tons of benefits of getting a nice steam bath every now and then. So, if you were still skeptical, we strongly suggest you give them a try and enjoy their benefits.

This is a guest blog entry.