Things I Wish I Learned Sooner: The Unusual Benefits Of Regular Saunas
A sauna is a room heated to 80 to 105 degrees Celsius with the help of a sauna heater. The sweat bath in the sauna can serve health and relaxation. Often public saunas are connected to a public swimming pool or gym and may be combined with other facilities such as steam baths or a hot-air bath.
Since December 17, 2020, the Finnish sauna culture is an Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO
The sauna itself can cause a really big growth hormone release in favor of metabolism and therefore accelerate fat loss.
80 to 100 degrees Celsius, for five to 30 minutes is the typical range people work in. For maximum growth hormone release, don’t sauna more than once a week, but go in the sauna for 30 minutes, as hot as you can safely tolerate.
Then go out for five to ten minutes without cold exposure, go back into the sauna for 30 minutes and then go out again for five minutes and back one last time for 30 minutes.
I know this is rather hard to fulfill as a beginner, but with time your body will get used to the heat and it’ll be more tolerable.
The likelihood of dying from a cardiovascular event, be it a stroke or something else is reduced drastically.
The more often you sauna, the better.
So 30 minutes a day is better than four times a week, four times a week is better than twice a week and two times a week is better than one time.
The reduction in mortality is really impressive.
30 minutes twice or three times a week, and you reduce the chance of dying from cardiovascular disease by 27%.
If you sauna four or more times a week you reduce the chance of dying from a cardiovascular event by 50%.
In these studies, they’ve excluded other factors that influence longevity like smoking for example. They even asked them if they live in an apartment or if they are in a happy relationship.
If you don’t have access to it, then put on two pairs of sweatpants, a hoodie and a hat with stockings and wrap up and wrap yourself in plastic and go jogging.
But please don’t die of hyperthermia, too much heat can be fatal.
Ideally, you want to feel like you really want to get out of the sauna, but you can safely stay in and that tolerance varies from person to person.
What’s Happening Inside Your Body
What you need is the release of something called dynorphin.
When we have endorphin, we feel good and it binds to the mu-opioid receptors in our bodies.
Dynorphin is the horrible feeling you get when it’s very hot.
It’s also the horrible effect that alcoholics feel when they’re in withdrawal; you feel excited, you want to get out, and it’s really uncomfortable.
It’s dynorphin that binds to the kappa opioid receptor and that’s what you’re trying to trigger.
Once activated, you put out heat shock proteins that repair broken proteins and misfolded proteins. It also makes the endorphin bind more strongly to its receptor later on.
And the best of it all: once you’ve successfully overcome that daunting experience in the heat, you’ll feel better in real life.
Happy Saunaing!
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