Sauna use can have an impact on a person’s longevity and how they age. This is no more evidenced in the measured benefits of an infrared sauna. Assuming a sauna can impact your system so positively that it reduces the risk of contracting certain diseases and it limits the symptoms of an illness or keeps illness away altogether, that makes a notable difference.
As we age, our bodies change and although a lot of what’s marketed as anti-aging isn’t necessarily truthful, saunas have some serious health benefits to them. Can a sauna make a person live forever? No, absolutely not. That aside, an infrared sauna or steam room can potentially save lives or at least, extend a person’s life. Here’s how and why.
A few years ago, a study from Finland – a country where traditional and infrared saunas are insanely popular – analyzed over 2,300 men over a 20-year period. The results found that men who used saunas 2-3 times a week – as opposed to one time a week or less – were 24 percent less likely to die from all causes. Shockingly, this study also revealed people who had sauna sessions 4-7 times a week were 40 percent less likely to die from all causes.
That’s absolutely amazing! Imagine if this was a prescription drug and the kind of attention or promotion it would get. It’s surprising that more people aren’t talking about or studying how a sauna works in the body.
A lot of scientists believe saunas have this benefit through the activation of heat shock proteins (HSPs). Aging, in scientific terms, is the progressive accumulation of molecular damage and reduced cellular defence mechanisms. Heat shock proteins (HSPs) repair damaged cells, promote autophagy which is the recycling of damaged cell parts, and can prevent future cell damage. HSPs does this by reducing free radicals and increasing antioxidant capacity by maintaining glutathione, a big antioxidant.
The theory of heat therapy and heat shock proteins is supported by significant research. Worms exposed to heat stress showed greater longevity and protection from frailty. Another study showed a single exposure event to heat stress resulted in a 15 percent increase in the lifespan of flies and worms. Although this has never been studied in humans, many argue the same findings would prove to be true.
Another important gene to the anti-aging benefits of a sauna is FOXO3, also known as the longevity gene. FOXO3 affects the expression of a number of genes, including those involved in DNA repair and cell death, immune function, stress resistance, autophagy, tumor suppression, activation of stem cells, and more. These are all critical in the body’s functioning and yet sadly decline with age. FOXO3 is activated robustly through an infrared sauna, something which shouldn’t be ignored in discussing how to slow down aging.
If you’re serious about pursuing an anti-aging strategy for yourself, there’s too much evidence to ignore surrounding what an infrared sauna or a steam room can do. Not only can a sauna sharpen your body on the inside but it can clear up skin and make you look younger on the outside. It’s certainly no miracle cure but, in a lot of people, the effects can be outstanding at maintaining peak health. Get your own from Steam Sauna, one of the top suppliers in Canada and the US.