If you have ever wondered what exactly a sauna does to your body - except make you feel like you’re on fire - then look no further because one expert has lifted the lid.
In a video published to YouTube, Max G. Levy details all of the health benefits and dispels the myths of what happens when you expose your body to extreme temperatures.
In the clip, it explains: “Traditional Finnish sauna temperatures can top out at 90°C, or just below the boiling point of water, and are typically dry, at about 20% humidity. This blast of dry heat ignites your thermoregulatory response. Specialized temperature-detecting proteins in the skin change shape, triggering sensory neurons to send this high heat message to the brain.
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“Blood vessels widen, and your heart rate ticks up to circulate blood faster. To shield your vital organs from intolerable temperatures, your skin absorbs heat, creeping up to 41°C, and dumps this heat from your body's surface. You sweat. If this response reminds you of exercise, that’s no coincidence. Physiologists who study sauna use have likened the body's heat response to a moderate workout.
“And while time in the sauna isn't a replacement for exercise, regular exposure to controlled heat may stress the heart and, over time, strengthen the cardiovascular system in similar ways.”
The video goes on to detail how saunas can be used to increase the blood flow in the body which can help with ailments such as inflammation.
Many people took to social media to share their own reactions to the news, with one user writing on the YouTube comment section: “The big difference in experience I find between cold bath/sauna is that cold starts horrible and ends tolerable but hot is the opposite. Probably why I’m always much more keen to do saunas!”
Another said: “They really skimmed through the most important point. Heat and cold stress increase the number of mitochondria in cells. Cells with more mitochondria have extra energy for conducting repair and clean up of cells.”
A third person commented: “While there are many benefits, I grew up in a swamp environment, extreme heat and humid conditions were the norm unless we took refuge in an ac. I don't wish to step in another suffocating room when I don't have to anymore.”
And a fourth added: “The same goes for sauna and cold dips. Extremes on both sides are beneficials.”