Video·2 min read·May 2026

Harnessing the Power of Contrast Therapy: Insights from Research on Stress Relief and Wellness

Sauna • 3 min read • Based on research by Shin Young Park, Sang Pyung Lee (2015)

In our fast-paced world, stress often feels like an unwelcome companion. Many of us seek effective ways to bring balance back into our lives, searching for rituals that promote relaxation and resilience. One such approach is contrast therapy, which combines heat and cold exposure to rejuvenate both body and mind.

Recent research sheds light on how combining traditional remedies like Korean red ginseng with practices such as body wrap steam bathing can enhance our stress management efforts. This study, conducted by Shin Young Park and Sang Pyung Lee, offers valuable insights into how we can optimize our wellness routines.

The Science Behind Stress Relief

Stress is a complex reaction, often characterized by elevated cortisol levels—a hormone associated with our body’s fight-or-flight response. In the study, participants who engaged in body wrap steam bathing with Korean red ginseng experienced a significant reduction in cortisol levels, dropping by 20% compared to those who did not use ginseng.

This finding is crucial. Lower cortisol levels can lead to improved mental clarity and a greater sense of calm, allowing us to navigate daily challenges more effectively. By integrating herbs like red ginseng into our wellness protocols, we may enhance the calming effects of thermal therapies.

The Impact on Lipid Profiles

In addition to stress relief, the study revealed interesting effects on lipid profiles. Participants using body wrap steam bathing alongside red ginseng saw a significant decrease in triglyceride levels—by 12%. This reduction is particularly noteworthy for those with higher body mass, where the decrease was even more pronounced at 21%.

Managing triglyceride levels is essential for overall heart health. By incorporating thermal therapies and herbal remedies into our routines, we not only support our emotional well-being but also contribute to our physical health.

The Role of Caffeine

Interestingly, the study also examined the effects of caffeine on cortisol levels. Participants who consumed caffeine before steam bathing experienced an increase in cortisol, contrasting sharply with the effects of red ginseng. This highlights the importance of being mindful about what we consume before engaging in stress-reducing rituals.

For those looking to create a sanctuary for relaxation, it may be beneficial to limit caffeine intake before engaging in thermal therapies. Instead, consider herbal alternatives that support equilibrium and resilience.

Key Takeaways

Incorporating Korean red ginseng into your contrast therapy rituals may enhance stress relief by significantly lowering cortisol levels.
Body wrap steam bathing can positively impact lipid profiles, especially for those with higher body mass, promoting better heart health.
Be mindful of caffeine consumption before stress-relief practices, as it may counteract the calming effects you seek.

Based on: The Effects of Coffee and Korean Red Ginseng with Body Wrap Steam Bathing on Stress Markers and Lipid Profiles
Shin Young Park, Sang Pyung Lee (2015). Journal of Food and Nutrition Research

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The Effects of Coffee and Korean Red Ginseng with Body Wrap Steam

What This Paper Actually Argues

Park and Lee set out to answer a deceptively simple question: does what you put in — or on — your body before a steam session change what you get out of it? The answer, it turns out, is yes. Significantly. Their three-condition crossover design had the same fifteen volunteers doing body wrap steam bathing on three separate days: once after drinking caffeinated coffee, once with red ginseng cream applied topically to the skin, and once with a plain control cream. The results split in opposite directions depending on which intervention they used.

Red ginseng amplified cortisol reduction — dropping 20% versus 15.4% in the control. Caffeine did the opposite: it raised cortisol and catecholamines after the session. Same thermal stress. Completely different hormonal outcomes. The ritual matters, but so does what you bring into it.

How This Fits the Broader Picture

Everything we know from the sauna research — Rhonda Patrick's work on heat shock proteins, the Finnish longevity cohorts, the cardiovascular data — points to heat as a hormetic stressor that lowers inflammation and cortisol over time. This paper adds a layer: heat doesn't act in isolation. It's a biological amplifier. Feed it something that's already pro-stress, and it amplifies stress. Feed it something adaptogenic, and it deepens the relaxation response.

The triglyceride finding reinforces this. A 12% reduction in triglycerides in the red ginseng group, jumping to 21% in overweight subjects. Normal BMI participants? No significant change. The body responds to thermal therapy in proportion to its metabolic need. If you have excess lipid burden, heat gives you more leverage to move it.

The sauna is an amplifier. What you bring in, it magnifies — calm or cortisol, restoration or agitation. Choose accordingly.

Where the Evidence Gets Complicated

The sample size here is small — fifteen university students, young and healthy by design. That's standard for this kind of exploratory work, but it limits how confidently you can generalize. The topical red ginseng application is also unusual; most ginseng research involves oral supplementation. Whether you're getting systemic ginsenoside absorption through occluded skin versus ingesting capsules is a genuinely open question. The mechanism the authors propose — immune stimulation, cortisol pathway modulation — is plausible but not fully established for topical delivery specifically.

Still, the direction of effect is consistent with what we know about adaptogenic herbs more broadly. Ashwagandha, rhodiola, schisandra — these are all documented to blunt the HPA axis response to stress. Ginseng belongs in that family. The steam bathing context just makes the comparison more dramatic because you're measuring against an active stressor rather than baseline.

My Practical Recommendation

If you're using sauna or steam for cortisol management — and you should be — treat the pre-session window seriously. Skip the coffee. I know that's inconvenient for anyone who considers their morning espresso non-negotiable, but the data is clear: caffeine before heat raises cortisol instead of lowering it. You're working against yourself. Save the coffee for after, when your nervous system has already shifted into parasympathetic mode and can handle the mild stimulation without tipping back into fight-or-flight.

If you're drawn to red ginseng, the oral route is better studied and more reliable than topical. Three to five grams of standardized extract before your session is a reasonable starting point based on the existing adaptogen literature.

The Surprising Connection

What I keep coming back to is the BMI-stratified triglyceride result. Normal weight participants got essentially nothing on lipids. Overweight participants got 21%. This isn't a flaw in the study — it's a signal about how metabolic interventions work. The body adapts to its current state of need. If your lipid metabolism is already running efficiently, there's less slack to optimize. If it's under strain, the same thermal dose creates significantly more movement.

This is the same principle that shows up in cold exposure research, in intermittent fasting, in exercise science. The intervention works proportionally to the dysfunction it's addressing. For anyone walking into contrast therapy carrying metabolic burden — elevated triglycerides, higher BMI, early signs of metabolic syndrome — the ceiling on benefit is actually higher than for someone already optimized. The body rewards the people who need it most.

The Effects of Coffee and Korean Red Ginseng with Body Wrap Steam

Harnessing the Power of Contrast Therapy: Insights from Research on Stress Relief and Wellness

The Science Behind Stress Relief

The Impact on Lipid Profiles

The Role of Caffeine

Key Takeaways

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