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5 Benefits of Sauna Use You Likely Haven't Heard About
00:00 it's not about the sweating it's not about the hardcore sweating if you ask me the sweating is like the smallest benefit i have five very key benefits that people don't usually talk about when it comes down to saunas so let's go ahead and let's break them down but first i have to help you understand really quick that saunas are all about triggering stress in the body it shouldn't be this super relaxing experience it should be kind of difficult because you're trying to trigger an adaptation within your body that allows you to cope with the heat better okay from a molecular level at a cellular level mitochondrial level and we'll touch on all of it and i'll keep it fairly high level but we'll go and drill into some things hey do hit the red subscribe button and then hit the bell icon if you don't mind as well and then after this video i want you to check out my friends at ujiro matcha which is a japanese matcha company 187 year old company check them out down below in the description that way you can use that special link and you can get your hands on some ceremonial grade matcha you can get your hands on some really good quality on the go stick pack matchas but they also have matcha collagen which is sweetened with
01:00 stevia so it's totally keto friendly and something that you could have shortly after breaking a fast if you're into that so highly highly recommend them super high quality stuff down below in the description and thank you ujido for making this channel possible okay so now that we know that saunas are a stressor and that's what we're after we can learn a little bit about how they work specifically okay so let's focus on number one longevity people don't think of sonnets as a longevity tool but if you look at a study that was published in the journal jama that took a look at over 2 300 finnish subjects from finland they looked at them over the course of 20.7 years almost 21 years okay and they found that when they used saunas it was dose-dependent correlated with their overall longevity or their mortality rates right so they found that if they used asana three times per week they were 24 less likely to die during the course of the study however if they used a sauna four to seven times per week they were 40 percent less likely to die
02:00 during the course of the study okay so this is pretty interesting and it's a pretty big study that really tells us a lot it doesn't mean you're magically going to live forever but if you look at the data and you look at the mechanisms here's what's probably going on okay you improve your heart muscle contractions which means your heart is beating a little bit better okay the heart is stronger but additionally you improve sort of the pliability of the arteries you reduce some of the stiffness within the arteries because it's trying to accommodate more blood flow that happens as a result of using the sauna so therefore your arteries get a little bit more pliable which reducing that stiffness is a very powerful thing but then we have something called autophagy which is where when your body is under stress it reallocates and it really tries to prioritize the cells that are healthy so it takes cells and components of cells that aren't functioning well and it breaks them down for fuel so basically you are able to go through a survival of the fittest mechanism by using a sauna this is going to help you out with protein homeostasis as well so what you are rebuilding is going to be higher quality and then additionally when you're under stress your body produces something called heat
03:00 shock proteins just like the name implies they come in as a result of heat shock so the body says i'm hot these heat shock proteins come out and they actually help the body repair in a cleaner fashion through what's called the folding and unfolding of different proteins within cells but we're going to keep it a little bit higher level today number two is probably the main reason that i use asana these days sure i get the performance benefit out of it but the big piece is the mental acuity and mood piece when you sit in a sauna or stand in asana or jump rope in asana you end up increasing your levels of norepinephrine okay norepinephrine is like your fight-or-flight hormone that alone is going to make you mentally acute if you allow it to okay so sometimes if you get that fight-or-flight response you go dumb because you just want to sprint but if you put yourself in the right frame of mind you actually get a benefit out of it however here's what's cool it's the combination of the improvement in norepinephrine levels alongside the increase of something called prolactin prolactin is a hormone and one of the things that it can do is it ends up increasing what's called the myelin and the myelin is the sheath that is the
04:00 outer coating of a nerve so what that means is you can send a better signal so your brain can fire faster and it can actually send those crazy things that it needs to send to each different region of the brain making you more mentally acute we also have an improvement in bdnf which is called brain derived nootropic factor which is allowing you to actually grow new neurons and new nerve cells within your brain that's an added benefit with a whole different video on its own but what's wild is the mood piece okay if you've ever gone into a sauna when you come out you feel really good there's a study that demonstrates that 20 plus minutes in the sauna triggers an opioid to be released and this opioid is called dinorphin okay and what this opioid does is it actually is not a good thing at first okay it makes you kind of feel dysphoric you don't feel right okay now what ends up happening is as a result your body compensates by producing what's called beta endorphins you know what endorphins are right they help you feel good so while you're sitting in the sauna you have this dynorphin and these endorphins that are like competing with each other so you're kind of net neutral but then when you get out of the sauna the dino orphan drops
05:00 and the endorphins stay high so you feel really really good that's actually one of the reasons why i'm a fan of using asana for a short period of time before i work out i like to do it because i feel like it gets me in the mental state it gets my mood elevated because maybe some days i'm just not feeling it and i want to get my head in the game okay then we move into number three which is really a big focus for me as well that's going to be using it to improve performance this is wild you see being exposed to high heat acclimates your body to enhanced cooling mechanisms it allows you to get better at cooling and you may not realize it but especially with endurance athletes one of the reasons that they end up bonking is because their body heat gets too high and it slows down processes within the body so if we can adapt to high heat we enhance how we can cool even internally we also end up with more blood flow okay that means more glucose delivery so more glycolysis that means more free fatty acid delivery that means more potential ketogenesis that means more uh bit oxidation producing more energy from our actual
06:00 energy substrates okay then we also have an improvement in oxygen delivery thus comes from an improvement in red blood cell count okay here's a wild study super wild and if this doesn't convince you to use a sauna i don't know what will the journal of science and medicine and sport took a look at individuals that used asana for 30 minutes two times per week okay and they only did this for three weeks and they found that if they used the sauna 30 minutes two times per week that they ended up having a 32 increase in their time to exhaustion when they were running 32 so a third increase in their time to exhaustion that's like me getting exhausted after running at you know for three minutes and now after using asana for a couple weeks for just two times a week i can run to exhaustion at four minutes gained a whole minute on that that is insane and this comes as a result of a 7.1 percent increase in blood plasma volume so a lot more blood and a 3.5 increase in red blood cell count so that's that much more oxygen getting to your cells insane okay then let's talk about the
07:00 mechanism of how we produce more red blood cells as a result of this whole thing when you are slightly dehydrated so especially like right after a workout if you go and you sit in a sauna what's gonna happen is what blood you do have left goes to the skin to enhance cooling okay goes to the blood capillaries in the skin helps you kind of vent and cool well this triggers okay we're low in blood so the kidneys therefore as a result produce you guessed it epo okay the kidneys produce epo which we all know as like a performance enhancing we look at the guys in the tour de france and there's always those scandals about epo well what if we can just hack our bodies a little bit to produce some so this is going to increase our blood volume it's going to increase our plasma volume it's going to increase our red blood cell count so that we deliver more oxygen and get more nutrients and are able to catalyze things faster to ultimately create energy but what good is performance without recovery so number four is recovery so here's the thing heat shock proteins scavenge the free radicals that occur after a workout without stopping protein synthesis after
08:00 a workout a little bit of stress from oxidative damage is fine it actually triggers a lot of good things remember being under oxidative stress from a workout actually allows you to adapt but there are some things like superoxide which is a particular uh oxidative damaging free radical that's in the body that causes a lot of damage after a workout we do want to plummet that one heat shock proteins those little scavenger kind of proteins that come in chaperone the folding of proteins they actually quell that so basically they lower oxidative damage while keeping protein synthesis high so you can still rebuild muscle without having the oxidative stress but what's really freaking cool is the growth hormone response okay growth hormone signaling skyrockets because when you are in a sauna it inhibits what is called the foxo gene right after a workout if you are expressing what's called foxo which is typically what's happening it's triggering the catabolization of muscle the breakdown of muscle we don't want that obviously we just worked out we don't want to be breaking down muscle so if we can inhibit the expression of that gene that
09:00 pathway foxo then we stop the breakdown of muscle so what are we left with building muscle because normally when you consume protein you have to counteract a little bit of the catabolization that's occurring and then if we get rid of the catabolizing effect then all of a sudden you're just building it's hecka cool right you tell them from california originally so then when we got down to a really nitty gritty if you want to go extreme there are some studies that show that if you are willing to take the time and like don't have a family and don't have a life and spend two hours in a sauna a day one hour in the morning one hour in the evening at a very high heat and do that for a few days there is a 16x increase in growth hormone and it lasts for hours after the sonnet so once you've been doing that for three days consecutively then each time you go on asana you get the 16x increase so if you are taking a period of time to be specific for recovery that could work out really really well to be something where you just get this extra growth hormone response the last one that i have to talk about is a huge one for me okay i used to be 300 pounds and when i was that heavy i did a lot of damage to my body so i am in pain a lot
10:00 and quite handily one of the reasons that i use asana is for pain management okay not only do i get the mood effect do i get that opioid effect that actually soothes my pain but it loosens everything up so i can actually move okay now you might be wondering should you use a dry sauna or an infrared infrared is going to heat you up inside the joints a little bit more it's kind of like a low-grade microwave that's cooking you from the inside so that is okay for pain relief but that's really good for getting warmed up if you're actually looking for the endorphin effect and the opioid effect of actually sitting in a sauna you want to use a dry sauna at a relatively high heat anyway i know this was a lot of detail but hopefully you learned something from and as always please don't forget to subscribe and i'll see you tomorrow
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Transcript auto-generated by YouTube. Verbatim — duplicates intentionally preserved.
sauna therapy is often associated with relaxation and detoxification, but its benefits extend far beyond a simple sweat session. As a ritual that triggers a unique stress response in the body, regular sauna use can lead to profound health benefits, including increased longevity and enhanced recovery. Understanding the mechanisms behind these effects can empower you to incorporate sauna therapy into your wellness routine with intention and clarity.
In this article, we will delve into the science behind sauna use, exploring how it impacts various aspects of health, from mental acuity to physical performance. With insights drawn from recent research, we aim to illuminate the transformative potential of this ancient practice, inviting you to consider how sauna therapy can serve as a sanctuary for both body and mind.
24% Reduced mortality risk with sauna use 3 times a week 40% Reduced mortality risk with sauna use 4-7 times a week 32% Increase in time to exhaustion for athletes using saunas 16x Increase in growth hormone after extended sauna use
"It's not about the sweating; the sweating is like the smallest benefit."
Introduction to Sauna Benefits
Saunas are not merely about sweating; they are a powerful tool for health and longevity. When you enter a sauna, your body experiences a controlled stress response, which can lead to various health benefits. As the speaker notes, “Saunas are all about triggering stress in the body.” This stress response initiates a cascade of physiological changes that can enhance your overall well-being.
The primary mechanism at play is the activation of heat shock proteins, which assist in cellular repair and maintenance. This process not only promotes resilience but also supports the body’s ability to cope with various stressors. By understanding these mechanisms, you can appreciate how sauna therapy serves as a ritual for enhancing health and longevity.
"Saunas are all about triggering stress in the body." — Speaker
Longevity
Research indicates that regular sauna use is linked to increased longevity. A significant study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association analyzed over 2,300 Finnish subjects over nearly 21 years. The findings revealed that individuals who used saunas three times a week had a 24% lower mortality risk , while those who used them four to seven times a week experienced a remarkable 40% reduction in mortality risk .
The benefits stem from improved heart function and arterial pliability. Regular sauna use enhances heart muscle contractions and reduces arterial stiffness, leading to better blood flow. Additionally, the process of autophagy—where the body breaks down unhealthy cells—promotes cellular health and longevity. This survival-of-the-fittest mechanism ensures that your body prioritizes the maintenance of healthy cells, ultimately supporting a longer life.
Mental Acuity and Mood
Sauna therapy can significantly enhance mental acuity and mood. Exposure to heat increases levels of norepinephrine, a hormone that enhances focus and alertness. As the speaker explains, “When you sit in a sauna, you end up increasing your levels of norepinephrine.” This increase can sharpen your mental clarity and improve your cognitive function.
Moreover, sauna use stimulates the production of prolactin, which enhances the myelin sheath surrounding nerves, allowing for faster signal transmission in the brain. This combination of hormonal changes not only boosts mental performance but also elevates mood. After a sauna session, many individuals report feeling a sense of well-being, attributed to the release of endorphins. The speaker highlights this effect, noting that “when you get out of the sauna, the endorphins stay high.” This dual effect of norepinephrine and endorphins can help you approach daily challenges with greater resilience.
Performance Enhancement
For athletes, sauna therapy can be a game-changer in performance enhancement. Heat exposure acclimates the body to better cooling mechanisms, which is crucial during intense physical activity. The speaker cites a study showing that individuals who used a sauna for just 30 minutes, two times a week, experienced a 32% increase in their time to exhaustion during endurance activities.
This improvement is linked to increased blood flow and enhanced oxygen delivery to muscles. The body responds to heat stress by producing more red blood cells, which are essential for transporting oxygen. As the speaker notes, sauna use can stimulate the kidneys to produce erythropoietin (EPO), a hormone that boosts red blood cell production. By integrating sauna therapy into your training regimen, you can optimize your performance and endurance.
Recovery and Pain Management
Recovery is another critical aspect of sauna therapy. The heat shock proteins activated during sauna use help mitigate oxidative stress, allowing for muscle recovery without hindering protein synthesis. As the speaker explains, “Heat shock proteins scavenge the free radicals that occur after a workout.” This process facilitates muscle repair while reducing oxidative damage, promoting a more efficient recovery.
Additionally, sauna therapy can be effective for pain management. The heat relaxes muscles and alleviates tension, making it easier to move and function. The speaker emphasizes the importance of using a dry sauna for optimal pain relief, as it provides the necessary endorphin release to soothe discomfort. By incorporating sauna sessions into your recovery routine, you can enhance your overall physical well-being.
Words Worth Hearing
"Heat shock proteins help the body repair in a cleaner fashion." — Speaker
Practical Takeaways
Incorporate sauna sessions into your weekly routine to enhance longevity and reduce mortality risk. Utilize sauna therapy as a pre-workout ritual to boost mental acuity and elevate mood.