Sweating produces many health benefits, including
detoxification, improved skin tone, stress relief,
and improved blood circulation. It also helps kill
pathogenic bacteria and viruses
Regular sauna use correlates to a reduced risk of
death from any cause, including lethal
cardiovascular events. This effect may be due to
sauna therapy placing stress on your body similar to
that of exercise
Fitter people tend to sweat more profusely in
response to exercise compared to unfit people. They
also begin perspiring much quicker during exercise
By Dr. Mercola
While many go to great lengths to avoid it, sweating actually
has many important health- and beauty-related benefits. Your
skin is the largest organ of your body, and serves important
roles just like any other bodily organ.
For example, sweating helps your body:
Maintain proper temperature and keep you from
overheating
Clean the pores, which will help eliminate
blackheads and acne
Expel toxins, which supports proper immune function
and helps prevent diseases related to toxic overload
Helps improve blood circulation
Kill viruses and bacteria that cannot survive in
temperatures above 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit
Helps relieve stress and promote relaxation
All of these benefits promote general health, and recent
research1,2,3,4,5
has even shown that regular
sauna use correlates to a reduced risk of death from any
cause, including lethal cardiovascular events.
Men who used the sauna (Finnish-style, dry heat sauna) seven
times per week cut their risk of death from fatal heart problems
in half, compared to those who only used it once each week.
One mechanism for this beneficial effect is thought to be
related to the fact that sauna therapy places stress on your
heart and body similar to that of exercise.
Sweating as a Barometer of Your Fitness Level
In fact, the concept of "hyperthermic
conditioning," or acclimating yourself to heat independent
of aerobic physical activity through sauna use, has been shown
to boost exercise endurance.
It does this by inducing adaptations in your body that make
it easier for you to perform when your body temperature is
elevated. Stated another way: as your body is subjected to heat
stress, it gradually becomes acclimated to the heat, prompting a
number of beneficial changes and adaptations.
These adaptations include:
Increased plasma volume
Increased blood flow to your heart and muscles (boosting
athletic endurance)
Increased muscle mass due to greater levels of
heat-shock proteins and human growth hormone (HGH)
Sauna use combined with exercise may lead to even greater,
synergistic increases in HGH as well as brain-derived
neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which can prompt the generation of
new brain cells. When I can, I enjoy using the sauna after doing
my
high intensity interval exercises for this reason.
A study6
published in 2010 added corroborating evidence to the link
between sweating and improved fitness, finding that fitter
people tend to sweat more profusely in response to exercise
compared to unfit people.
They also begin perspiring much quicker during exercise.
According to Time Magazine:7
“[Professor of internal medicine, Dr. Craig] Crandall
says the differences between fit and unfit people has to do
with each person’s capacity for heat generation.
‘A high fitness level allows you to exercise at a
higher workload, which generates more heat, which in turn
leads to more sweat,’ he explains.
He says men tend to sweat more than women for the
same reason overweight or obese adults often sweat more than
thin people: Their bodies are larger, which leads to greater
heat generation during activity.”
Different Kinds of Sweating
Not all perspiration is in response to heat or exercise,
however. Most people are probably familiar with the experience
of sweating when nervous or anxious for example. You actually
have two different types of sweat glands:8
Eccrine sweat glands, which are distributed over your
entire body
Apocrine sweat glands, located primarily in your armpits
and genital area
Your palms and the soles of your feet have a higher density
of eccrine glands than other parts of your body, and while the
“why” is still unknown, these two areas tend to be primarily
activated by emotional stimuli.
The glands in your armpits are stimulated by both heat
generation and emotions, while most other body areas are
primarily brought to sweat by heat. The International
Hyperhidrosis Society9
has the following to say about the biological imperatives behind
emotional sweating:
“Emotional sweating is thought to be an atavistic
function that was important when hunting animals or fighting
enemies. Physiologic amounts of sweat on the palms and soles
can improve friction by controlling the humidity of the
stratum corneum, leading to an improved grip.
Generalized sweating cools the body when intense
physical activity is expected. In addition, increased
eccrine sweat output in the axillae [armpit]
produced by emotional stimuli will allow natural odors from
prior apocrine gland secretion to aerosolize and function as
pheromone signals.”
The Importance of Sweating for Detoxification
Your skin is a major organ of elimination, but many people do
not sweat on a regular basis. This is why repeated use of a
sweat-inducing sauna slowly restores skin elimination, which
can help reduce your toxic load quite significantly.
The use of sweating as a form of detoxification is downplayed
by modern medicine, yet it has been valued as a form of
cleansing since ancient times. Traditional examples include
Roman baths, Aboriginal sweat lodges, Scandinavian saunas, and
Turkish baths.
According to a systematic review10
published in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health,
an array of toxins are excreted in sweat, including arsenic,
cadmium, lead, mercury, flame retardant chemicals, and
bisphenol-A (BPA). The authors concluded that:
Sweat may be an important route for excretion of cadmium
when an individual is exposed to high levels
Sweat-inducing sauna use might provide a therapeutic
method to increase elimination of toxic trace metals
Sweating should be the initial and preferred treatment
of patients with elevated mercury urine levels11
Detoxing can also be of particular benefit if you have
thyroid issues. As mentioned earlier, lack of sweating is a
strong indication of an underactive thyroid.
Hypothyroid people tend to feel cold much of the time, and
are slow to warm up even in a sauna, and don't sweat with mild
exercise.
They are also constipated, lethargic, and have dry skin. Halides
such as bromine, found in baked goods, soft drinks, pesticides,
and fire retardants, just to name a few sources, compete for the
same receptors used in the thyroid gland to capture iodine.
This inhibits thyroid hormone production resulting in a low
thyroid state. The more you can free your body of toxic halides,
the more iodine your body will be able to hang on to, and the
better your thyroid will function. This includes removing
fluoride from your water, which also impairs your thyroid. Soy
can also impair thyroid function. Of course, you’ll also want to
get your thyroid hormone levels checked if you suspect you may
suffer from thyroid dysfunction.
Boosting Your Health with the Use of a Sauna
Using a sauna is a great way to sweat out toxins your body
accumulates through contaminated food, water, pollution, and
other environmental exposures. As discussed in my interview with
Dr. George Yu, the mobilization of stored toxins can be
further enhanced by taking niacin in conjunction with sauna
bathing. Saunas will also help kill off viruses and other
disease-promoting microbes in your body.
As a general rule, viruses and toxin-laden cells are weaker
than normal cells and have poor tolerance to heat. As a result,
raising your body temperature can help heal infections more
quickly. Today, there are three basic types of saunas to choose
from:
The traditional wet Finnish sauna, where steam is
created by throwing water on hot rocks (the heat can be
generated by either wood burning or electricity). This type
of sauna heats you up from the outside in, like an oven
The dry Finnish sauna that uses electrical heating, and
therefore does not employ water (these stoves are not made
to have water poured on them. Doing so can result in
short-circuiting)
Far-infrared saunas, which heat you from the inside out,
thereby accelerating and improving detoxification
My personal preference is the far-infrared sauna. It heats
your tissues several inches deep, which can enhance your natural
metabolic processes, enhances circulation, and helps oxygenate
your tissues, but perhaps most importantly; it can help
restructure the water in your cells.
Your body consists of over 99 percent water molecules, but as
explained by Dr. Gerald Pollack, the water in your cells is not
just regular water, but highly
structured water with special properties. The infrared rays
from the sauna (and the sun) will help structure the water in
your body and may be one of the reasons why regular use has been
associated with decreased cardiac deaths.
Structured water is more viscous, dense, and has a negative
charge. It can hold energy, much like a battery, and deliver
energy too. A key ingredient to create this highly structured
water is infrared light. One reason why infrared saunas
make you feel so good is because your body’s cells are deeply
penetrated by infrared energy, which builds and stores
structured water. The same goes for light therapy, spending time
in the sun, and laser therapy.
A Cautionary Warning About High EMF Saunas
While some still favor old-fashioned wood-burning wet saunas,
the more modern electrical versions are the most common today.
Unfortunately, many electric saunas emit high levels of
electromagnetic radiation. You can easily test this by using an
inexpensive electrical meter, or a more sophisticated EMF meter
like Trifield. This is a problem because we’re fundamentally
electrical beings; the cells in your body communicate with each
other electrically, and if you’re exposed to an external
electrical field, it could interfere with their communication
and wreak havoc on your system.
Depending on your health status, detoxing in a high-EMF
environment might actually do you more harm than good. I
previously interviewed
Steve Benda about this important issue. Benda is trained in
power systems and nuclear engineering, and helped develop a
safer, low-EMF infrared sauna that has since led to the creation
of an entire new generation of shielded saunas.
Electromagnetic fields (EMF) can have adverse effects on
cellular function, so I would urge you to consider one of those
models if you’re thinking about adding a sauna to your home. In
the interview, he describes how these safer limits of exposure
were determined:
“... ‘The standard we use as our target is one that
has developed in Sweden... called the electromagnetic
Swedish standard... They have developed a standard where, at
30 or 50 centimeters from [a computer] screen, there would
be a certain amount of milligauss reading or maximum
electric field. Based on the credibility of that study, we
took that same benchmark, and applied that to our saunas.
Currently, our standard is 2.0 milligauss at 30
centimeters.”
Sauna Bathing Can Be an Excellent Addition to a Healthy
Lifestyle
Virtually everyone is exposed to heavy metals and toxic
chemicals today, and using an infrared sauna can be a helpful
method to promote detoxification. Its dry, warming energy is
highly compatible with the human body, and by heating your
tissues several inches deep, it helps enhance cellular energy
production and facilitate healing. Furthermore, viruses and
toxin-laden cells are weaker than normal cells and tolerate heat
poorly, so raising your body temperature helps heal infections
quicker.
A major organ of elimination, most people’s skin is very
inactive. Many simply do not sweat enough. Repeated use of the
sauna slowly restores your body’s ability to eliminate toxins
through your skin. Just be sure to select a low-EMF version if
you’re considering buying one, or you might risk canceling out
its benefits.
Also remember that saunas work best when integrated into a
comprehensive healthy lifestyle program, which includes eating a
healthy diet — ideally organic and/or locally grown without
pesticides — exercising, and avoiding toxic exposures. Last
but not least, if you’re having trouble sleeping, using the
sauna shortly before bedtime can be enormously beneficial, as it
tends to make you drowsy and facilitates falling asleep quickly.