With the rise of the internet, there have also been many claims about the positive effects that sauna use can have on both body and soul. But not all claims are equally true. So how do you know what's right?
Fortunately, science has been studying what sauna visits do for our bodies and mental state for many years – so read on as we examine a number of claims in detail!
Claim 1: Relieves muscle and joint pain (and tension)
If you have read or heard about saunas, you have undoubtedly also come across the claim that saunas are good for both muscles and joints.
A number of studies have been conducted on the effect of saunas on conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia (pain in the bones, joints and muscles) and other forms of chronic or frequent pain. Overall, there was a noticeable positive effect on the symptoms of the respective conditions, both in relation to the participants' own experiences and what could actually be measured in terms of, for example, joint mobility 1 2 3.
NOTE: Virtually all of the studies on muscle and joint pain relief we have found have tested the use of infrared saunas – a modern form of sauna, which you can read much more about here.
So it's one thing that sauna users say they feel more relaxed, comfortable and less sore in their bodies, but science backs up the claim. That's why we tick the box and confirm the effect on muscles and joints as TRUE (at least with infrared saunas)!
Claim 2: Increases your metabolism
After just ten minutes in a sauna, you've likely experienced a significant increase in your heart rate. The reason is the increased heat in the room around us, which causes the body to produce more sweat to get rid of the heat – and the increased production of sweat requires blood to be pumped around the body faster.
It also has an impact on how we burn calories. In 2019, a group of researchers studied how sauna visits affected young men’s bodies. The participants sat in a sauna for ten minutes at a time, with a five-minute break in between each visit to cool down, and the researchers found that calorie burn increased quite significantly over the course of the four visits. During the first ten minutes, participants burned an average of 73 calories, and during the last ten minutes, the burn was as high as 131 calories 4 – an increase of almost 80 percent!
Another study, also from 2019, found that a 25-minute sauna visit (at around 93?C) exposed the body to the same stress as cycling at a moderate pace for the same number of minutes 5. However, the researchers emphasize in the same study that you cannot use saunas as a strategy for weight loss, as the muscles are not activated in the same way as during physical exercise 6.
Overall, science suggests that your metabolism is higher when you sit in a sauna. There is still no solid evidence for how much extra you burn, as factors such as age, body composition and general shape play a crucial role in that calculation. But we dare to mark this claim as TRUE (although not enough to replace exercise and a healthy diet if the goal is weight loss)!
Claim 3: Is good for the heart
The high heat in a sauna increases both your heart rate and blood pressure, and this can have a positive effect on your heart and circulation.
One of the largest studies ever conducted on sauna use comes from Finland – the researchers wanted to investigate whether there was a connection between how often/how much you went to the sauna and your general health over several decades.
In the latter half of the 1980s, researchers therefore conducted a series of tests on more than 2,000 middle-aged men, and 20 years later, the researchers followed up on how the test participants were doing.
The results were unmistakable: The more often the participants used the sauna, the lower their risk of cardiovascular disease! Overall, there was a 63% decrease in the risk of sudden cardiac deathfor the group that used the sauna at least four times a week, compared to the group that used the sauna at most once a week. The same study also found a 40% lower overall mortality rate for the group that used the sauna the most 7.
The same group of researchers also published another report based on the same study, finding that the risk of a blood clot or hemorrhage in the brain decreased by 61% 8if you used a sauna at least four times a week, almost every week.
So it seems that frequent sauna use is healthy for the heart in several different ways – and that's why we say this claim is TRUE!
Claim 4: Strengthens the immune system
Summer is coming to an end, and runny noses and tickling throats are on the way. Now it's time to give your body the best possible conditions to keep colds and strep throats at bay – and there's some evidence that saunas can provide the body with some welcome help in this regard.
In 2013, a group of Polish researchers measured the number of white blood cells (which play a crucial role in fighting disease) in a group of well-trained and untrained men before and after a sauna session. Both groups had more white blood cells after a half-hour sauna session, but there was a greater increase in the well-trained group 9.
It should be said that the increase in white blood cells for the untrained group is not what is called “statistically significant” – this means that one cannot be sure whether the results are due to chance in the collection of statistics, since the number of participants was not very high.
The researchers cannot say what the results mean in the long term. But since white blood cells are “the immune system’s first line of defense,” 10as the researchers put it, it can be assumed that more white blood cells provide better defense.
So there is some evidence that sauna visits give the immune system a boost, especially when you compare the study here with the claims we have reviewed above. But with the results of this study, we call the claim TRUE at least for well-trained people, and it suggests that there is also something to be gained for untrained people.
Claim 5: Is good for the brain
Many claims about saunas are about how they help the body. But a good sweat session also seems to be beneficial for what's between our ears.
In 2005, a group of researchers found that regular sauna visits had a positive effect on patients with mild depressive symptoms 11. Furthermore, the large Finnish study we have previously reviewed found that study participants who went to the sauna at least four times a week had a 65% lower risk of developing Alzheimer's and a 66% lower risk of developing dementia 12. The latter results are particularly interesting, as the Finnish study was conducted with many participants and over a long period of time.
We will not speculate here on what mechanisms make the difference to our mental health when we use a sauna – we can only state that based on the research we can find, the claim must be described as TRUE if you go to a sauna regularly!
Claim 6: “Detoxes” the body
“Detox” or “detoxification”, as it is called in Danish, has been discussed for many years – because can we even talk about detoxification of the body? And if so, what works? We have found two studies that looked specifically at detoxification using a sauna (it should be mentioned that both studies also used other alleged detoxification methods, but sauna visits were the prominent one).
Both studies were conducted with questionnaires in which participants were asked to respond to their “own perception of quality of life” on a number of parameters. In the first study, participants’ own perceptions of quality of life changed significantly for the better 13, but the researchers point out in the report that the positive experience may be due to the increased care that the subjects experienced in connection with the study.
The second study tested two different types of sauna therapy (one group receiving an additional medication and the other a placebo). Again, the researchers found that subjects’ self-perceived health improved, but the researchers found no change in actual measurements of toxin levels in the body in either group —not even in the control group, which received no treatment 14.
Based on the two studies, it does not appear that sauna visits detoxify the body. Since many of the waste and toxins we usually talk about in connection with detoxification are mainly excreted via the liver and kidneys, it also seems doubtful that heat treatment in this way would have an effect. It could be argued that increased blood flow in the body as a result of the high heat will speed up the cleansing processes of the liver and kidneys, but we know nothing about this. At the same time, we can mention that you do not excrete more toxins because you sweat more 15.
Therefore, the conclusion to this claim must be that it is NOT TRUE that saunas help with detoxification.
Claim 7: Make your body more flexible
Heat treatment, such as sauna visits, has a documented effect on joint mobility and muscle tension (see “Claim 1”), at least in people with actual ailments and diseases – but what does it look like for a healthy person who, for example, would like to be able to reach their own feet?
A few studies have been conducted on heat and mobility, and one of them found that short yoga sessions in a sauna had a noticeable effect on the flexibility of the test participants over the course of just eight training sessions spread over eight weeks 16.
One of the most interesting studies found that stretching your muscles in an infrared sauna could be more than twice as effective at increasing flexibility. 17 According to the researcher behind the study, it would normally take “several weeks of regular mobility training to achieve that effect. ” 18
Generally, fitness instructors and trainers recommend that you warm up before stretching your muscles. This may be one of the reasons why stretching in a sauna works so well – the claim is at least TRUE, but you have to make sure to actively stretch while in the sauna to achieve an effect.
Claim 8: Improves your performance
Many athletes and sports practitioners use saunas in connection with training, and a number of fitness providers also offer sauna visits for their members after training. And this suggests that there are some extra percentages to be gained in the pursuit of training results if you also use a sauna.
In 2018, a group of researchers compiled 16 studies that looked at the connection between sauna and hot tub use and performance. The researchers looked at many different aspects, but among the most notable ones, we would like to mention that sauna or hot tub use:
- Can lower resting heart rate 19 20
- Can increase endurance running performance by almost two percent 21
- May increase the ability to keep body temperature down, which counteracts overheating due to physical exertion 22
The researchers behind the compilation also provide a number of recommendations for athletes who will use heat therapy (sauna or hot water bath). If you are interested in finding a few extra percentages in your training or for competition, we recommend you read the section of the study on implementing the techniques (you can find the full article here).
In the end, we can at least state that this statement must be considered TRUE, even though there is a lack of clarification as to whether there is a difference between using a sauna and a hot tub!
So to summarize
The majority of the studies we refer to in this article were compiled in a large review of what the science says about sauna use. You can read the full scientific review here, but the researchers behind the study concluded that “Regular use of infrared and/or Finnish saunas has the potential to contribute to many health benefits, especially for those suffering from cardiovascular disease or musculoskeletal problems…” 23.
So, although the evidence for some of the claims probably requires further investigation before any definitive conclusions can be drawn, it seems that science can confirm many of the beneficial effects of sauna use that people around the world report!
See our large selection of both traditional and infrared saunas, as well as steam cabins,and enjoy the many positive properties of the sauna in the comfort of your own home!