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Regular use of sauna can improve cardiovascular health. Laukkanen et al found that through regular use of sauna, participants reduced their risk of cardiovascular events/stroke that led to death. This paper found that increasing the frequency and length of sauna sessions subsequently decreased the long-term risk of cardiovascular disease. Further, the use of sauna has been studied by other clinical groups and positively correlated with a reduction in “all‑cause mortality”—a catchall term referring to death from any cause.
Heat will trigger some of the same mechanisms in the brain and body as if you were physically engaged in cardiovascular exercise. While in the sauna, heart rate and blood flow increase, and blood vessels will vasodilate (expand) as your body works to cool down in order to regulate body temperature.
Sauna for Cardiovascular Health
In order to use sauna to benefit cardiovascular health, try the following protocol. Heat the sauna to a temperature in the range of 80-100 ℃; 176-212 ℉.
Your personal heat tolerance should determine the actual temperature. Try to stay in the sauna anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes per session and repeat the use of the sauna from 2 to 3x per week, or as often as 7x per week. More often does appear to be better with respect to cardiovascular health.
Hormesis is mild, tolerable stress that stimulates the body and helps it to positively adapt. Hormesis can take many forms, and heat is one such form. Studies have found that the regular use of sauna can decrease cortisol levels; enhance the activation of DNA repair/longevity pathways; and increase the activation of unique heat-dependent molecular mechanisms, termed Heat Shock Proteins, which help monitor and possibly repair protein structure within our cells. The integrity of protein structures is vital to our health and wellbeing.