There are many health benefits of steam baths or saunas and they are as follows –
1. Stress Reliever – This is the biggest benefit of getting a sauna bath. According to medical studies, stress is a huge factor in affecting a person’s daily life and this is why there are many stress related medical issues out there. With the help of a sauna bath, you can find a quiet way to relieve your stress in an environment where there are no distractions. The heat also helps in relaxing the body and improving blood circulation to the extremities. The sauna glow, which is often noticed after a sauna bath, is because of the endorphin that gets released post sauna and make you feel good.
2. Relieves Muscle and Joint Pain – Endorphin is not only a natural feel good hormone but is also responsible for relieving body pain and aches. For people dealing with arthritis, a sauna can be very beneficial as it would soothe their nerves and calm their body, relieving them of the pain in their joints. This is why people take a hot steam or shower after extensive workout sessions because it relieves muscle soreness.
3. Deep Sweat Flushes Body Toxins – Sweating is the body’s natural response and helps to flush out toxins residing in the body. However, the daily lives of most people do not involve manual labor and other such activities, which would lead to extensive sweating. By taking a sauna bath regularly, the benefits of deep sweating are replicated and toxins are flushed out of the system. Common toxins found in the body are lead, mercury, copper, zinc, nickel and many other toxic chemicals.
4. Skin Cleansing – Saunas are also a great way to get beautiful and rejuvenated skin as they act as skin cleansers. By sweating profusely, the dead skin cells and dirt inside the pores gets released and health of the skin improves greatly. Also, sweat ducts and skin pores might be housing bacteria, which could cause infection, but because of sauna baths, that is taken cared of. Regular saunas might even counteract the aging process by dealing with collagen build up and treating wrinkles and other age signs on the face. After a sauna, the skin often glows because it has been revitalized.
5. Better Sleep – According to research, sauna also promotes better sleep. This is because a sauna bath not only releases endorphin but also causes the body temperature to rise. This facilitates sleep at the body’s correct sleep time, that is, late evening. Many people simply take a sauna bath to get a great night’s sleep afterwards.
6. Burns Calories – Sauna baths are often put forward as a miracle by many weight loss organizations but that is certainly not true. What is true is the fact that saunas lead to calorie burn, but the rate is only high initially. As a long term, they cannot be used to burn enough calories to cause weight loss.
The science behind the calorie burning process again comes from sweating. While sweating, a lot of energy is used. To derive this energy, the body’s carbohydrate and fat deposits get burned, and this indirectly causes calories to burn as well. Since heart rate gets increases, more calories are burned to release more oxygen.
