When You Use A Sauna Every Day, This Is What Happens To Your Body
After a good, hard workout you just need some peace and relaxation, so you enter your gym's sauna, put on your favorite music through your ear buds, and just take a chance to breathe, while inhaling the wood scents wafting through the air. Sometimes you feel there is nothing better than a sauna for that peace you need to decompress your mind after a stressful day or week, but a sauna helps more than just your mental state. It also has amazing effects on your whole body.
Inducing sweating to benefit overall health is not a new phenomenon, and the ancient Mayans used sweat houses thousands of years ago, reports HumanWindow. In fact, the word "sauna" is actually of Finnish descent, as the first saunas were found in Finland as far back as 7000 BC, according to Neosauna. In Africa, people built sauna-like structures to help cure infectious diseases, so humans have known the benefits of heating the body for millennia.
The amazing benefits of using a sauna daily
Sitting in a sauna each day can have long-lasting, positive effects on your body and your overall life. According to HumanWindow, there have been several Finnish studies on sauna use and frequency.
One 2015 study tracking middle-aged men for 20 years found that the more a man used a sauna each week, the less likely he was to die of a cardiovascular incident (via JAMA Network). Another Finnish study showed frequent sauna use could lower the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's. Saunas have also been shown to lower blood pressure (via HumanWindow).
The modern-day sauna in America is most frequently used in gyms and health clubs after a workout — and for good reason. Yes, it relaxes you after a stressful day, but HumanWindow reports that the heat of the sauna can help your muscles recover after a particularly grueling workout.
While saunas are safe to use every day, HumanWindow cautions you to stay hydrated and not to drink alcohol (which can be dehydrating) right before and after sauna use.