Does a Sauna Detox The Body?
Key Takeaways:
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Saunas play a big role is detoxing the body.
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Infrared saunas detox the body better than traditional saunas.
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Infrared sauna treatments can detox the body from toxins that are harmful such as heavy metals, pesticides, drugs and alcohol.
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The time needed for infrared sauna detox is generally the same time needed for most health benefits of a sauna.
Both traditional and infrared saunas can have a multitude of health benefits. The process of detoxification through sauna usage will depend on the type of sauna you choose to use. Generally, a far infrared sauna will provide more detoxification than a regular sauna would.
This is because traditional saunas simply heat the air around you rather than directly heat the body from within. Since a far infrared sauna heats the body this way, it allows all internal organs to have increased blood flow, making them function more optimally.
Many people assume the detoxification is only the sweating portion of the sauna session, but that is only a small contributor.
What Ways Does a Sauna Detox?
Sweating Out Toxins
The most well known method that saunas help excrete toxins with is through sweating. As core temperature increases, the body begins to sweat and releases sodium, electrolytes and a very small amount of toxins. The true function of sweat mainly relates to the body attempting to cool itself down. The primary method of removing toxins from the body through an infrared sauna is the overall excretion functions of the body, including urine.
Organ Function Releasing Toxins
Infrared saunas especially drive blood circulation all around the body. This drastically helps the body release toxins such as heavy metals or pesticides.
If you have great gut health, you can have a very pleasant and healthy infrared sauna detox session. If you have poor gut and organ health, you could potentially have some adverse symptoms from the detoxification process, but there are some things you can do to mitigate these symptoms.Overall, it is important to understand that the primary driver of releasing toxins from the body is not actually sweat, it is more correlated to it's natural excretion methods.
Why Do I Feel Sick After Sauna?
As mentioned before, after a sauna session, the bodies natural methods of extracting toxins from the body are highly upregulated. This translates through the use of the kidneys, liver and stomach. If the health of these organs is already comprised, this detoxification process could leave you feel less than desirable.
People that have conditions such as leaky gut will especially have issues with this, as the stomach plays a huge role in flushing harmful chemicals from the body. To help with this process, it is recommended to try a binder such as Enterosgel before each infrared sauna therapy session.
Sauna Detox Symptoms
Oftentimes sauna usage will be very pleasant and relaxing, but if you are someone with high levels of toxins in your body, you may have some poor symptoms that are associated with the detoxification process such as:
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Nausea
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Headache
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Body Aches
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Tiredness
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Upset Stomach
These are huge indicators that you body is trying to release toxins from your body, and the health of the organs that do so, may not be so great. Any sort of nausea or stomach ache is likely associated with leaky gut and excreting the harsh chemicals.
Body aches and tiredness could be related to poor liver health during the detoxification process. Overall most adverse sauna symptoms relate to poor organ health and do go away with time as the body flushes all of the toxins out and becomes healthy again.
To prevent these feelings during the process, many people do find that binders help support the organs when going through the process and can be used for the first few months of using an infrared sauna. It is important to note that you should contact your healthcare provider with any adverse side effects of sauna use as well.
Dehydration With Sauna Use
Side effects related to poor health and detoxification are generally consider okay to have for a shorter period of time, but side effects related to dehydration should be tended to quickly. Infrared sauna sessions that last for long periods of time need to be met with proper hydration.
Without proper hydration you may feel symptoms such as headache dizziness or nausea. This is primarily due to the excessive sweating and increased core body temperature for prolonged periods of time.
A good rule of thumb is to meet every 30 minute sauna session with 32oz of water, but this will have some variance from person to person.
What Temperatures Are Needed For Detox?
The optimal temperature range for sauna detox will be dependent on which form of sauna you choose to use. For a traditional sauna, the temperature will need to be much hotter in order to get the same benefits that you would from an infrared sauna. Since an infrared sauna heats the body from within it immediately helps with the process of detoxification via organ function.
Infrared sauna detoxification can happen at much lower temperatures such as even 120-150 degrees Fahrenheit. With traditional saunas, you may need to get the temperature between 170-200 degrees Fahrenheit for even similar results.
How Long Should I Sauna For Detox?
In general, the question is answered in the same way a standard sauna session duration would be. The process of detoxification happens alongside the host of other health benefits that arise with sauna use. So the overall duration of a sauna session wouldn't change simply for the purpose of detox. For many people, it is recommended to start with 20 minute sauna sessions, 2-3 times per week. This is a great starting point for most people and will allow you to leverage all of the amazing health benefits of sauna bathing, such as lowering high blood pressure, improving cardiovascular health, improving skin health, improving brain function and many more.
Can Saunas Help Remove Drug Toxins?
An infrared sauna session can dramatically help all of the bodies natural functions. The body normally does uses its organs to excrete any sort of harmful toxins, this includes drugs and alcohol. As organs such as the liver that process drugs and alcohol get infrared heat, it improves the overall function in order to better detox those toxins from the body. An infrared sauna session can truly be beneficial detoxifying all sorts of harmful chemicals, even drugs and alcohol.