Heat from Sauna & Hot Tubs Has Loads of Health Benefits: Blood Sugar, Heart Disease + More
What this covers
Let's discuss the healing powers of heat!
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-----------------------------------------Show Notes--------------------------------------
00:00 Intro 00:47 Risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality is reduced with using a Finnish sauna, for 4 session per week of 15 to 20 minutes. 01:30 Simple alternative to a sauna: Sit in your car on a hot day. 02:30 Blood is diverted away from your core to the periphery of your skin when you get hot. 03:30 Sauna blanket is a great start. 04:30 Infrared sauna gets up to 165%. 05:40 Electric sauna gets between 180 and 190 degrees. 06:30 Wood fired stove from a Finnish sauna gets extremely hot and has no electronics to damage. 07:00 Wet heat from a Finnish sauna causes you to sweat more. 08:30 Hot tub has vascular and blood sugar health benefits. 09:00 Heat therapy coupled with diet and exercise has the greatest benefits. 10:30 Sauna after exercise may help with recovery and hypertrophy. 11:20 Less heat requires more time spent to receive the benefits. 12:00 Short term hormetic stress has numerous benefits.
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Heat therapy, particularly Finnish sauna use at 4 sessions per week for 15-20 minutes, provides substantial cardiovascular and mortality benefits, but the optimal modality depends on individual access and budget—ranging from hot cars to sauna blankets to infrared saunas to classic wood-fired Finnish saunas.
- Finnish sauna use (4x/week, 15-20 min) reduces cardiovascular mortality by 63% and all-cause mortality by 40% per the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease cohort study
- Heat therapy works by diverting blood from core to periphery, improving nitric oxide release, reducing arterial stiffness, and enabling detoxification
- Different heat modalities offer trade-offs in time efficiency, cost, and accessibility—choose based on personal circumstances but any heat is superior to no heat
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Exercising and then immediately going into the sauna is more beneficial than going into the sauna before exercise.
“most of the studies find and I think anecdotal reports from people find that if they exercise then go in the sauna that might be more beneficial. you're moving blood around after you go in the sauna. That might help with recovery potentially with hypertrophy and moving uh blood flow and so forth uh to the muscles that you just worked on uh during your exercise session. So try to do your resistance training or cardiovascular training then go in the sauna.”
Trained cyclists who cycle then immediately go into the sauna show improvements in blood volume and blood flow and a reduction in blood pressure.
“One study found that when they have trained cyclist do their cycling then go immediately into the sauna they have an improvement in blood volume and blood flow and a reduction in blood pressure which is all favorable.”
A study in elderly Japanese individuals in their 60s found that when randomized to diet/nutrition/exercise plus hot tub use, participants had greater improvements in body composition, blood sugar health, and cardio-metabolic health than diet/exercise alone or hot tub alone.
“One study in elderly uh Japanese individuals in their 60s found when they randomize people to either change their diet, nutrition, and exercise or just go in the hot tub or go in the hot tub and change your diet, nutrition, and exercise, they had the greatest improvements in body composition, blood sugar health, cardioabolic health.”
A study from the New England Journal of Medicine in the late 1990s found that insulin-dependent type 2 diabetics who go in a hot tub 3-4 days per week have better improvements in long-term blood sugar regulation and require less insulin.
“We talked about this study from the New England Journal of Medicine in the late 1990s found that people who are insulin dependent type 2 diabetics when they just go in the hot tub 3 to four days per week, they have uh better improvements in their long-term blood sugar regulation and require less insulin.”
People who sauna at least four days per week have a reduction of cardiovascular-specific mortality by 63% and a reduction in all-cause mortality by 40%, according to data from the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease cohort study from Finland.
“Data from Finland finds that people who sauna at least four days per week have a reduction of cardiovascular specific mortality by 63% and a reduction in all-c causeed mortality by some 40%.”
The extreme heat stress of a Finnish sauna creates short-term hormetic stress that enables better heat acclamation and serves as excellent cardiovascular exercise.
“And in so doing, you're creating that stress, that short-term hormetic stress that can enable you to become better heat acclimated. And it's a great exercise for your venus system, for your arterial system, uh improving arterial stiffness, decreasing that, improving vascular resistance, uh possibly heart rate variability, the list goes on.”
Heat therapy causes blood to be diverted away from the core to the periphery of the skin, which exercises the venous and arterial system, improves nitric oxide, decreases arterial resistance, and improves vessel stiffness.
“What you really want to do is get hot. So, what is happening is blood is being diverted away from your core to the periphery of your skin. And in so doing, you're exercising your venus and arterial system, improving nitric oxide, decreasing uh what's known as arterial resistance and also improving uh the stiffness of your vessels”
Heat acclamation reduces arterial stiffness, improves arterial compliance, reduces blood viscosity, and possibly improves erectile quality and function.
“What happens with heat acclamation? Reduced arterial stiffness, improved arterial compliance, reduced blood viscosity, possibly improving erectile quality and function, which is great.”
Electric saunas and gym saunas reach temperatures between 180-190 degrees, and electronic components melt if temperatures exceed 200 degrees.
“those get up to between 180 degrees and 190 degrees. The downside of both infrared and the electric sauna is that as it gets over 200 degrees, the electronic components in these uh particular sauna units can start to melt. So there's a finite increase in the temperature kind of caps out at 190°”
Hot tub sessions improve vascular tone and temperature and blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.
“We know that hot tub sessions have been shown to improve vascular uh tone and temperature and also blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.”
Heat therapy paired with exercise and nutrition changes produces additive and synergistic benefits.
“if you pair heat therapy with exercise and nutrition changes, there are additive and synergistic benefits.”
The Finnish sauna cohort study has documented reductions in dementia and Alzheimer's prevalence, sudden cardiac death by 63%, and all-cause mortality by 40%.
“the uh Coupio uh cohort has been studied since 1984. Major outcomes there reduction in dementia, Alzheimer's prevalence, uh sudden cardiac death by 63%, all cause mortality by 40%.”
The minimum effective dose for sauna therapy is four sessions per week for between 15 and 20 minutes, based on the Kuopio study.
“You want to aim for four sessions per week uh for between 15 and 20 minutes. And this is again accord according to the Kiopu ashimic heart disease cohort”
A 2022 study found that people who go out in the sun have higher sexual feelings and increased testosterone.
“There's a study in 2022 that found that people who go out in the sun are have higher sexual feelings uh increasing testosterone and all that.”
Heat therapy causes systolic blood pressure to decrease by 6 millimeters of mercury.
“decreasing blood pressure by 6 millm of mercury uh in the systolic d uh blood pressure, systolic blood pressure”
Wet heat in a Finnish sauna increases blood flow diversion from core to skin, which aids in detoxifying heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants, plastics from tap water, clothing, and food.
“causes more blood flow to be diverted from your core to the periphery of your skin, which is good for detoxifying potentially heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants and plastics, and the things that are in your tap water, that are in your clothing, and also in your food. So, you want to get rid of that stuff because we know it's problematic for your health.”
North Americans should emulate the lifestyle practices that other cultures use, such as sauna use, which are documented to produce health benefits.
“So, let's start to emulate some of these lifestyle practices that other cultures are benefiting from and bring them here into North America.”
People who are not heat acclimated do not sweat in sauna blankets initially, but after several months of continued use at 3-4 sessions per week, they become heat acclimated and sweat profusely.
“I've had people come up to me when they first start going in the sauna blankets. They don't sweat at all. They're not heat acclimated. After several months of continued use, three to four sessions per week, they are dripping in sweat.”
Wood-fired saunas are time-efficient because their stainless steel firebox and lack of electronic components allow them to reach much higher temperatures (beyond 220 degrees) without degradation.
“this is why I think for time efficiency, uh, one of the best sources of heat is a woodf fired stove because nothing's going to melt. You have a stainless, you have a real nice steel firebox. it can get really hot and this has been quite amazing.”
Any heat therapy is better than no heat therapy, including sitting in a hot car sweating.
“And so this is why, as crazy as it might sound, sitting in your car in the hot sun getting a sweat on is better than than nothing whatsoever.”
The choice between sauna blanket, infrared sauna, and Finnish sauna comes down to cost, access, and time efficiency considerations.
“when it comes to the types, again, it's just a matter of cost, access, and time.”
If heat therapy were a pharmaceutical drug with the documented mortality and morbidity benefits from the Finnish sauna cohort, it would be widely publicized in mainstream media.
“If this was a drug, it'd be all over the news. You would hear all about it.”
Sitting in a car on a hot day (up to 110-120 degrees in places like Texas, Omaha, and Phoenix) can provide heat therapy benefits if other sauna modalities are not accessible.
“Sitting in your car on a hot day. I know in Texas, I was just in Omaha, Nebraska. I was in Phoenix recently. It can get up to 110, 120 degrees. So, if you don't have access to any of these other types of sauna, I would recommend taking your car, parking it somewhere, and getting really hot in the car and starting to sweat and then go taking a walk and maybe doing that again at night.”
Sauna blankets can get up to 177 degrees and cause people to sweat profusely after 15 minutes of use.
“Surprisingly, these can get quite hot. We have one from Bond Charge. It gets up to 177°. You will be dripping in sweat after utilizing this.”
Researchers are investigating penile sun exposure (perennial bathing) as a potential intervention for health benefits.
“And actually scientists are now studying uh the perennial bathing where people are going out in the sun and exposing their genitals. This is actually being investigated by researchers which is really cool.”
The gold standard for heat therapy is the Finnish sauna, which reaches up to 220 degrees and can reach even higher temperatures when water is poured on heated rocks.
“the gold standard should be the Finnish sauna. Uh it gets up to 100 I'm sorry 220 degrees. Then you add in the water on the rocks and the relative humidity.”
Heat therapy may improve erectile function and erectile quality.
“possibly improving erectile function, erectile quality, uh decreasing blood pressure by 6 millm of mercury”
Infrared saunas cost between $1,000 and $3,000 and require 30-40 minutes of use to achieve benefits, compared to shorter sessions in Finnish saunas.
“if you have between a,000 and $3,000, you can invest in an infrared sauna. I used this for years. We got one from High-Tech Health back in 2016. Utilize that all the way up to 2020. We sold that to a friend. They are still using that today. This thing is a workhorse. The High-Tech Health infrared sauna. I'll put links below. Great company. You can get free shipping by mentioning highintensity health. This gets up to 165 degrees. Now, if you go in with a friend or a partner, you get the two person one, you can get it cranking up to 170 degrees, which is really nice. Now, again, the time efficiency with an infrared sauna is not the same as a finished sauna. You're going to have to get in there for 30 to 40 minutes.”
Dry heat in a Finnish sauna means not pouring water on the rocks, while wet heat means pouring water on the rocks, which increases humidity and causes more sweating and higher internal temperature.
“So, with the finish sauna, you can either have it dry heat or wet heat. And what do I mean by that? Well, if it's dry, you're not pouring water on the rocks. But when it's wet heat, you're pouring water on the the rocks that are on top of the sauna stove. And that actually increases the humidity and causes you to sweat more. It increases your internal temperature, causes more blood flow to be diverted from your core to the periphery of your skin”
People in Eastern Europe and Nordic regions have historically used saunas and are generally healthier than populations in North America.
“This is a a thing that people in Eastern Europe and the Nordic regions have been doing for a long time. We know generally they're healthier than here uh in North America.”
Infrared saunas penetrate deeper into tissues but at a lower heat level compared to finished saunas, which may benefit people sensitive to heat.
“infrared sauna is not magic. Now it does penetrate potentially deeper into your tissues, but it's at a lower heat level compared to the finished sauna. So there could be benefits there. Maybe people if you're a little bit more sensitive to heat, you're new to this. This is a great launching place to see if you can make this a habit.”
Heat therapy including sauna use produces mental health benefits, including improved visual memory when reading in the sauna.
“benefits including mental health you will notice that if you start to read in the sauna you will actually visually remember the things that you were reading it's really important that might have to do with all the different uh peptides and and uh endorphins that are released from the heat.”
Glenn Arbuckle at sauna-times.com is a resource for people interested in building do-it-yourself saunas or directing contractors to build saunas.
“We made a video all about how to do that and so forth. If you're interested in that, check out the website sauna times.com. Glenn uh Glenn Arba is a great uh individual. He has a bunch of resources for do-it-yourselfers if you want to learn how to do this or tell a contractor how to build this for you.”
The speaker recommends visualizing a future sauna by placing a brick in one's backyard as an act of manifestation and the law of attraction.
“So I do believe in manifestation, the law of attraction. So if this is something you want to do, go put a brick in your backyard and just put sauna. You know, your spouse might think you're totally crazy, but in a few years you might have the resources and the time and the knowledge to be able to build something like that.”
Infrared saunas can serve as a learning tool where people can listen to podcasts, audiobooks, or watch documentaries while getting hot.
“You can play an audiobook through the speaker system. You can listen to a podcast, maybe watch high-intensity health, whatever it is. Uh, that can be a benefit of the infrared sauna is you're learning as you're getting hot.”
Gym saunas can have problems with cleanliness and maintenance, including people wearing shoes, cologne, deodorant, and bringing cell phones into them.
“The only downside to gym saunas is sometimes people come in there with their shoes on, they have cologne, they have, you know, deodorant that smells and things like that. But if you can find a really good gym that has a clean sauna that's wellmaintained and deters people from going in with cell phones and and perfumes and all that, that's another great place to start.”
Heat therapy may improve outcomes with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and COVID-19.
“even outcomes with CO 19 for example chronic obstructive pulmonary disease”
Heat therapy may affect bone health.
“may even affect bone health”
The speaker personally took 5 years from first envisioning a backyard sauna to actually building it, due to time, resources, and knowledge constraints.
“I found a part of my backyard. This was in I want to say it was 2016. And I put some cinder blocks and I literally said one day. I took a picture. I said one day I will build a sauna there. It took me five years till I had the resources and the wherewithal and develop the knowledge to be able to build a sauna like this.”
Sauna blankets allow people to watch movies, documentaries, or listen to podcasts while using them, making the time efficient.
“you could watch a movie, watch a documentary, listen to a podcast. All of which are beneficial, and you want to start somewhere.”
Heat therapy can help calm you down and move blood flow.
“It can help calm you down. It can move blood flow.”
Finnish saunas can be so hot that most people can barely last 5 minutes, and sometimes require covering eyes and nose.
“most people that I bring in there, we do a podcast and we go in the sauna can barely last 5 minutes. It gets so hot sometimes. You have to cover your eyes and your nose.”
Bond Charge sauna blankets reach up to 170 degrees.
“the folks over at Bond Charge, they make a great sauna blanket. It gets up to 170 degrees which is just phenomenal.”
High-Tech Health infrared saunas reach up to 165 degrees for single-person models and 170 degrees for two-person models.
“This gets up to 165 degrees. Now, if you go in with a friend or a partner, you get the two person one, you can get it cranking up to 170 degrees, which is really nice.”