photo by whoaitsaimz on Flickr

You can’t search for articles on “steam room” on the internet very long without coming across infomercial style weight loss claims: “Lose weight fast! With our new Super Steam Bath, you’ll be burning up to 600 calories every half hour, all without moving a muscle! Act now! Operators are standing by!”

Meanwhile, the fitness gurus, like Chris Klebba all say “the effects of a steam room on weight loss are due to a loss of water from sweating, not actual fat loss. Bottom line, forget it for fat loss.”

So who’s right? Well in a strange twist, both of them are wrong!

Steam rooms don’t burn many calories. But they do help regulate hormones that drive us to overeat. Interestingly, a steam room also helps those who don’t eat enough to eat more.

Better still, regular steam room users have improved circulation, which can help prevent  atherosclerosis, and reverse the effects of coronary heart disease.

These are conclusions from a 2003 study by Kagoshima University in Japan, where a team of researchers studied the effects of steam bath therapy on lifestyle diseases. The study began as a test to see if steam bathing could be used to improve the health of patients with congestive heart failure. The team noted improvement in both the symptoms and cardiac function of their subjects after a single steam bath, and continued improvement with more, regular steam baths.

When they examined the underlying mechanism of these improvements, they hypothesized that a similar improvement in the health of patients with lifestyle-related diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, smoking and obesity could also be improved with regular steam bathing.

They tested a group of “at risk” people, who each had one or more of these conditions, and were not receiving treatment for any of these. What they found surprised them. After 2 weeks of daily steam room use, where they raised their body temperature by 2°F (1°C) for 30 minutes, they found that every member of the group had a lower blood pressure. Fasting plasma glucose and body weight also went down for the group.

To study this further, they repeated the study with a group of 5 men and 5 women. For 2 weeks, they all ate a controlled diet of 1800 calories / day, and each took a single steam bath each day. At the end, all 10 had lost weight. Their collective body fat fell from an average of 42% to 37%.

They did not attribute these results to calorie burn in the steam room, but instead to better regulation of the hormones that controlled their appetite. During the study, the subjects did not get hungry as quickly, and did not tend to overeat or snack between meals.

Coronary heart disease patients who were under eating as a result of their disease did the exact opposite: Regular steam baths improved their appetite, and they ate more to get them back to a healthy weight.

So, if you want to drop a few pounds, spend time every day in the steam room or sauna at your gym. You aren’t burning calories, but you should lose weight. Isn’t that what counts?

[Clinical Implications of Thermal Therapy in Lifestyle-Related Diseases] via Stephen Colmant

Weight Loss in the Steam Room

Image via Wikipedia

Stephen Colmant published an interesting tidbit on Sauna Times today showing that people who are considered neurotic have a different physical response to hot environments than “normal” people. The study, published in 2003, found that people who tend to be anxious, fearful, sensitive and self-critical also tended to sweat less in the heat of the sauna and found it to be very uncomfortable.

Stephen (a licensed psychologist with a PhD to prove it) posits that we might be able to improve these people’s personalities by regularly exposing them to a sauna. This might just be causation, but if you’re planning a study to test this hypothesis Stephen, I’m willing to volunteer my father-in-law as a subject for you. Perhaps with the USDA’s preferred sauna temperature, might they also be good candidates?

Can Sauna Improve your Personality?

Sauna and your Personality

Image by Xavier de Jauréguiberry via Flickr

In the upcoming issue of The American Journal of Physiology – Heart and Circulatory Physiology, a team of Japanese physicians is publishing that regular sauna use may be a recovery method for heart attack victims.

The team induced heart attacks in two groups of rats. One group was allowed to recover normally. The other group was given two sauna baths a day in an infrared sauna. They found that the rats who were given the sauna baths were less likely to see heart tissue get re-purposed after the heart attack. They attribute this to the sauna helping to increase the amount of blood flow to the non-affected areas of the heart post-attack.

The sauna sessions the rats were given were very gentle: First a 15 minute session at 106°F (41°C) followed by a 20 minute session at 93°F (34°C).

With results like this, your doctor might soon be prescribing a daily sauna along with a baby aspirin every day. Personally, I’m waiting for the day when I can deduct a new sauna as a qualified medical expense.

For the full abstract, see “Repeated Sauna Therapy Attenuates Ventricular Remodeling After Myocardial Infarction in Rats by Increasing Coronary Vascularity of Non-infarcted Myocardium.” on PubMed.

Saunas Boost Heart Attack Recovery

Image via Wikipedia

The news is abuzz today with Gwyneth Paltrow’s hangover cure, “I take a cold shower in the morning and then I go into the sauna and drink a lot of water throughout the day. Green tea also helps!”

Despite Ms. Paltrow’s endorsement, medical evidence recommends against using a sauna to recover from a hangover. A study conducted in Finland in 1988 (where they know a lot about saunas and alcohol) found that “The hangover phase exposes a person to cardiac arrhythmias, and sauna may further increase the arrhythmia-risk due to enhanced adrenergic activity. Sauna bathing and heavy drinking, and also sauna bathing during hangover phase undoubtedly create real health risks.”

The Brits also stuied hangover cures and found that “The most effective way to avoid the symptoms of alcohol induced hangover is to practise abstinence or moderation.”

What fun is that?

One thing that is true is not all hangovers are created equally. We can tell you that the nearly nonexistent hangover you get after a night of heavily drinking beer that conforms to the Reinheitsgebot is much different than the feeling after even just a few drinks of the less pure alcohols — like Miller High Life, Jagermeister, or the Korean Soju.

I first personally experienced the Korean bath experience after a night of especially heavy drinking while on a business trip to Korea. After achieving an important project milestone, I was invited to a banquet by my hosts to celebrate our success. During the dinner, countless bottles of soju were brought by the waitress. As the guest of honor, my glass was always kept filled to the brim, and each of the many people seated around the table toasted me individually with “Gambai.” When I said I had too much soju, they brought me beer. Ooof.

After stopping the taxi to leave my dinner several places throughout that city, we arrived at our hotel. Before going to bed, I stopped at a convenience store and bought what I thought was a large bottle of water. Halfway through chugging the bottle I found out that it was cheap soju.

In the morning, after being seen by my host, I was delivered to a local sauna. I spent close to two hours moving between the baths. As I did, little by little, I felt the haze lifting from behind my eyes.

Since then, I have personally repeated this sauna treatment on several continents.

So what about the cardiac arrhythmia risk? Well in that 1988 study, they found that alcohol was a  contributing factor in 20-25 deaths in Finland that year. That works out to about 1/2 a death per 100,000 people —lower than the death rate for hernias.

Dr. Stephen Colmant expresses his opinion at Sauna Times that it is not about if you should use a sauna for your hangover, but when. He feels it is best later in the day, after you have had time to eat and drink something, and preferably work out a little.

Since most hangover cures have been proven to be ineffective, keep the sauna warmed up Gwyneth. We’ll see you there after our next night on the town.

Saunas for Hangovers

"Worn Out" by Chris Fritz on Flickr

In our review of the news this morning, we happened across Sherie Bourg Carter’s January article on Psychology Today, “Energy Zappers: 10 Everyday Things That Drain Our Energy and Steal Our Time.” She talks about how to change these in your everyday life, but we see that you could change many of these with a regular sauna. She acknowledges this by closing her article with a quote made by Aulus Cornelius Celsus, the Roman physician and scientist in 25 BC:

Take massage, baths, exercise, and gymnastics. Fight insomnia with gentle rocking or the sound of running water.

Ms. Carter has several items on her list of energy zappers that can be cured by a sauna.

Tight Clothes are energy zappers. According to Ms. Carter, the restrictive fashions of today with their slimming panels and form-fitting designs restrict your ability to breathe freely, limiting your oxygen supply. At SaunaScape, frequent readers will know we advocate using the sauna naked, yet we frequently read stories from locker rooms of the modest refusing to enter a locker room sauna without their swimsuit or workout clothes. Leave your modesty and binding clothes behind and do something for yourself. When you are free of your clothes take some deep breaths and replenish your body’s oxygen supply.

Working Without a Break. Ms. Carter talks abot how the career-minded routinely work 10 or more hours without a break. This leads to energy zapping burnouts. Taking a gym break in the middle of the day, and using your gym’s sauna as a few minute refuge can help you reinvigorate yourself and have a more productive afternoon.

Negativity. If through our own thoughts or brought on by other people, negativity is a huge energy drain. The sauna, through a variety of mechanisms, has been proven to improve the moods of those who use it regularly.

Irregular Sleep Cycles. If you don’t have a consistent sleep-wake cycle, you can throw your internal circadian rhythm off, making you feel tired even on days when you had a good night’s sleep. One of the benefits of a good sauna session with a few cycles of heating and cooling  is that you sleep incredibly well after the session is over.

So to keep yourself energized, try out that sauna in your health club, at a hotel when you are traveling, or at a sauna establishment near you. Your body will thank you.

For more information, you can read  Sherie Bourg Carter’s blog on Psychology Today, “High Octane Women“, or read her book, “High-Octane Women: How Superachievers Can Avoid Burnout.”

Energy Zappers via Lifehacker.com

Boosting Your Energy With a Sauna

photo © 2008 Emily | more info (via: Wylio)London’s Daily Express newspaper today published an article about something we have known for a long time: Heat is good for you.

According to the article, heat therapy is being used to treat all sorts of ailments:

Cancer is one we had not heard before. Apparently, heat allows the body to more easily determine that cancer cells are not normal, and it encourages the body to attack them.

Heat for treating heart disease is one that specifically mentioned the sauna. A Japanese team found that after two weeks of sauna use a group of men with heart disease had significantly improved their blood flow. The researchers believe the heat from the sauna helped widen their arteries.

Athletes have long known that heat can help muscle injuries more than 48 hours old to heal faster. Applying heat to the area causes the blood vessels there to dilate, bringing more oxygen to the area. This allows the body to heal itself quicker.

Sufferers of aches and pains, whether it be from a backache, arthritis or even menstrual pains can get relief by heating the area. Applying heat for 20-30 minutes at a time will block pain messages from being transmitted, just like taking a painkiller. Longer periods of heat application creates what is called “rebound” which makes all of the areas stiff and sore.

Of course, heat, especially steam, can help people who are suffering respiratory problems from a cold or allergies. As we have reported here before, a regular sauna can help you avoid catching a cold in the first place.  Unfortunately, once you have a cold a sauna won’t help you get over it more quickly.

For more in-depth information about conditions that can be treated with heat, see The Merck Manual section on heat therapy.

So now you know, taking a sauna not only helps you feel better, it helps you get better too.

Of course, heat can also have a number of negative impacts on your body and may cause medications to behave much differently. Before starting to use heat therapy on your own, consult your doctor to fully understand what your risks and complications may be.

Heat Therapy: The Heat is On at Express.co.uk

Heat – It’s Good for your Health

Spa Week Daily recently posted “Seven Reasons NOT to Spa When You’re Sick.” Since its the time of year when runny noses, colds and flus are making their rounds, we thought that this would be worth sharing here.

We’ve already covered how regular sauna visits can help keep you from getting sick, but what happens when you’ve succumbed to that cold? A trip to the steam room might be just what you need to clear the creeping crud out of your head.

Not true according to Spa Week.

Rapid temperature shifts going into and out of hot rooms like saunas and steam rooms are just going to weaken you further than the cold already has. Possibly to the point where you might faint.

The idea that you can “sweat out a cold” is a myth. Germs don’t respond to it, so why tempt them?

Finally, if you’re going to a public sauna, with your weakened immune system, your body is more likely to catch other germs that other people are carrying around the facility. There are thousands of viruses that are floating around out there. Nothing is worse than getting one strain of cold after another.

And of course, don’t forget the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” If you’re sick, you don’t want to be spreading your germs around to all the other patrons there.

So when the sniffles strike, stay home, rest and use a steaming bowl of chicken soup to help clear your head. Save the sauna for after you’re better.

Spa Week Daily

Sick? Then stay out of the Sauna!

Another contribution from Dr. Stephen Colmant of PsychSymposium.com, this time a 6½ minute video.

Dr. Colmant guides us through his research on sweat therapy, and how using this centuries-old practice of bathing in heat, you get tremendous physical, mental, and psychological benefits. In his words:

People have used sweat rituals around the world for thousands of years to gain greater physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Examples include the Finnish Sauna, the American Indian Sweat Lodge, the Russian Banya, the Jewish Shvitz, and the Islamic hammam to name a few. The work of my research team in developing Sweat Therapy in counseling psychology focused on using this powerful technique to promote health, psychological healing, and human growth.

Sweat rituals are much more than just intense heat exposure. Sweat rituals developed over centuries through human intelligence, creativity, and wisdom to optimize the experience to promote health. Like many holistic practices, sweat rituals are multidimensional. In addition to cultural priming, our theoretical model focuses on four factors that contribute to the therapeutic effects of sweat rituals.

If you’re looking for a place where you can get your own sweat ritual started, look at our databases of public saunas and hotels with saunas for one near you.

PsychSymposium.com

Sweat Rituals Video

Glenn at Sauna Times posted today about how a sauna fits into his hair care regimen:

I used no shampoo for 74 straight days.  I took a sauna 3-4 times a week.  Each sauna, I took 3-4 rounds, jumping into the clear cool lake water between rounds.  That’s it.

His solution is simple: Wet your hair before going into the sauna.

For those of you who sauna hotter, there are a few more solutions. You can get a felt sauna hat as is popular in the Russian Banya. These are made from sheep’s wool get a dunk in cold water just before going into the sauna. They are available in a staggering amount of different styles.

The other option is to put a damp towel on your head. If you don’t want to look like the Gumbys, you can roll your towel in the Korean style, and look a bit like Princess Leia. See the video below.

[Sauna Times]

Sauna and Hair Care

photo by whoaitsaimz on Flickr

You can’t explore “sauna” on the internet very long without coming across infomercial style weight loss claims: “Lose weight fast! With our new Super Sauna, you’ll be burning up to 600 calories every half hour, all without moving a muscle! Act now! Operators are standing by!”

Meanwhile, the fitness gurus, like Chris Klebba all say “the effects of saunas on weight loss are due to a loss of water from sweating, not actual fat loss. Bottom line, forget it for fat loss.”

So who’s right? Well in a strange twist of science, both of them are wrong! Saunas do help with weight loss by helping the body to equalize the hormones that control our desire to overeat. Interestingly, they also help those who don’t eat enough to eat more. Better still, regular sauna users have better circulation, which can help prevent  atherosclerosis, and reverse the effects of coronary heart disease.

These are conclusions from a 2003 study that was conducted at Kagoshima University in Japan, where a team of researchers studied the effects of thermal therapy on lifestyle diseases. The study began as a test to see if heat bathing could be used as a way to improve the health of patients with congestive heart failure. The team noted improvement in both the symptoms and cardiac function of their subjects after a single session, and continued improvement with additional, regular sessions.

When they examined the underlying mechanism of these improvements, they hypothesized that a similar improvement in the health of paitents with lifestyle-related diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, smoking and obesity could also be improved with sauna therapy.

They tested a group of “at risk” people, who each had one or more of these conditions, and were not receiving treatment for any of these. What they found surprised them. After 2 weeks of daily sauna therapy at 140°F / 60°C, where their body temperature was elevated by 2°F / 1°C for 30 minutes, they found that blood pressure was significantly lowered.

Surprisingly, fasting plasma glucose, and body weight also went down for the group.

To study this further, they repeated the study with a group of 5 men and 5 women. For 2 weeks, they all ate a controlled diet of 1800 calories / day, and each took a single sauna session each day. At the end of the period, all 10 had lost weight, with their collective body fat falling from an average of 42% to 37%.

They did not attribute these results to calorie burn in the sauna, but instead to a better regulation of the body’s hormones that control appetite. They found that during the period, none of the subjects were not hungry as quickly, and did not tend to overeat or snack between meals.

The opposite effect was seen in coronary heart disease patients who were under eating as a result of their disease. Regular sauna sessions improved their appetite, and increased the quantity of food they consumed.

For the infrared marketers out there: Yes, this study was done in an infrared sauna, but they cited other similar research that was done using a hot bath. So these effects are not just for IR Sauna users.

[Clinical Implications of Thermal Therapy in Lifestyle-Related Diseases] via Stephen Colmant

Weight Loss in the Sauna