Far Infrared Sauna
Sweating and saunas have been used to promote health for thousands of years by cultures as disparate as the Turks and the Finns. By mimicking the beneficial effects of a fever, the artificial "hyperthermia" achieved stimulates the immune system and either kills or slows the growth of a host of viruses and bacteria. For example, at 106 degrees, the bacterium responsible for pneumonia dies.
Additionally, the heat loosens muscles, increases blood circulation, relieves pain, speeds healing and cranks up the metabolism, allowing people to burn 300-600 calories per thirty minute session! It also triggers a natural detoxification process by opening the pores and increasing perspiration. In fact, the skin is sometimes called the third kidney** as it is estimated that as much as 30% of bodily wastes are eliminated through sweating!
No matter what your goal, being in peak cardiovascular condition will help you reach it sooner. But what if you don't have the time to run four miles every morning? Or you have a sprained ankle? Or you have pain as a result of rheumatoid arthritis? Thanks to breakthrough research over the past two decades, there is now a way to stimulate the cardiovascular system and burn calories without even moving!
You may be thinking, "So what IS this far infrared anyway?" It's the longest and most healing rays of the sun. The Far Infared (FIR) Spectrum is a form of radiant heat that can be felt on the skin but is invisible to the naked eye. It penetrates human tissue by 1 to 1.5 inches and creates a beneficial heart stress while the body attempts to cool itself. In the 1980s, NASA research found that FIR was an ideal method of maintaining the cardiovascular conditioning of astronauts immobilized during flights.
Indeed, there is evidence that FIR may be as effective a means of cardiovascular training as exercise. Blood flow during whole-body "hyperthermia," or a fever-like body temperature, is reported to rise from five to seven quarts a minute to as many as 13 quarts a minute. Moreover, FIR saunas generate two to three times the sweat produced in a conventional sauna!
Remarkably, even a person in a wheelchair or someone recovering from an injury can improve their cardiovascular fitness by using a FIR sauna. Thus, this is truly a therapy for everyone - from the inactive to the elite athlete - because of its ability to safely induce passive cardiovascular conditioning at all levels. Notably, infrared light is considered so safe that hospitals use it to warm incubators for premature babies.
GREAT NEWS: FIR produces hyperthermia at much lower air temperatures than traditional saunas! Why? Because infrared rays only heat objects, NOT the air! So, if you find it difficult to stand the heat of a typical sauna, a FIR sauna may be preferable for achieving the other positive effects of heat therapy.
Benefits include:
- reduced pain & faster healing
- decreased stiffness
- enhanced immune function
- increased circulation & detoxification
- elimination of lactic acid
While you're using the FIR sauna, you may be thinking about the calories you're burning...but as an added bonus, your body will be ridding itself of all sorts of toxins stored in your subcutaneous fat; including heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium and lead as well as plasticizers, pesticides and dioxins. Without even knowing it, you'll be reducing the burden on your kidneys and cleansing your body-inside and out! So, do your body a favor.....and SWEAT!
