Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - Do Infrared Saunas Work? What 23 Studies Say

Starting point is 00:00:00 Thank you. Hello, Mike here from Muscle for Life and Legion Athletics. And today we're going to talk infrared saunas because the health and fitness space is chock full of gimmicks and gym cracks that promise to help you lose weight, look better, get healthier. You know, things like detox teas and cleanses, starvation and overly restrictive diets, overhyped nutrition hacks like intermittent fasting and ketogenic dieting, testosterone boosters, estrogen blockers. The list of nonsense goes on and on. You see, the sad truth is if you simply ignored most everything that is published in most fitness magazines and on most fitness websites, and if you ignored most everything most fitness quote-unquote gurus or experts say. And if you just stuck to the basics of energy balance,

Starting point is 00:01:27 macronutrient balance, nutritional balance, I guess you could say, micronutritional balance, you know, like eating real food, compound weightlifting and progressive overload, you would be far better for it. If you just did those things, you would be able to gain muscle and lose fat with ease. And you'd be able to do it eating foods and doing workouts that you actually like. Now, once you have those fundamentals in place, if you want to speed up the process, or if you want to optimize other aspects of your health and performance, both mental and physical, then sure, you can go a bit further. You can take the right supplements, for example, or you can incorporate mobility work into your exercise regimen, or you can take simple steps

Starting point is 00:02:13 to improve your sleep quality, which is going to make everything in your life better. And this is where infrared sauna enters the picture because it isn't necessary by any means. Some people say that it can be a real boon to your overall health and well-being. And that's why this technology has been getting a lot of attention recently and why I wanted to record this podcast. If you poke around online, you're going to find all kinds of doctors and fake doctors, you know, like the doctor name.com where he's actually a chiropractor, not an MD. Nothing against chiropractors per se, but that's just misleading. Anyways, you can find all these people, doctors, chiropractors, trainers, experts, fitness gurus, and so forth singing the praises of infrared sauna. According to many of these people,

Starting point is 00:03:01 of infrared sauna. According to many of these people, infrared sauna can help detoxify your body, enhance blood circulation, promote weight loss, lower blood pressure, increase immunity, relieve various aches and pains, reduce muscle soreness and speed up post-workout recovery, improve your skin health and appearance, and even fight cancer. Yes, some people say it helps fight

Starting point is 00:03:27 cancer. Now, on the other hand, there are many skeptics and detractors out there that say most of that is humbug and that these devices are really just overpriced space heaters. So who's right? Well, when you really dig into the literature, you discover that the answer is somewhere in the middle, actually. So the long story short is infrared sauna does appear to deliver some health benefits, including reduced joint pain and stiffness and improved blood vessel function, but it definitely cannot do what many people hope. It can't detox your body. It can't help you lose weight faster. It can't boost your immune system or prevent or fight cancer. And in this podcast, we are going to break all of this down and learn what infrared saunas

Starting point is 00:04:22 are, how they work, how they can and can't benefit our health, how to use them properly, and more. This is where I would normally plug a sponsor to pay the bills, but I'm not big on promoting stuff that I don't personally use and believe in. So instead, I'm just going to quickly tell you about something of mine. Specifically, my 100% natural vegan protein powder, Thrive. Now Thrive is a plant-based protein powder that provides you with a highly bioavailable blend of several plant proteins that are easily digested and absorbed.

Starting point is 00:04:57 Thrive also contains 10 additional vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that vegetarian and vegan diets tend to be low in, as well as four enzymes to help you obtain the maximal nutritional benefit from every scoop. Lastly, it's also 100% naturally sweetened and flavored and contains no chemical dyes, cheap fillers, or other unnecessary junk. So if you want to build muscle and lose fat as quickly as possible and improve the nutritional quality of your diet without having to eat animal protein, then you want to head on over to www.legionathletics.com and pick up a bottle of Thrive today. And just to show how much I appreciate my podcast peeps,

Starting point is 00:05:39 use the coupon code podcast at checkout and you'll save 10% on your entire order. And lastly, you should also know that I have a very simple 100% money back guarantee that works like this. You either love my stuff or you get your money back period. You don't have to return the products. You don't have to fill out forms. You don't have to jump through any other hoops or go through any other shenanigans. So you really can't lose here. Head over to www.lesionathletics.com now, place your order and see for yourself why my supplements have thousands of rave reviews all over the internet. And if for whatever reason, they're just not for you, contact us and we will give you a full refund on the spot. out for you, contact us and we will give you a full refund on the spot. Alrighty, that is enough shameless plugging for now at least. Let's get to the show. Alrighty, so let's start at the top.

Starting point is 00:06:33 What is infrared sauna? Well, infrared sauna is, wait for it, a sauna that uses infrared light to create heat instead of steam or hot air, which would be heated by electrical heaters, like in a traditional conventional sauna. Most of them look like conventional saunas and cost anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 or more for the fancier models. And we don't need to get overly technical here, but here's basically how an infrared sauna works. What it does is it uses special heating elements to emit infrared light, which is very similar to the light that we see, but is invisible and generates more heat. So accordingly, when infrared light penetrates your skin, it increases your internal body

Starting point is 00:07:25 temperature, similar to how a traditional dry or wet sauna would. Now, what about safety? Is infrared sauna safe? Well, as infrared light is a form of electromagnetic radiation, many people think that the technology might somehow be connected to nuclear bombs and Chernobyl and cancer and things like that. And what most people don't know though, is that not all kinds of radiation are bad. In fact, the word radiation is a rather broad term that includes really any kind of energy that falls on the electromagnetic

Starting point is 00:07:58 spectrum. And what that means then is that just about everything around you emits some level of radiation, including the lights above your head, the ground underneath your feet, and of course, the screen that you are probably looking at right now. Now, whether or not radiation is harmful to the body depends on the characteristics of the energy waves and the dose. So for example, large, low frequency waves tend to be the safest, like the kind that are emitted from radios, right? Radio waves. Whereas small, high frequency waves like those emitted from the sun can burn your skin. And what this means then is that some waves are very large,

Starting point is 00:08:37 like some are larger than even buildings, like radio waves are very large, and other waves are even smaller than atoms. You've probably heard of the term gamma ray, and that is the smallest type of energy wave that we know about. It is, again, it can get smaller than an atom. The second smallest, most highest frequency type of energy wave is the X-ray. And then working up from there toward larger waves, you have ultraviolet rays, ray. And then working up from there toward larger waves, you have ultraviolet rays, you have the visible energy waves that we can see. And then getting larger now, you have the infrared band, getting even larger than that, you have the microwave band, and then you have the radio band. So that's kind of the overall spectrum. And just so you understand the term, frequency refers to

Starting point is 00:09:19 the number of wavelengths that pass a certain point in a given length of time. So it's usually measured as the number of wavelength cycles that pass per second. That's the Hertz measurement. You've probably heard of that. So all that means then is that lower frequency wavelengths repeat fewer times per second than higher frequency wavelengths. Now, coming back to that spectrum again, X-rays, gamma rays, and some ultraviolet rays are the types of radiation that can cause cancer. And as a general rule, the further you are away from that end of the spectrum, the small wavelength, high frequency end, the less harmful the radiation is to the body. What that means then, and what research has shown, is that infrared light is well within the safe spectrum, with wavelengths that are larger than the visible light that we're exposed to at all times.

Starting point is 00:10:12 And this is why infrared sauna has no known negative side effects. And despite what you might read from the more paranoid people on the internet, there is no plausible explanation of how it could possibly harm the body. Now, what about benefits? What does the literature have to say about the actual benefits of infrared sauna? Well, as is usually the case with most new and exotic health remedies, marketers are very quick to claim that infrared sauna can help with just about any problem that you might have. What's that? You are too fat and lazy to exercise and too poor for cocaine? Well, just buy my sauna instead. You want whiter teeth, juicier glutes, and harder hard-ons? Oh, hey, here's the model for you. Trust me,

Starting point is 00:10:56 this is the new NASA, bitches. Naturally, then, many people just assume the worst, and they dismiss infrared sauna as another one of those things and just move on with their lives. Now, what does science have to say about this? What does science have to say about these fancy light boxes? Well, while the research is currently pretty sparse and there are at least as many open questions as there are answers, there are a number of studies that show that infrared sauna can indeed benefit your health in several ways. So how about we just go through some of the more common claims and see how they square with the literature. Let's start with weight loss because that's

Starting point is 00:11:36 one that sells a lot of infrared saunas. And the bottom line here is that saunas of any kind can definitely help you lose weight because they make you sweat, which of course reduces the amount of water that you are holding. And at least a bit of that's going to be subcutaneous, so you might even look a little bit leaner as well. What you need to keep in mind though is that losing weight is not losing fat. And to do that, the sauna would have to significantly increase your metabolic rate, which means it would have to significantly increase the amount of energy that you're burning, which it definitely does not. Instead, saunas just make you hot and sweaty. And research has shown this does not burn calories or even indicate that you are burning more calories than usual. It just means that your internal temperature is getting too high and your body needs to cool down. Okay, next on the chopping block is

Starting point is 00:12:25 detoxification. Can infrared saunas help your body detoxify? So the bottom line here is that yes, there are many harmful toxins that we are exposed to every day. There are man-made chemicals, there are heavy metals, and studies do show that these things can become lodged in our fat cells and can be released through fat burning and then excreted through sweating. So many people then believe that infrared saunas can help facilitate that. They can help detox your body by hopefully stimulating fat burning, which we know it doesn't, but that's part of the pitch, and then making you sweat more. Now the problem here is, of course, the fat burning is missing. While infrared saunas do make you sweat,. Now, the problem here is, of course, the fat burning is missing. While

Starting point is 00:13:05 infrared saunas do make you sweat, they don't trigger fat burning, which means they are not going to help your body eliminate toxins. Hey, quickly, before we carry on, if you are liking my podcast, would you please help spread the word about it? Because no amount of marketing or advertising gimmicks can match the power of word of mouth. So if you are enjoying this episode and you think of someone else who might enjoy it as well, please do tell them about it. It really helps me. And if you are going to post about it on social media, definitely tag me so I can say thank you. You can find me on Instagram at Muscle for Life Fitness, Twitter at Muscle for Life, and Facebook at Muscle for Life Fitness.

Starting point is 00:13:52 Okay, next up, joint pain. Can infrared sauna help with joint pain? And this is actually the first win for infrared sauna because studies do indeed show that infrared sauna can reduce joint pain and stiffness in people with rheumatoid arthritis. The effects that we've seen so far are minor, but definitely promising because in one case, a study ran for just four weeks and the subjects spent only an hour in the sauna each week. So that means that greater effects may be seen with prolonged use. And while scientists aren't sure as to how it works just yet, how infrared sauna helps with joint pain, they suspect it's due to anti-inflammatory effects in the body. Furthermore,

Starting point is 00:14:33 it's also worth mentioning that the improvements that were seen persisted after the sauna use stopped, which suggests that there is more to this story than it just feels good to sit in a hot box. All right, next on the list is cardiovascular health, heart health. And this is another win for infrared sauna because research shows that it may indeed improve your blood vessels ability to expand and to adapt to changes in your blood pressure. And this is important because rigid blood vessels are a hallmark of cardiovascular disease. So anything that makes them more flexible is generally going to be good for your long-term heart health. Now, again, scientists aren't quite sure about the mechanisms in play here and the

Starting point is 00:15:17 effects haven't been replicated yet in any studies that I've seen, but they theorize that it may be due to an increase in nitric oxide production, which then increases blood flow. Studies also show that infrared sauna can lower your blood pressure, which of course also good for your ticker. Again, we don't quite know why, but it simply could be due to the relaxing effects instead of direct physiological improvements in actual blood vessel function. But either way, it seems to work. In yet another study, researchers found that infrared sauna can reduce oxidative stress in the body, which may be associated with heart disease and a number of

Starting point is 00:15:55 other ailments, in which case it may be reasonable to say that infrared sauna can reduce your risk of those diseases. Before we move on though, one thing to keep in mind is that these studies that I have been referencing were conducted with people who already had heart disease, but given the physiological effects that we're seeing, there is a good chance that infrared sauna can help healthy people as well. Okay, next up is infrared sauna and performance going to help your physical performance? as well. Okay, next up is infrared sauna and performance going to help your physical performance? Well, in one study, one group of runners sat in an infrared sauna for 30 minutes after workouts and another group did not. And after three weeks, the people who used the sauna were able to run

Starting point is 00:16:37 20% longer than those who did not use it. Now that sounds nice and it is definitely used to try to sell saunas, but when you actually review the paper, you find that the evidence is less than convincing. First off, this study was not blinded, which means that the researchers and the subjects knew who was receiving which treatment, and this can most definitely skew results. Second, the study included just six people, which a very very small sample size and that's a significant point because the smaller the sample size is in a study the greater the odds are that the effects that are seen are due to just random chance and the more the outcomes are skewed one

Starting point is 00:17:19 way or another by outliers in the data and, my last critique of this study is thanks to the placebo effect, providing just about any type of treatment for just about anything is simply better than doing nothing. And when research doesn't have tight controls in place to try to mitigate this, it's hard to place your faith in it. Now, all that said, despite those flaws, the infrared sauna did produce a small increase in blood volume, which might actually improve performance, especially in hot conditions. But that's about as far as I'm willing to go on the subject of infrared sauna and performance without seeing more evidence. So I guess we'll see what comes of this in the future or what does not come of it, depending on what

Starting point is 00:18:05 research gets done, right? So let's move on here to recovery, infrared sauna and recovery. In this case, we have a few small studies that have shown that infrared saunas can enhance recovery after both strength and endurance training by positively influencing the nervous system in particular. However, like the performance research that we just spoke about, these studies have major flaws. They have small sample sizes, they have no blinding, and the results have not been consistently replicated. So we really don't know yet if infrared sauna can actually improve your post-workout recovery or not. Next is mood. Infrared sauna and mood. Can it improve your mood? Well, studies have found that infrared sauna can improve mood and also can reduce levels of anxiety and depression in people who have chronic fatigue syndrome.

Starting point is 00:18:52 And the researchers think that the effects were due to a decrease in oxidative stress, which we spoke about earlier, but we can't really know for sure because they didn't actually measure that in the study, unfortunately. Interestingly though, the improvements that were seen didn't occur during the sauna sessions, but after, and they actually increased over time, which does suggest that they were less likely due to the placebo effect. Now, what does that mean, though, for those of us who are not depressed or chronically fatigued? And the answer, unfortunately, is we don't know because the research hasn't been done. That said, if the improvements were indeed due to a reduction in oxidative stress, then it is very possible that infrared sauna can help keep any of us on a more even keel. Moving along, moving along, skin health. Can

Starting point is 00:19:39 infrared sauna help improve the health of your skin? Now, according to some people, it absolutely can. It can improve your complexion. It can improve your general skin health. And some people even say that infrared sauna can reduce lines, wrinkles, and pigmentation. And these great things are allegedly caused by the opening of your pores, which allows dirt toxins and other nasties to be carried away in your sweat. And this is categorically false. Your pores do not change much in size regardless of temperature. And even if they did, it wouldn't change your complexion or improve your skin health. If only things were

Starting point is 00:20:17 that easy, right? Alrighty, next infrared sauna and cancer, which really means that we are in the woods now because the more militant promoters of infrared sauna say that it can help the immune system better fight cancer. It can remove carcinogenic chemicals from the body and even directly attack and kill cancer cells, but there's just no evidence for any of it. So yeah, take all that with a grain of salt. And speaking of immunity, what about illness? Can infrared sauna help you not get sick? Well, a couple of studies have actually found that people who use saunas more often are less likely to get the common cold and scientists aren't quite sure why, but they think it might have something to do with increased mucus production, which your body

Starting point is 00:21:01 uses to eliminate germs before they can get you sick. The problem here though, is these were observational studies, which can help with generating hypotheses and help kind of point the way for further investigation, but cannot establish causation. Only randomized controlled trials can do that. Therefore, based on the current evidence, we can't say that infrared sauna reduces your risk of the common cold, but we can say that there does appear to be an association between sauna use and less sickness. All right, so those are the benefits. Now, if you are liking what you are hearing and you're interested in getting an infrared sauna, you probably want to know what's the best way to

Starting point is 00:21:41 use it. And for the infrared sauna to work, the light waves need to penetrate your skin. So anything that gets in the way of that could interfere with its effects. So first things first, that means you want to be mostly naked or completely naked. I actually have one and I just go completely naked because the more skin that is directly exposed to the radiation elements, the better. Second, you should generally avoid wearing makeup, creams, lotions, deodorants, antiperspirants, sunscreen, or any other substance that covers the skin, because again, those things can reduce the amount of penetration that occurs. And finally, it is usually a good idea to avoid showers and baths before going into an infrared sauna because

Starting point is 00:22:25 even moisture on the skin can block the infrared light to some degree. Now, as far as session duration and frequency, there aren't really any cut and dried guidelines here on what's best, but most studies have placed subjects in the sauna for at least 15 minutes to one hour per day. subjects in the sauna for at least 15 minutes to one hour per day. And frequency has ranged between every day to just once or twice per week. Personally, I do 25 minutes in the morning. I get up early, I get up at 5.30 and I go straight into the infrared sauna and I read for 25 minutes in the sauna. And that duration and frequency is a pretty good guideline. If you are going for 30 minutes per day, at least every other day, or about three to three and a half hours per week, you are in line with most of the research that we

Starting point is 00:23:10 have discussed so far. Now let's talk types of saunas. What's the best type of infrared sauna? This is important because there are multiple kinds of infrared light and some are more beneficial than others. And specifically, there are three main categories of infrared light based on how large the light waves are, the wavelength. So you have near infrared rays with a wavelength of 0.75 to 1.5 micrometers, and a micrometer is one millionth of a meter. You have medium infrared rays with a wavelength of 1.5 to 5.6 micrometers. And you have far infrared rays with a wavelength of 5.6 to 1,000 micrometers. And as a general rule, the larger the wavelength, the longer the energy wave is, the more light will penetrate into your body and affect it. And this is why most high quality infrared saunas emit far infrared rays.

Starting point is 00:24:14 They are simply the most beneficial. And that's why I recommend if you're going to go shopping for an infrared sauna, you look specifically for one that emits far infrared rays between 6 and 20 micrometers in length. And if you're curious as to which sauna I chose, I got something called the Sanctuary 2 from a company called Clearlight. And I believe I got it from InfraredSauna.com. They had a sale going. I'm not getting paid for any of that. Probably should be getting paid for that, but that's okay. That's what I got. That's where I got it from. So go for the far infrared rays and ignore the sauna marketers that brag that their devices also emit near and medium infrared rays, because there's no evidence that this is going to offer any additional benefit.

Starting point is 00:24:59 So the bottom line on all of this is infrared saunas are getting a lot of attention these days and it's honestly deserved to some degree. There is good evidence that infrared sauna can reduce joint pain and stiffness, can decrease oxidative stress in the body and can improve mood. And there's weak evidence that it can also improve symptoms that are associated with chronic fatigue, that it can support cardiovascular health and also improve performance and recovery. But you should know that there's no evidence that infrared saunas can detoxify your body, promote weight loss, prevent the common cold, improve skin health, or fight cancer. And we may find in time that the prevent the common cold will upgrade to weak evidence or maybe even

Starting point is 00:25:45 good evidence. But as of right now, we can't really say that there is evidence that it's going to do this. So if you like saunas and you're looking for something that is at least a mildly beneficial form of health and wellness therapy, and you don't mind spending the money, then there's a good chance that you will like the infrared sauna. a quick review of it on iTunes or wherever you're listening from. This not only convinces people that they should check the show out, it also increases its search visibility and thus helps more people find their way to me and learn how to build their best bodies ever too. And of course, if you want to be notified when the next episode goes live, then just subscribe to the podcast and you won't miss out on any of the new goodies.

Starting point is 00:26:49 Lastly, if you didn't like something about the show, then definitely shoot me an email at mike at muscleforlife.com and share your thoughts on how you think it could be better. I read everything myself and I'm always looking for constructive feedback. So please do reach out. All right, that's it. Thanks again for listening to this episode and I hope to hear from you soon. And lastly, this episode is I hope to hear from you soon. And lastly, this episode is brought to you by me. Seriously though, I'm not big on promoting stuff that I don't personally use and believe in.

Starting point is 00:27:13 So instead I'm going to just quickly tell you about something of mine. Specifically my 100% natural vegan protein powder, Thrive. Now Thrive is a plant-based protein powder that provides you with a highly bioavailable blend of several plant proteins that are easily digested and absorbed thrive also contains 10 additional vitamins minerals and nutrients that vegetarian and vegan diets tend to be low in as well as four enzymes to help you obtain the maximal nutritional benefit from every scoop.

Starting point is 00:27:46 Lastly, it's also 100% naturally sweetened and flavored and contains no chemical dyes, cheap fillers, or other unnecessary junk. So if you want to build muscle and lose fat as quickly as possible and improve the nutritional quality of your diet without having to eat animal protein, improve the nutritional quality of your diet without having to eat animal protein, then you want to head on over to www.legionathletics.com and pick up a bottle of Thrive today. And just to show how much I appreciate my podcast peeps, use the coupon code podcast at checkout and you'll save 10% on your entire order. And lastly, you should also know that I have a very simple 100% money back guarantee that works like this. You either love my stuff or you get your money back, period. You don't have to return the products. You don't have to fill out forms. You don't have to jump through

Starting point is 00:28:38 any other hoops or go through any other shenanigans. So you really can't lose here. Head over to www.lesionathletics.com now, place your order and see for yourself why my supplements have thousands of rave reviews all over the internet. And if for whatever reason, they're just not for you, contact us and we will give you a full refund on the spot.

Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - Do Infrared Saunas Work? What 23 Studies Say

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