In the U.S., many Americans use a sauna only while at the gym or on vacation, if at all, in contrast to people living in Finland. At least once a week, 99 percent of Finns¹ take a sauna, and some far more often. The Finns value sauna use for stress relief. Known as a “poor man’s pharmacy,” saunas offer proven health benefits virtually anyone can enjoy.

Not surprisingly, much of the research has come from Finland where saunas are nearly as common as television sets, found in private homes, offices and even factories.² Today, they’re becoming increasingly popular with athletes for post-workout muscle relaxation and to improve athletic performance.

According to Rhonda Patrick, Ph.D.,³ increasing your core temperature for short periods, as accomplished in a sauna, may have multiple positive effects on your body, including the growth of new brain cells. As your skin is a major organ of elimination, promoting sweating with sauna use may also help you detoxify. Researchers have also linked sauna use with a reduced risk for stroke.⁴

Sauna Use May Reduce Your Risk of Stroke

In a study published in Neurology,⁵ researchers assessed over 1,600 men and women aged 53 to 74 who did not have a known history of stroke. The participants were part of the Finnish Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease prospective cohort study and as defined by the researchers, took either one, up to three or up to seven sauna sessions per week.

At least half the participants were followed for nearly 15 years, during which 155 stroke events were recorded.⁶ The researchers compared individuals who used a sauna once a week against those who used a sauna up to three or up to seven times per week. After adjusting for other variables, they found those who took a sauna up to three times per week were 12 percent less likely to have a stroke, whereas those who took a sauna up to seven times a week reduced their risk by 62 percent.⁷

The researchers suggested sauna use may help reduce stroke risk by lowering inflammation, reducing arterial stiffness and improving blood flow through the circulatory system. These changes may be a result of an increase in body temperature during a sauna.⁸ The popularity of the sauna in Finland led the researchers to suggest further research was necessary to compare those who never use saunas against those who use them frequently.⁹

They encouraged those who have a regular sauna habit to continue as the results suggest significant benefit. However, those not familiar with sauna use should start slowly and build their heat tolerance to improve the results without heat stress on their cardiovascular system.¹⁰

Sweating Is Important

Sweating is an essential process designed to keep your body cool but also has benefits beyond temperature control. Sweating helps expel toxins, kill viruses and clean your pores, and may have other benefits as well. Your skin is a major organ of elimination, but as many do not sweat on a regular basis, using a sauna may help restore your skin’s ability to eliminate toxins.

Saunas and heat baths have been a form of cleansing since ancient times. Sweating has been perceived to promote health and has been a part of worldwide traditions and customs since ancient Roman baths and Aboriginal sweat lodges. A review published in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health found:¹¹

“Sweating is not only observed to enhance excretion of the toxic elements of interest in this paper, but also may increase excretion of diverse toxicants, as observed in New York rescue workers, or in particular persistent flame retardants and bisphenol-A … Optimizing the potential of sweating as a therapeutic excretory mechanism merits further research.”