Heat it up - the benefits of heat therapy

Sweating has always played a major role in wellness. Even looking back to the 6th century, some traditional medicines promote perspiration as an important element in the balance of the body.

So why is this disgusting ritual important? When you perspire, your body releases the necessary toxins inside you, and it is like being cleansed from within. These days, a sweating exercise, more than often occurs in the sauna or steam, where the body temperature is raised to that of a fever. So even though you may feel relaxed, in actual fact your body is working overtime, with your organs labouring as if a strenuous exercise is being carried out.

Sauna and steam are the most popular of heat therapies but reaping its benefits requires discretion. Read on about the benefits and disadvantages you should know before heading into the heat.

Sweating has always played a major role in wellness. Even looking back to the 6th century, some traditional medicines promote perspiration as an important element in the balance of the body.

So why is this disgusting ritual important? When you perspire, your body releases the necessary toxins inside you, and it is like being cleansed from within. These days, a sweating exercise, more than often occurs in the sauna or steam, where the body temperature is raised to that of a fever.

So even though you may feel relaxed, in actual fact your body is working overtime, with your organs labouring as if a strenuous exercise is being carried out.

Getting Hot

Proven by medical research that bathing in high temperatures is beneficial to the body, many cultures around the world have adopted the    heat therapy to their healing rituals for many centuries. The most popular of heat therapies is the hot pools. Like the Turkish who have their hot communal baths, the hot pools are also a common practice in Japan. However, each culture is different with their own unique ways of healing. For example, the American Indians have their sweat lodges, while down in New Zealand, the Maoris are blessed with hot mud and mineral pools. Whatever the method or culture, the main aim of heat therapy is to detoxify. A proven and very acknowledged fact about detoxification in heat therapy is that it also assists in burning fat (a very popular benefit with the ladies).

Facts that you might not have known

1. During a heat session, your body goes into an artificial fever, which     helps destroy germs

2. Heat helps to draw circulation to the surface of the skin, therefore helping to decongest the organs that do the dirty work: eg. The liver

3. Heat aids in balancing the body’s pH levels. And while circulation is increased, the body’s immune system gets a lift.

If you are sitting in a sauna, your body is exposed to a higher temperature, which induces a temporary physiological change. During times when you feel a little lack of motivation to sweat it out in the gym, hopping into the sauna is an excellent alternative instead of skipping a session and breaking your daily workout schedule. The sauna bath stimulates your body’s adrenaline, prolactin, growth hormones and cardian natriuretic peptide, which in turn affect your body the same way as when you are under physiological stress.

As the heat increases, the temperature of the skin rises quite significantly. But as you sweat, the temperature of your skin becomes a yo-yo, falling and rising slowly again. While your skin temperature has a steady flow, your blood flow rises by 65 – 70 percent and the rest of your body’s cardiac output rises by two to three times its normal strength. The whole session is equivalent to a brisk walk.

Tip

You lose about ½ kg during a heat session but can easily be compensated by drinking a few glasses of water.

As the heat increases, your heart will pump faster, blood vessels will open and more blood and oxygen will circulate around the body. Usually when this happens, you will feel refreshed and energised. However, for those who are a little less heat resistant, this can also make you feel dizzy and disoriented. When this happens, leave the sauna immediately, sit down and drink a glass of cool water, with the consciousness to turn down the heat to a suitable level next time.

So, how much does one actually burn while in a sauna? Evidence reveals that during a 20 – 30 min session, some 300 calories can be burned during that time. So while you are burning fat, the heat also acts to purge the toxins, ridding the body of toxic metals that it absorbs from polluted environments, such as lead, mercury, nickel, sodium, and many others. 

For those with high blood pressure and heart problems, opt for a dry sauna. The heat in dry saunas usually rises to about 120 – 130 degrees Fahrenheit while wet saunas can get a lot hotter, getting up to sweltering temperatures of 230 degrees Fahrenheit. The best way to know is to consult your doctor before beginning heat therapy.

Heat with Caution

Despite all the advantages of a sauna, with everything, there are also disadvantages—or for use of a better word, cautions.

There have been some cases where babies have been born with malformation to women who have been in the sauna during pregnancy. Even though a pregnant woman may be able to handle the heat, children are generally a lot less tolerant of heat as their skin area to body-mass ratio is high. Their fat layers are also thin, which may suggest that their perspiration system is also very immature. It is advised that children aged 2 – 5 years should not try the sauna.

Do not be overzealous in the bid to eliminate toxins and sit in the sauna over a long period of time. Instead of one insane session in the sauna, break it up into a systematic momentum of sauna sessions, over a period of days. Dehydration, heat stroke, elevated blood pressures are all effects of an overzealous session. Patients who suffer from hypertension, angina, heart failure, and other ailments, should consult their doctor before undergoing heat treatments.