Infrared sauna therapy is quite different to traditional sauna therapy. Although the desired end results are the same, and include weight loss as well as a wide variety of health benefits, the extent that your body enjoys these benefits are much greater. Other benefits exist too, including lower purchase and ongoing costs and greater convenience offered by the highly concentrated and penetrative infrared rays that are used. In fact, infrared sauna therapy is so beneficial and useful that it isn’t just being used in health centres, sports centres, spas, and even medical centres but it is becoming the home sauna of choice too.
Differences In Sauna Technology
A traditional steam sauna works by heating the environment around the user which, in turn, increases the body temperature to cause sweating. While this does offer health benefits it also necessitates extremely high room temperatures and an environment that does not allow the escape of heat. In contrast, infrared saunas use concentrated infrared rays that do not need to heat the surrounding atmosphere because they are concentrated on the body. This means greater penetration, lower temperature requirements, and no need to heat the surrounding atmosphere.
Introducing FIR
Far infrared radiant heat, usually referred to simply as FIR, is beneficial to the human body. It has the ability to penetrate, radiate, and refract within the body while being completely safe and harmless. The penetrative heat of FIR causes blood cells to dilate which means improved blood circulation and the release of harmful toxins through the body’s sweat. These benefits are afforded at considerably lower temperature and to much greater effect when compared to heated rock saunas. The deeper penetration of FIR means that it can actually break down fat in the body which is then released in the same way as toxins – through sweat.
Aiding Weight Loss
Infrared sauna therapy can aid weight loss. It will offer an immediate weight loss because the body loses a lot of fluid through sweating. However, it is highly recommended that users drink a reasonable amount of water to replace this fluid. While this will also replace the weight that was shed during infrared sauna therapy, you will not be replacing the calories that were also burned during the session making sauna therapy a beneficial way to help burn calories and aid in a safe and effective weight loss program.
Improving Heart Health
Good blood circulation and increased heart rate are essential to a healthy heart and are both promoted through regular infrared sauna usage. Increased blood flow through infrared sauna therapy comes without the negative side effect of increased blood pressure and because of the lower temperatures used, the body will not usually experience the blood pressure rise that is possible while acclimatising from the intensive heat of a steam sauna to typical room temperature conditions.
Detoxification is important to the body. Modern living means that our bodies are subjected to a number of stresses and we pump ourselves full of toxins, often unknowingly and unwittingly. The penetrative heat of infrared sauna rays breaks down toxins in the blood, tissues, and the organs and then releases them through the sweat that we emit. Infrared saunas penetrate much deeper and with higher resulting temperatures when compared to convection saunas and this means that infrared saunas can break down more stubborn toxins and a greater volume of them.
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