Far infrared saunas have been in the news lately for their ability to help fight disease, ease pain, reduce stress and reduce toxins. This month, Natural Awakenings Long Island wanted to focus on utilization of a sauna as an adjunct to eating and exercising based on clinical studies performed over the last decade.
Infrared saunas have been mainstream for decades in Japan as a tool in combating heart disease. Back in 2001, Kagoshima University published a study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that followed at-risk men undergoing daily sauna sessions for two weeks. Doctors observed a 68 percent increase in the blood flow of the men’s brachial arteries, as well as “significant” drops in their blood pressures. The doctors concluded that “repeated sauna treatment improves impaired vascular endothelial function… suggesting a therapeutic role for sauna treatment in patients with risk factors for atherosclerosis.”
In 2005, a University of Missouri trial looked at infrared saunas and their effect on blood pressure. Test subjects sat in a Sunlighten-infrared sauna three times weekly for six weeks and experienced an average drop of systolic blood pressure from 130.5 to 124.
Wondering how you may access sauna treatment locally? Cleansing Concepts, in Smithtown and Westbury, currently has the “mPulse” line of saunas that track calories burned, heart rate, and body mass index changes, as well as let users select the exact
type of infrared rays—near, mid or far—they wish to receive. Looking for a different ex-perience, energy healer Tina Martinez—owner of Open Circle Wellness, in Lynbrook—utilizes her infrared dome as stand-alone therapy or while performing energy work at the crown chakra, allowing her clients to detox at the same time they receive energy work.
Source: Sunlighten.com/?leadsource=NaturalAwakenings
