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Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Finnish study: Saunas protect against fatal coronary problems!
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Finnish researchers have a health tip for middle-aged men: To stay alive, spend more time in the sauna.
A 20-year study led by scientists from the University of Eastern Finland found that frequent sauna use was significantly correlated with lowered risk of death from heart attacks, coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease and mortality in general.
The study followed long-term health outcomes over two decades for about 2,000 men between the ages of 42 to 60. Baseline examinations were conducted between 1984 and 1989. The men were divided into groups -- those who took sauna baths just once a week, those who took them two or three times a week and those who spent time in the sauna four to seven times a week.
The researchers found the men who took to the sauna two or three times a week had a 22 percent lower risk of sudden cardiac death than those making just one visit each week. Those who went four to seven times a week lowered their risk level to about one-third of the once-a-week sauna users.
Risk reduction rates were similar for other forms of cardiac deaths, the study said.
There were benefits from longer visits to the sauna as well as from more frequent visits. The men who spent more than 19 minutes in the sauna per visit had about half the risk of sudden cardiac death of those who spent only 11 minutes or fewer per visit, the study found.
The study adjusted for inherent coronary risks among the test subjects. Further research is needed to pinpoint the mechanisms by which saunas benefit heart health, the study said.
The study was published in the Feb. 23 issues of the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
Saunas and steam baths are common around the far north. Steam baths are traditional in several Alaska Native and Native American cultures. In Alutiiq culture, for example, the steam bath is known as maqiq, and Russian cultural influences brought the term "banya" to Alaska.
In Finland, the sauna is a revered national tradition.
"Most of the Finns that are living in Alaska built their own saunas. That's the first thing they missed from Finland," said Hanna Eklund, president of the Anchorage Suomi Finland Club and honorary consul of Finland in Alaska.
Eklund's husband, who has roots in Kotzebue and Anchorage, was such an enthusiastic convert to the Finnish style that the couple refashioned a backyard shed at their Anchorage home into a first-class Finnish sauna. That home was sold -- with the sauna as one of the main attractions, Eklund said -- so now the two are planning to build another family sauna at their new home.
Eklund was aware of the study about saunas and heart health, and said she is not surprised by the findings.
"All Finns know that saunas are good for you. You get rid of your worries there and when you're sick you get better," she said. The sauna tradition, if adopted by other Alaskans, could even make newly legalized marijuana obsolete for some people, she suggested. "If they would go to the sauna every week, they probably wouldn't smoke pot, it's so relaxing."
Other Scandinavian traditions also have health benefits, according to another recently published University of Eastern Finland-led study.
Health problems from obesity were lower for test subjects -- middle-aged men and women -- who followed a traditional Nordic diet based on fish, whole-grain products, vegetables, root vegetables, berries and fruit, low-fat dairy products and rapeseed oil, the study found.
Those eating the traditional Nordic diet were not necessarily slimmer than test subjects maintaining a non-Nordic diet that featured limited fish intake and lots of low-fiber grain products and butter-based spreads. Test subjects were instructed to maintain their body weight, so there was minimal loss or gain. But within fat tissue, there was significantly less inflammation among those following the traditional Nordic diet, according to the study, which was published in the January issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Monday, February 15, 2016
A Classic Wood Burning Sauna!
Contact SoCal Sauna at 951-741-1048 and please visit our website at www.socalsauna.com for a NO COST consultation to make sure you get the right sauna!
Cabin Country: A place in Hayward to bake, chat, laugh
After much study, it was time to build this cedar-walled wonder.
Our rustic cabin near Hayward, Wis., cried out for a classic wood-burning sauna that would be built close to the lake and new outdoor shower. After studying dozens of great Scandinavian, Canadian and U.S. designs over six months and watching numerous YouTube videos, we came up with a simple design.
Nestled in mature trees, with oversized windows on the south, west and north (for natural light AND the coveted sunsets), the sauna measures 8-by-14 feet, with a room height of 7. You step up on a simple 5-by-14 deck, walk through the wood plank farm door into a cooling room (6 by 8), which then leads to the wood-kiln dried, cedar-walled sauna (8 by 8). The sauna contains two extra-wide benches, floor space for the Finnish-built Helo sauna stove with rocks (surrounded by a stainless steel fire wall), the chopped wood, and the wood buckets used in a hand-shower. No plumbing, electricity or propane gas is needed. Also, there is no foundation, per se. A candlelit granite shelf underneath the antique window separating the sauna and cooling room provides the only artificial light. The exterior is clad in pine shiplap siding, and the old traditional green shingle roof has an oversized overhang to the east to shelter the piles of drying wood for the stove.
The crackle of burning oak/ironwood beats the silence of any commercial electric sauna. The 500-pound Hammerschlagen log guards the kerosene-lit lantern path that links the cabin, the outdoor shower or the lake to the sauna. The eucalyptus and pine oils in the water we use to douse the sizzling rocks provide aromatic hits. Stars, moon, and even at times raging weather accompany us as we run down to jump in the lake. In the cooling room, the old German cuckoo clock and fun art work provide great ambience when you need a break from the 194- to 203-degree Fahrenheit temperature and sit down on hand-hewn pine benches. And in the sauna, itself, we pleasantly bake, chat, laugh, and simply connect. All the toxins and stresses of the world just pour away.
Curt N. Peterson, Minnetonka
Monday, January 25, 2016
Do Infrared Saunas Boost Circulation?
Contact SoCal Sauna at 951-741-1048 and please visit our website at www.socalsauna.com for a NO COST consultation to make sure you get the right sauna!
Infrared saunas work off of infrared light, which directly impacts your core temperature. (Photo: Yahoo Health/Getty Images)By Cassie Shortsleeve
If you’re a fan of the sauna, you’ve likely noticed your favorite celebs frequenting a different version of the locker room staple: the infrared sauna.
Gwyneth Paltrow’s site Goop recently reported on the trend; Lady Gaga posted a photo of herself and a friend who is suffering from cancer on Instagram, hinting at infrared’s healing powers; and Jennifer Aniston even told us at Yahoo Health last year that she “loves an infrared sauna” because the “health benefits — like detox, relaxation, weight loss — are amazing.” Proponents claim sessions increase circulation, which, in turn, produce body benefits like decreased inflammation.
But what is an infrared sauna and can it really help your health — or is it all just a bunch of hot air?
Where the Trend Began
The Finnish have long known the powers of the sauna — for thousands of years, they’ve relaxed in wood-paneled rooms that reach temps exceeding 150 degrees Fahrenheit. The original goal: Escape cold winter days. There are examples of “hot air baths” and “sweat lodges” in Native American, Eastern European, and Chinese cultures, too.
But here’s what differentiates an infrared sauna from a traditional one: While a regular sauna heats the air, thereby raising its temperature (and thus, your body temperature), infrared saunas work off of infrared light that directly impacts your core temperature without making the ambient air nearly as hot, explains Brent Bauer, MD, medical director of Rejuvenate Spa at the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program.
In fact, infrared saunas generally run roughly 20 to 60 degrees cooler than regular saunas, which makes them easier to tolerate, Frank Lipman, MD, an integrative and functional medicine physician and Yahoo Health Advisory Board Member, tells Yahoo Health. Plus, since infrared is radiant heat, Lipman says it penetrates the skin more deeply than traditional saunas.
What the Science Says
“The research on both kinds of saunas — regular and infrared — is relatively thin,” Bauer tells Yahoo Health. And the studies that do exist on infrared saunas are small, he notes. “That’s not to say the research isn’t good; but it’s also critical that we don’t over-interpret it,” he says.
A lot of research on how infrared saunas can improve health only includes dozens of people — not thousands, like other, more robust studies. And these studies tend to be conducted on people with pre-existing health conditions, making it difficult to extrapolate the findings to a broader audience.
The results of the existing research: One Japanese study from last year of 49 people with congestive heart failure found that infrared sauna treatments increased the amount of blood being pumped to people’s heart and upped quality of life — both physically and mentally.
Another Japanese study of 21 people with peripheral arterial disease — a circulatory condition in which plaque builds up in the arteries — showed that daily infrared spa sessions for six weeks reduced leg pain and blockage of the arteries.
Another review of existing literature published in Canadian Family Physician determined there was “limited moderate evidence” to support infrared spa usage for “normalizing blood pressure and treating congestive heart failure”; “fair evidence” (from one study) to support the therapy for chronic pain; and “weak evidence” (again: one study) to suggest its use for chronic fatigue syndrome and obesity.
To put it simply: “There are some basic early trials that look intriguing,” says Bauer.
Most of the positive perks, he says, come from heating up your body.
“Plenty of research suggests that saunas — dry, wet, or infrared — have beneficial effects on lowering blood pressure,” Sean Mullen, PhD, director of the exercise, technology, and cognition laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, tells Yahoo Health.
“The sauna has an oxidative effect. Blood is going out to your extremities; your pores open, allowing you to sweat; and heart rate increases in an attempt to cool your body down,” says Mullen. In some ways, saunas mimic the effect of exercise on the body, he notes.
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