201–210 of 244 posts
Well ... Finland life expectancy for 2023 was 81.69. Norway life expectancy for 2025 was 83.23. Japan life expectancy for 2025 was 85.27. Sumo wrestlers in Japan have a life expectancy between 60-65 years or so - significantly lower than the other japanese. I am not saying that sauna has no positive effect at all, but I would reason that the number one risk factor is ... weight. And I'd also still say that exercise i…
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Much of it is, sure, but certainly not all of it! On your comparison to Sweden, be cautious! Finns generally have a higher risk and incidence of cardiovascular disease compared to native Swedes - in fact, they have some of the highest risk in the world! Research from Earric Lee and/or Jari Laukkanen from this past decade will have clinical trials with controlled groups rather than just long-term population tracking.…
The first study shows a 0.37 hazard ratio for frequent sauna use. That’s better than a lot of the HRs reported for physical activity. It’s even better than not smoking. It just doesn’t really fit. Also, the fact that there are practically no sauna related studies outside of Nordic populations is suspicious too. I bet that with those hazards ratios a lot of people have tried to study the effects more, it’s suspicious…
Author here. Methodology upfront because I'd ask the same things: Data: daily records from wearable users who logged sauna sessions via connected apps. Within-person design — each user is their own control, comparing their own sauna-day nights against their own non-sauna-day nights. No cross-user comparisons. Stats: paired t-tests, FDR-corrected p 0.2 threshold for "meaningful effect." Anything below d=0.2 we don't r…
That false statement really makes me unsure about the quality of the article. And I'm saying this as someone who uses sauna daily, when possible (I have one at home, and I grew up with saunas).
"De-toxification" by sweating is a myth. Sweat glands are very simple organs (think salt on one side, which results in pressure, i.e. osmosis) and can't do anything of the sort. You'll be much better off peeing.
Saunas probably have good health effects. I'm certainly happy as a sauna user. But there's no de-toxification in this.
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Moreover, I'm from a very hot and humid tropical region. Its normal to ne 40°C with 80% humidity there. And you dont see people having better health or longevity (Yucatan peninsula) .
40° internal body temperature is not the same as 40° weather. Yucatan is not the same as Dubai in Summer. Your body is under heat shock trying to keep up in a Sauna (that isn't considered warm until 60°). Versus a healthy body CAN keep up in 40°. The Yucatan equivalent of a Sauna is more like doing hard labor on a roof on a sunny day with no breeze.
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Zero shot you'd make it an hour in a proper sauna for an hour. People have this idea that saunas are always enjoyable. I sauna daily, and its nice up to a point. For me thats like 10-12mins in. From then on, its tough.
When it doesn't feel enjoyable anymore, you're supposed to get out of the sauna and cool down - preferably in a lake. Then repeat as many times as you like.
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Zero shot you'd make it an hour in a proper sauna for an hour. People have this idea that saunas are always enjoyable. I sauna daily, and its nice up to a point. For me thats like 10-12mins in. From then on, its tough.
Huh what? I can easily sit in a sauna for an hour without breaks as long as it has some type of ventilation. Smoke saunas a bit less, electric or wood stove saunas no issue. It's nice to take a breather once in a while but I'd honestly have no issues sitting in a 80-90 deg sauna for an hour as long as I have enough to drink with me. One time I sat in the sauna for six hours with a few breaks between with a group of f…
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Zero shot you'd make it an hour in a proper sauna for an hour. People have this idea that saunas are always enjoyable. I sauna daily, and its nice up to a point. For me thats like 10-12mins in. From then on, its tough.
I generally make it about 30 seconds in a sauna (I rarely even bother trying when I have access). Should I tough it out for 10-12 like you? Should you be toughing it out for the full hour I suggested (a random time I pulled out of my head)? Or is this all nonsense and I'm just fine ignoring the whole thing?
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Problem is sauna use and genetic factors corrolate too strongly to make any conclusion to the broader population. If you live in/near Finland you likely sauna often, as have all your ancestors for thousands of years. If you don't live there both are false. Thus we can't know if Sauna is helpful for the general population who isn't of a Finish background.
Japan has a +4 years lead of life expectancy over Finland; Norway almost +3 years on Finland. I am not saying this is conclusive per se, but to me the sauna-people-live-forever is not backed up by the data. I would instead reason that, e. g. weight correlates a lot more here.
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FWIW you should probably be doing some max intensity, or at least high intensity cardio. Zone 2 is great but the best health outcomes are from people who do high intensity exercise interspersed with zone 2 exercise.
This is contested by a significant number of contemporary running coaches (see, for example "Training for Uphill Athletes" by Steve Johnson or any of the life work of Phil Maffetone. HIIT is quite effective at something ; it's not clear that it is effective at all possible exercise goals (including, but not limited to, endurance running). Johnson in particular says that unless you've already narrowed the gap between…
For example, if I do a week of 3x30 minute swssions at Zone 2, my fitness is going to plummet. But if I do one at Zone 2, one at tempo, and one set of intervals, I'm at least maintaining fitness.
Would 5 hours at zone 2 be better? Absolutely. But I dont always have the time.
Author here. Methodology upfront because I'd ask the same things: Data: daily records from wearable users who logged sauna sessions via connected apps. Within-person design — each user is their own control, comparing their own sauna-day nights against their own non-sauna-day nights. No cross-user comparisons. Stats: paired t-tests, FDR-corrected p 0.2 threshold for "meaningful effect." Anything below d=0.2 we don't r…
Would a hot tub session (say at 100 - 105 F) be comparable or yield similar results?