Hi, my friends. Today's episode is our second special aliquot mashup episode which features a compliation of sauna related topics taken from several QA episodes over the last couple of years. This episode covers many topics related to sauna use including implications of sauna bathing on risk of pneumonia and respiratory illnesses Finnish sauna humidity and the immune system the effects of sauna and hot baths on heat shock proteins temperature and duration of sauna bathing to
In the cardiovascular benefits my personal sauna practices for longevity comparing the efficacy and safety of infrared saunas versus traditional saunas heat stress response from various types of heat stress modalities, including hot baths. How whole body hyperthermia similar to sauna improves drug resistant depression have sauna use mimics moderate cardiovascular exercise time temperature and frequency to get longevity benefits and heat shock proteins.
Sana use while fasting it sounds stressful but someone asked about it. So we talked about it whether or not sauna uses helpful for tension headaches and so much more. This is a special preview of the aliquot members only podcast for a full timeline with time codes for each topic and access to the entire episode head over to found my fitness.com forward slash aliquot. That's a li quot aliquot.
If you are a premium member, you can also find this entire episode with a timeline on your private podcast feed now onto the aliquot. Hope you guys enjoy
some of the other things I'm trying to do are the sauna 427 times a week 20 minutes at least a hundred and seventy-four degrees Fahrenheit. So I've shared this study on social media about the sauna reducing the risk for you know, chronic acute respiratory illnesses including pneumonia.
So many use the sauna three times a week or 27 percent less likely to develop pneumonia than those who did this on a once a week and those that used it for four times four to seven times a week. We're 41 percent less likely to develop pneumonia. And this was after adjusting for like a million other potential confounding factors, including asthma physical activity social economic status LDL levels hypertension smoking just a lot of other things that were
That were could possibly influence the data. There's other studies that have shown that the sauna sauna bathing has been shown to reduce the incidence of common colds. Now. This was a I'm writing a review article on the sauna, which I'm hoping to submit in the next month or two. So I wrote a section on the lungs and respiratory function. So I was kind of diving back in the literature, you know, sometimes back into the 80s.
Even sometimes further but there's some interesting studies out there showing that intervention trials with the sauna was able to reduce the incidence of common colds and people that did the sauna that once a week and this was a trial that was done. It was a six-month long trials. It was quite long and it actually it actually took
three months of doing this on a one to two times a week before there was a effect on reducing the incidence of common cold. So it wasn't a sort of immediate thing. It took some time other Studies have shown these again are older studies. They've shown that that frequent sauna use May decrease pulmonary congestion and lead to other improvements in lung function including vital capacity tidal volume my new ventilation and forced expiratory volume another
Using not typical Finnish sauna, but way on therapy which is infrared sauna was also shown to improve lung function and people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD. So sort of interesting thing is that many but not all of those studies were out of Finland or were using a Finnish sauna which typically is a humid sauna. So they, you know in Finland there often throwing water.
Our over these hot rocks and they're creating Steam and they're they're increasing the humidity. And the reason I find this interesting is because there have been some studies. So they've been a quite a few studies showing that viruses in general influenza particulars is a virus that's studied quite often that influenza viruses transmitted less effectively in humid conditions in other words in it.
Conditions they're able to better they have a better transmission rate the are not but that's not what I found most interesting. That's that's sort of been known and it's thought that's one contributing factor among many other contributing factors as to why viruses like influenza virus and respiratory viruses seem to circulate more during dry or winter winter months, right?
As opposed to the summer months when it's more humid. The other interesting Factor comes from an animal study and the animal study basically took two groups of animals and they change the humidity within the animals cages and they expose them to influenza and what they found was that the animals that were in the low humidity cages. There was there was pretty profound effects on the immune system so lower humidity.
Rented Celia from removing viral particles and also mucus low humidity reduce the ability of Airway cells to repair damage caused by the virus in the lungs and low humidity prevented signaling proteins, like interferons that are released by cells that are infected by viruses to basically alert nearby cells that viruses are here and to kind of you know up their immune response. So there was a variety of ways in which
In which low humidity seem to give viruses and Advantage not by, you know allowing viruses to transmit better, but by literally affecting the host immune function, right? So I found that very interesting particularly with the the sauna data where you know, there's this seems to be a pretty robust effect on preventing ammonia pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses and effects on lungs and a lot of the times is on as used do have
Humid in those studies they were they were finished on as often times our humid David peas asking in the chat.
Would mold accumulate more in a steam sauna than a dry sauna? Yeah, probably steam steam rooms have to be really clean quite frequently. I mean obviously that it's pretty the problem with humidity having a humid house or humid. Anything is mold, right? So David is also asking about the temperature of the sauna most most gyms don't he says most gyms don't go up to a hundred and seventy degrees Fahrenheit.
Some of them go up to a hundred and forty so hundred and forty sounds like infrared. That's that's if it's only going up to a hundred and forty that sounds like an infrared not a dry sauna, but regardless typically longer durations are required if the temperature is lower so there have been so if let's say for example, we're trying to look at the the cardiovascular benefits of sauna use of which there are many there have been studies in using a more finished type of Saint or even
Saunas where the temperature is a hundred seventy about a hundred and seventy-four degrees Fahrenheit and staying in there for 20 minutes seems to be the key. Whereas there. There are also studies that have been done with infrared saunas it get up to about a hundred forty but those studies people are staying in there are staying under the heat stress for about 45 minutes. So more than twice as long as people that were in a hot hotter sauna, so typically you
I make up for lack of heat with longer duration and there's some people mentioning the sauna I am I am going into great gray detail on the sauna in this upcoming covid-19 QA. I'm fortunate right now to have a home sauna and I realize many people don't have that luxury and with Jim's closed right now. It's really impossible for people that don't have a sauna at home to use a sauna.
And the good news is that hot baths have been shown to increase heat shock proteins heat shock protein 70, for example, which heat shock proteins play a major role in boosting immunity immunity innate immune system and also increasing immune cells. So I'm going to be talking about several studies. We're using the sauna not only protects against pneumonia.
Protects against eopt it actually even can help treat COPD and also some older studies showing that it can protect against common cold. Although those studies it seemed as though frequency was very important and the protection wasn't shown until three months after three months of frequently using the sauna. So there it wasn't like an overnight thing and I'm going to be talking about some studies showing that
That's on a use increases certain white blood cell and neutrophil numbers as well as well as the mechanisms like each other proteins. So I guess I guess Costco may still be selling sauna. So maybe you can still somehow get a get a get a sauna. Although I would I would be very cautious going into any sort of store at all. Certainly wearing some kind of some kind of mask any any kind of mass that
You make at home, or if you have any other types of masks is best. I personally am staying out of stores a hundred percent right now. And I think that the best thing that we can all do right now is stay home as much as we can but
My point was is that I do think there's pretty convincing evidence that the sauna boost the immune system and the sauna is really important for lung function. I've been writing a review article on the sauna and I had a whole section on immunity and lung function and I sort of refine that section A little bit more and also added in some other modalities of heat stress like the hot baths which have been shown to increase heat shock proteins, and I think that so in this one study people that sat
And a hot bath and I will cite the exact temperature numbers when I when I record this podcast next week, I believe it was a hundred and something degrees Fahrenheit, but they were sitting in that for from the waist down for an hour. Now, that's a long time to have to sit in to sit in the hot water to have to have the 50% increase in heat shock proteins, but and and also elevations and core body temperature which by the way happens during a fever response.
Art of part of the fever response is to activate, you know, the immune system and and part of the way it does that is by activating heat shock proteins, which become active during when you have a fever so those things also get get activated when you are going into a sauna or in a hot bath. So I mentioned their people are sitting in the hot bath from the waist down. The question is what if they are submerged from the shoulders down what if you lay down in the bath and more of the of the surface of your surface areas being exposed to the Heat?
Well, anyone that sat in a Jacuzzi from their shoulders down versus just sitting in you know, when you sit on the stairs and you sit and you're from your waist down know you get much more hot much quickly more quickly when you are more submerged in the hot water. So do I think that you can cut that time in half possibly more by by submerging from the shoulders down? I think that is very very likely for someone that can
that does not have access to a sauna and can most people do have Bathtubs at their house. So I think that most people can at least you hop as personally right now. I've been doing this on a five days a week. It's been critical for for my mental health. Also, I'm not getting as much aerobic activity as I usually do. I usually do a lot of outdoor running and I'm even I've even been having to kind of cut that down a little bit just because I don't
Don't want to my encounters with people, you know, even outside. I'm trying to kind of minimize all that so the sauna because this on a mimics aerobic exercise is he's been just really key for for my for my overall health and you know hot baths hot baths do a similar thing physiological mechanisms. Kick in you can elevate your core body temperature you get increased blood flow heart rate increases
Has many of the same things happen that happen with Asana that happened during aerobic exercise afterwards, you know similar and points also happen where you have, you know, improved heart rate variability. You have improved lower blood pressure lower resting heart rate. This has been shown in randomized studies that have compared or moderate aerobic activity to a 20 minutes on a session. And again, I think that I think that there is a place for hot baths in this steam showers as well if you have one of those
You know any any any more data modality that you have at home and have access to Safe access to to to get that heat stress. I think is something that is important to do now if you can and as David is mentioning here in the chat, if you are using hot baths, you may have to sort of, you know, refill the water and make it make it warmer every, you know, you know 10 or so minutes.
Or 15 minutes, depending on I mean when you're when you're sitting in a really really hot bath. I mean you get really high and you get uncomfortable. So so basically it's pretty it's pretty obvious Huskers is asking if I'm still doing 30 minutes. So the sauna I'm using now actually is much hotter than the the sauna I was previously using at my gym. So right now
The sauna that I'm using is gets up to technically can get up to 190 degree 194 degrees Fahrenheit when I get in it, it's around a hundred and eighty-six is really hot Fahrenheit. And I also have water that I pour over the Hot Rocks which increases the humidity. So according to my high-growth hygrometer my humidity detector. It's
about 40 percent humidity I get I can get it up to not and and when I when I keep doing that repeatedly, I mean it is just so hot and so I'm in there for like
You know between between 15 to 20 minutes depending on the temperature and the humidity like sometimes I'm I've got a lot a lot going on. And so I'm just making it really humid and it's really hot and I'm in there for 15 minutes and I'm telling you I'm wiped. I mean, I feel like I had just gone on a you know, three mile run, you know doing doing you know, 80 percent max heart rate, you know, so so so that's what I'm doing right now. Someone's asking is
Male is asking shared sauna in my apartment apartment building. Yay or nay, I would say right now you want to avoid anything shared any type of shared gym or sauna? You do not want to be in a closed place with other people. So so I would say that.
That isn't it time for it's unfortunate. It's an unfortunate thing that
I would bypass people are asking the brand of Sana. I use I got my sauna through.
Thanks for listening to this preview of the aliquot episode featuring Clips covering some of the many health benefits associated with sauna use and briefly describing special considerations for children. If you enjoyed this preview and would like to listen to the full episode, please consider signing up to become a found my fitness premium member at found my fitness Dot
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So much. Hey one last thing guys. I just want to make it clear. These members QA is that this content originated from are really meant to be a discussion of the science. It's definitely not meant to be diagnostic or as a treatment for any health condition. This podcast is not established a client patient relationship. So just keep that in mind.
Talk to you guys soon.
