These days, the 120 lockers at the
Russian and Turkish Baths in the New York City East Village neighborhood fill
up fast on weekends and holidays. On New Year’s Day, each of the five sauna and
steam rooms were clogged with damp 20- and 30-somethings, some stepping over
one another to dump buckets of water on their heads in 87-degree heat.
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After a pandemic lull, it is boom time
again for the 131-year-old institution: In 2022, business at the Russian and
Turkish Baths was up by about 20 percent from its best years, in the 2010s,
said Dmitry Shapiro, a general manager at the bathhouse.
Bathhouse, a spa in Williamsburg, US, saw
admissions rise by 50 percent in 2022, compared with 2021, a representative
said.
There is not much data on global sauna use,
but the market does seem to have revived, driven mainly by users seeking health
benefits. “There’s a movement now,” said Eero Kilpi, president of the North
American Sauna Society, who pointed to commercial saunas popping up as well as
sales of portable, mobile saunas, which people can put in their backyard or
take on a camping trip.
Saunas, steam baths, and sweat lodges are
baked into cultural traditions for many people across the globe, from Native
Americans to Koreans to Scandinavians. And saunas themselves come in different
permutations — for example, Finnish-style saunas are typically built from wood
and known for their dry heat, while steam rooms fill with moist vapor, and more
modern infrared saunas often use light panels to generate heat.
As saunas become more trendy, companies
often promote them with the promise of health benefits such as
“detoxification”, heart health, and increased metabolism, along with claims
that the heat can simulate a workout without the work. Posts from Bathhouse’s
social media accounts suggest its saunas and steam rooms can release toxins,
help you recover from a workout, and improve circulation; the Red Rocks Spa in
Colorado says that saunas can alleviate insomnia and improve mental health.
Although some sauna companies claim that sweating can boost immunity, there is not robust evidence suggesting that a sauna, on its own, will make you more resistant to illness
There is some research that suggests a trip
to the sauna may have some health benefits — but you should not believe every
claim you hear, said Earric Lee, a researcher at the University of Jyväskylä in
Finland who has studied the health effects of saunas.
“It’s not like, ‘Oh, instead of going for
my 45-minute run, I’m going to sit in the sauna for 45 minutes,'’’ he said.
Heat for the heartAlthough several studies point to the
potential benefits of saunas, some of the most prominent research focuses on data
from men in Eastern Finland, as part of an ongoing study on risk factors for
heart disease. Observational studies have found intriguing links between
regular Finnish-style sauna bathing and lower risks of cardiovascular issues
and inflammation, although the studies cannot definitively prove causation and
focus on a specific slice of the population (middle-aged and older Finnish
men).
Still, the findings suggest that saunas may
help improve cardiovascular function, said Setor Kunutsor, an associate
professor at the University of Leicester in England who has been involved in
some of these studies. That may be because, generally speaking, short bouts of
intense heat stress our heart in beneficial ways — and strengthen the
cardiovascular system over time, Kunutsor said.
When we are exposed to extreme heat, our
hearts pump faster, circulating more blood through our body to cool us down as
it would during exercise, said Dr Daniel Gagnon, a researcher at the Montreal
Heart Institute who has also studied the potential cardiovascular impact of
heat therapy. This could explain why regular sauna use has been tied to lower
rates of cardiovascular calamities, he said, but scientists have not
definitively proved that saunas themselves can be protective.
“So far, we’re really missing the link to
say, ‘Yes, for sure, it does something,’” he said. But the heart’s response to
heat might mimic mild exercise, he said, perhaps like a light ride on a
stationary bike.
“We know that the more you work a muscle,
the better a shape it’s in, and the longer it lasts,” said Dr Rita Redberg, a
cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco.
People with heart conditions, such as
angina or congestive heart failure, should speak to a doctor before going to a
sauna, said Dr Melinda Ring, director of integrative medicine at Northwestern
Medicine. Pregnant women should also consult their physician. And if you are
already at the risk of getting dehydrated — for example, if you are intoxicated
— you should also steer clear of the sauna, she advised.
Steam and mirrorsSome spa companies advertise the illusion
of a sauna “detox” — the idea that sitting in the heat or steam can leach
chemicals from your body. “There’s this image of ‘All the sweat is going to
carry these toxins out,’” said Ring. “That’s really not how it works.” It is
not clear that sauna therapy can lower overall toxin loads in the body, she
said.
“There’s this image of ‘All the sweat is going to carry these toxins out’… That’s really not how it works.”
Although some sauna companies claim that
sweating can boost immunity, there is not robust evidence suggesting that a
sauna, on its own, will make you more resistant to illness, Gagnon said. But
saunas do reduce stress levels in some people, Kunutsor added, which can
benefit the immune system.
And the idea that saunas can make someone
magically shed pounds is also false, Lee said. But the most effective time to
hop in a sauna may be after a workout, he added, as the heat may be able to
amplify the cardiovascular perks of exercise.
He said the “jury’s out” on the long-term
benefits of sauna use without exercise. And although saunas may help to make
muscles more pliable, potentially alleviating aches, he said, there is not
convincing evidence that a post-workout sweat can prevent injuries, either.
As promising as some of the research around
saunas is, he said, without more studies, it is not totally clear which claims
about the health perks saunas are accurate, and which are exaggerated.
“I do find a lot of hogwash — a lot of
charlatans,” he said.
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