Over the centuries, cultures worldwide have discovered the therapeutic benefits of saunas. More recently, science has demonstrated how heat therapy heals the body. The answer lies in heat shock proteins (HSPs).
These benefits are taken to another level when using an infrared sauna. Here's how.
What Are Heat Shock Proteins?
HSPs are a specific type of protein that your cells produce when they experience higher temperatures. This process is called “thermal stress,” but this type of stress is good for your body in the same way that placing your muscles under stress helps them grow when you work out.
Your muscles and tissues are made up of proteins. These can become damaged over time. The increased production of HSPs during heat therapy means new proteins are generated to heal damaged tissues and muscles. The process is regenerative, which is why many consider heat therapy a critical component of anti-aging treatments.
How Does an Infrared Sauna Increase HSP Production?
It gets even more interesting when we introduce heat therapy via an infrared sauna. These saunas don't use external heat – instead, thermal stress is introduced by exposure to infrared radiation.
This heats the body's tissues (internal and external) rather than the surrounding air. If that sounds alarming, consider that your organ tissue is made of proteins that are damaged over time, just like your skin and muscles.
A conventional sauna applies warmth from the outside, so the skin sees most of the benefits. Allowing the process to work consistently throughout the body means that your deeper tissues (muscles and organs) experience more of these restorative benefits.
The infrared heat therapy process only requires around 20 minutes for your body to generate sufficient HSPs for repairs. This makes infrared saunas significantly more comfortable than conventional saunas!
Benefits of Heat Shock Proteins
Here are a few key benefits of using an infrared sauna.
Muscle Recovery & Repair
Athletes use infrared saunas to help muscle recovery and repair. It's the same reason athletes typically eat a protein-rich diet – you need those proteins! Heat shock proteins rebuild and encourage muscle recovery and repair when combined with exercise in just the same way.
Increase Immune Response
An infrared sauna protects your body from the inside out. It can increase immune response by boosting the body's white blood cell production. This helps protect against short and long-term illnesses, and taking a regular infrared sauna is a great way to protect yourself.
Organ Healing
A core benefit of infrared light over traditional saunas is that they warm your body consistently. This allows your vital organs to produce HSPs and heal at the same rate as your exterior. If your organs aren't healthy, you can guarantee your skin won't look healthy – you'll feel younger and look younger using full-body heat therapy.
Using Infrared Saunas: Final Thoughts
Perhaps you're looking to keep your skin youthful. Maybe you need to increase immune response to protect yourself against illness. Perhaps you want to help your muscles recover. Why not all three?
An infrared sauna carries all these benefits and more. Give it a try!
