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Detoxification and Heart Disease

A Detox Program or a Home Sauna?

After considering all these benefits, my wife Connie and I started a sauna detoxification regimen similar to the program used by the New York rescue workers. During our two-week program, we would go for a 30-minute slow jog to heat up and get our blood pumping. We’d then sit in the sauna at a low temperature (at least for a sauna) of about 140 degrees for two to three hours a day, broken up as needed by cool showers. We felt like a million dollars afterward.

I continued to use the sauna at sports clubs until six months ago, when we replaced the large bathtub in our master bathroom with a far infrared sauna. (Far infrared is part of the spectrum of natural sunlight.) We selected this type of sauna because it’s relatively inexpensive and easy to install—it took just 30 minutes, is held together with magnets, and needs no plumbing hookup. It also uses much less electricity and only requires a five minute warm-up period.

Above all, it’s much more comfortable. Standard saunas heat the air, and the hot air coming into contact with the skin heats the body. Far infrared light directly and deeply penetrates the tissues and heats up the core body temperature. As a result, the air is much cooler, making it easier to breathe and allowing you to stay in longer and work up a better sweat.

Though we almost never used the tub, Connie and I use our sauna for about half an hour almost every day before showering, and we love it.

Recommendations

• Good brands of far infrared sauna include Sunlight Saunas, sunlightsaunas.com, (877) 292-0020; EZe Saunas, ezesauna.com, (800) 952-5455; and MPS Global, mpsglobal.us, (866) 902-0677. Optimal use is 30 minutes, four to six times a week.
• For more about supervised sauna detox programs, contact the International Academy of Detoxification Specialists at detoxacademy.org, (801) 484-1430.

References:

• Cecchini MA, et al. Chemical exposures at the World Trade Center. Use of the Hubbard Sauna Detoxification Regimen to improve the health status of New York City rescue workers exposed to toxicants. Townsend Letter. 2006 April:58–65.
• Imamura M, et al. Repeated thermal therapy improves impaired vascular endothelial function in patients with coronary risk factors. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2001 Oct;38(4):1083–1088.
• Miyamoto H, et al. Safety and efficacy of repeated sauna bathing in patients with chronic systolic heart failure: a preliminary report.  J Card Fail. 2005 Aug;11(6):432–436.

 

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