Soak up sauna’s health benefits

THEY don’t seem to be very common in Australia – I’ve only tried one myself a couple of times – but recent research is revealing some fascinating benefits of using a sauna.

It’s probably something to do with our weather.

Most of the year is plenty hot and humid enough, so a sauna seems rather unnecessary here.

They are much more common in colder climates like northern Europe, where many houses have saunas installed permanently.

No surprise, then, that the most interesting research around saunas is coming from Finland.

A thorough study (they followed 1682 people for an average of nearly 15 years) published earlier this month has found that people who use a sauna more regularly may have a lower risk of stroke.

Those who used a sauna 2–3 times per week had a 12 per cent reduced risk of stroke compared to those who used the sauna only once per week. Astonishingly, those who used the sauna 4–7 times per week reduced their stroke risk by 62 per cent.

Those numbers have made many sit up and pay attention, particularly as this study follows others that show using a sauna may decrease blood pressure, dementia risk and the risk of death related to cardiovascular disease.

If you’ve had a recent heart attack, or you have low blood pressure or unstable angina, a sauna may not be a safe place for you. In the absence of these, they can be a great spot to relax, and potentially soak up some astounding health benefits.