Thursday, March 5, 2009

Far Infrared sauna and conventional sauna

Traditional saunas and infrared saunas and benefits

Traditional saunas use various ways of heating rocks which heat up water and the air, convert the water to steam and the steam heats the body. Traditional saunas thus heat the body indirectly. Infrared saunas uses infrared radiation which is absorbed directly by the body and thus heats it up. Heating is thus direct although a very small percentage of the infrared radiation also heats up the air in the sauna.

What relations does sauna have with weight control? Well, for one, a person in a sauna sweats profusely, leading to weight loss. However, this weight loss is not expected to be permanent as drinking fluid will easily replace this temporary weight loss. However, it is the opinion of some that the heart beats faster and there is an increase in metabolic rate, both of which leads to an increase in consumption of calories (energy). In a study, it was found that sauna-induced dehydration was effective in inducing significant weight loss in men and women (1.8% and 1.4%).
Whatever it is, this induced weight loss can be critical for athletes competing in sports where weight is a factor in placing the athletes in classes according to weight such as weight-lifting or boxing.

Far Infrared Sauna

Infrared radiation are electromagnetic radiation in which wavelengths lie in the range from about 1 micrometer to 1 millimeter. This radiation therefore has wavelengths just a little longer than those of visible light and cannot be seen with the unaided eye. Infrared radiation is thermal, or heat, radiation. Far infrared (FIR) radiation are electromagnetic radiation with wavelenght from 15-1,000 micrometer. Far infrared radiation penetrates the body deeper and it is claimed that far infrared saunas are better than conventional sauna as the radiation penetrates deep into the body tissue and sooth and relax the muscles.