Does an infrared cabin help with a good night's sleep?

A good night's sleep is crucial to being and staying healthy. In a post by ‘The American Sleep Foundation’, we read that ‘without sufficient sleep, our bodies produce less cytokines, a protein that targets infections and inflammation’. So sleep is also very important for our immune system. How can a sauna or infrared cabin help sleep? Using an infrared sauna causes the body to relax and warm up. The autonomic nervous system goes into rest. Substances like adrenaline and cortisol, which make us active, are inhibited, allowing us to relax and fall asleep more easily.

So, in addition to the many benefits of sauna use that we knew before, studies show that regular heat therapy also contributes to a strengthened immune system. Definitely an added benefit in these times!

“No person is without some level of toxic metals in their bodies, circulating and accumulating with acute and chronic lifetime exposures…An often overlooked route of excretion of toxicants is via the process of sweating” (6) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3312275/

“All mood scales and both manifest anxiety measure were improved after sauna bathing” (12) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1744388107000850

Does an infrared cabin help with a good night's sleep?

Your body temperature plays an important role in regulating sleep. During the day, your body temperature rises and falls by about 1 degree: around 4 a.m. your temperature is lowest, around 6 p.m. it is highest. So to sleep, your body temperature has to start dropping. A hot bath, about 2 hours before going to bed, makes your body temperature rise first. But if you then go to bed, your temperature drops and you can sleep better.

An infrared sauna works in a similar way to a hot bath, but is even slightly more effective because it works with direct infrared heat. Generally, this means people experience a better night's sleep after using an infrared sauna before they go to sleep.

What else works for a good night's sleep?

Exercise reduces the level of stress hormones in your body. It also promotes the production of endorphins, a substance that makes you feel relaxed and relieves anxiety and depression. A good time to exercise is when you have just come from work. The stress hormones in your body drop much faster then than if you sit on the couch right away, allowing you to sleep better later in the evening. There is no need to exercise like mad. According to experts, 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity - such as aerobics or cycling - three times a week is enough. In fact, any exercise that slightly raises your heart rate is already good, including brisk walking, fanatical vacuuming, or digging up the garden.

Do not drink coffee (and certainly not energy drinks) for at least four hours before bedtime and stop using all screens (mobile phone, tablet, TV) in good time. Rather relax in an infrared sauna, possibly in combination with a good book.