THIS is What Happens to Your Body in an Infrared Sauna

If you've been doing everything right, eating clean, exercising, but somehow you're still not feeling your best, your energy's dragging, your memory is slipping, and it's frustrating because you know there's more to your potential. Well, what if the issue isn't just in your routine, but it's deep down inside your cells? You know, you're investing in the best supplements, working out regularly, and sticking to a clean diet. But if your cells are stuck in what's called cell danger response, all the hard work might not be paying off as it should. Think of your cells like a house under renovation. You can bring in the highest quality materials like the best supplements and clean foods. But if the workers inside the house are on lockdown because of a storm, nothing gets done. The materials just pile up unused. That's what happens when your cells are in CDR. They can't fully use the good stuff you're giving them. Getting out of CDR, the cell danger response, is the key to unlocking your body's full potential. When your cells are no longer in protective mode, they can finally use the nutrients, hormones, and energy you're working so hard to provide. That's when everything starts to click. Your energy improves, your workouts become more efficient, and you start to feel like yourself again. Go to beyondbloodwork.com to learn how to break free from cell danger response and make the effort pay off. Everyone, welcome to the Dr. Josh Axe Show. I am your host, Dr. Axe. And each and every week on this show, we explore the science and principles and how to grow in body, mind, spirit, and take your health and your life to the next level. On today's episode, I'm going to be talking about saunas and infrared saunas, and I think I'm going to blow your mind with the benefits and the studies and exactly how you should sauna and how you shouldn't here in the future. And by the way, before I jump into this content, though, make sure to subscribe to the channel and hit the notification bell so you don't miss a single thing. So saunas have been used for thousands of years in areas such as Greenland, Newfoundland, Scotland, and they had structures where steam came forth and sometimes they were referred to as fire bathing. And we also saw in Asia, specifically Korea in the 1500s and 1600s, that it was very popular then. We even know back during the times of Rome that they would do steam rooms followed by cold plunges. They would do that contrast therapy of hot water and cold water together in order to heal, optimize health, and as a form of relaxation. However, the country that has most embraced using saunas, which is where we get our sauna therapy today in the Western world, including America, is from Finland. And since 1957, uh, sauna therapy has been used to prevent the flu. In fact, the Finnish troops during World War II used regular sauna bathing to prevent the spread of typhus fever. And since then, a vast number of studies have confirmed the healing benefits of sauna, including fighting infections. And I want to walk through here— actually, some of this I'm— I've summarized a fantastic article by a friend of mine, Dr. James D. Nicolantonio. I've had him on the podcast prior, and as I was doing some research, I came across some writings he's done, uh, on, uh, on saunas being able to fight infection specifically. And he references one study that divided 50 patients into two groups. One received regular sauna sessions over several months while the other did not. So here's the results: the sauna group saw their incidence of the common cold cut in half. Additionally, people who use saunas for at least 4 times per week have about half the risk of developing pneumonia or upper respiratory infections. So I want to walk through how saunas specifically fight infections, and it has to do with raising your body core temperature, which mimics a fever. Sauna therapy helps our bodies combat infection through the power of heat, and it's not recommended to sauna once you already have a fever. But if you're— if you know you're sick, raising your temperature can help kill off viruses. In fact, your body starts producing something called interferon, which actually helps kill the virus. And sauna therapy induces something we call hyperthermia today, which, by the way, in Europe is often used as a form of cancer treatment. Now, this hyperthermia is a form of something called heat shock therapy, and this short-term stress on the body enhances resilience to other stressors. This is a form of something called hormesis. It's why cold plunge works, or doing infrared sauna work, is you have your body get in a stressful cold or stressful hot environment more than what it's used to, and then your immune system kicks in in order to strengthen itself in the future. Now, we now understand part of the reason saunas work is your body starts creating something called heat shock proteins, which prevent protein degeneration from heat stress and stimulate both our innate and our adaptive immune systems. And these heat shock proteins are very effective at helping strengthen your body at fighting viruses. These heat shock proteins also stimulate the release of nitric oxide, which then can inhibit the replication of viruses like SARS or the SARS virus. So we see this with sauna therapy. I do want to mention that this happens in even greater degree in infrared saunas over traditional saunas. And really all it takes is about a 15-minute session to boost your body's white blood cells, including lymphocytes, neutrophils, basophils, in order to help fight infections. And these have antiviral properties when a compound called interferon is released in your system. And it really takes just doing an infrared sauna or sauna 3 times a week to fight viral infections. And so here's the reality: whether you're doing a regular sauna or infrared sauna, there are major immune-boosting benefits of those conditions due to the interferon being released, due to the nitric oxide being released, and due to the enhancement of your white blood cells. Now, I want to walk you through in today's episode more in depth on infrared sauna in particular and the many benefits according to the medical studies and how should be sauna, how often, what temperature, and a whole lot more. But an infrared sauna is a type of sauna that uses light therapy to create the heat. This type of sauna is sometimes called, again, infrared, where far describes the infrared waves, where they fall on what we call the light spectrum. And an infrared sauna heats your body directly without warming the air around you as much. And so you'll notice this when we're talking about infrared sauna versus a regular sauna, Infrared saunas don't get as hot because they heat your body more directly and less the air around you. Now, what's great about infrared saunas is their light penetrates the skin and deep into the underlying tissues as much as 1.5 to even 2 inches. Now, if you hold up 2 inches and you think about how deep that's getting into your body, that is extremely deep, especially if you have right th— light therapy up very close to your body or that heat. And also there is a tissue impact that increases blood flow, promotes cellular repair, and reduces inflammation. So there are lots of benefits of the heat combined with the infrared light when it penetrates your skin. Now there tends to be 3 different types of infrared lights, what we call near-infrared light, mid-infrared, and far-infrared. The near-infrared is the type of light that penetrates your body the deepest, that 1.5 inches, and some very, very strong units up to 2 inches. And this is beneficial for promoting the healing of wounds, collagen production in your skin, and improving skin elasticity. You'll see this where, uh, people will get face masks. A lot of women will do this today to actually help increase their collagen production. They'll get these infrared light masks because, again, it increases skin elasticity and collagen production. Those mid-infrared lights are good for circulation and aids in detoxification, where the far infrared lights, they don't get as deep. They're more beneficial for stress reduction, relaxation, and those areas, uh, in particular just supporting the general health of your body. Here's the other difference between infrared and traditional saunas. An infrared sauna typically operates around lower temperatures of 120 to 140 degrees, whereas these other saunas typically operate 150 to even 200 degrees at much higher temperatures. And what manufacturers claim is that, and with an infrared sauna, only about 20% of the heat goes to heat the air, but the other 80% goes to directly heat up your body. And some of the biggest benefits of using an infrared sauna include: one is detoxification. Sweating in an infrared sauna may help eliminate toxins from your body. Uh, number two would be improved circulation. The heat itself causes blood vessels to dilate, which improves blood flow and oxygen throughout your body. Also, pain relief. Infrared saunas can help reduce chronic pain and muscle soreness, promoting relaxation and reducing inflammation. It's been shown to enhance skin health, including skin tone, texture, and elasticity. May even help conditions like acne and eczema. Stress reduction and relaxation. Cardiovascular health due to the dilation of blood vessels and even sometimes lowering blood pressure without the risk of heart disease. So infrared saunas are good for— they can be good for weight loss by speeding up your metabolism, improving your immune function, as we mentioned earlier, with fighting infections and even muscle recovery with using infrared saunas. I also believe there's some great health for your cells and your mitochondria. Infrared light supports mitochondrial function in cellular repair. Also can be great for improving sleep, joint pain relief, and much more when we're talking about infrared saunas. Now, I want to talk about two things separately. I want to talk about how heat benefits your body, and then I want to talk about how light, red light specifically, benefits your body. When we're talking about heat, that's going to, again, promote that blood vessel dilation, improving circulation and oxygen to your body. It's also— heat is going to support detoxification. It's also going to support relaxation of your muscles. That's how heat will affect you. The infrared light specifically enhances healing via supporting mitochondrial function. You know, infrared light enhances ATP production, which supports energy. Uh, if you have low energy or fatigue, It's great for that. It's also good for cellular repair. In fact, infrared light promotes the, the creation of those heat shock proteins, which also reduces oxidative stress. And also infrared light has anti-inflammatory properties. I want to walk you through some of the most incredible studies now on how infrared saunas can benefit the body. The first thing I want to hit on has to do with longevity and heart health. A study published in the Journal of American Medical Association that was done on 2,315 men between the ages of 42 and 60 found that frequent sauna bathing was associated with a reduced risk of sudden cardiac, cardiac death, coronary heart disease, and all-cause mortality. And men who use the sauna 4 to 7 times per week had a 50% lower risk of fatal cardiovascular disease compared to those who did it once a week or less. And so we see here infrared saunas increase your lifespan and reduce your risk of heart issues. The second study is on blood pressure. This is a study done in the Journal of Human Hypertension, and they found that there was a, uh, 7 mmHg and a 3 mmHg reduction in that systolic and diastolic blood pressure. So we see that infrared saunas reduce your blood pressure. We see a decrease in pain. In fact, there was one amazing study that was published in the Journal of Pain Research and Management. I found that pain levels decreased by 40% in people that used an infrared sauna on a regular basis. We also see— this is an amazing study done on 1,621 men and women in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology— they found that those men and women that did infrared sauna the most had a 66% lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. It's incredible when we look at how just effective infrared saunas are at healing and supporting our life. Here's another study. Now, this one is done out of Finland. This was published in the Journal of American Medical Association. This was done over on over 2,000 middle-aged men in Finland. They found that this was a study done over 20 years, so a great long-term study, a lot of participants, very credible, credible medical journal here. They found that men who use the sauna 4 to 7 times per week had a 40% lower risk of all-cause mortality and a 50% lower risk of all-cause cardiovascular death, uh, compared to others. And so, I mean, this is amazing. I mean, we're talking about a 40% lower risk of death if you use an infrared sauna 4 days per week, according to a large-scale study over 20 years. Infrared saunas are probably one of the most powerful things you could ever do to increase your lifespan. Now, also, we see in studies that it's been shown to improve mitochondrial health. Um, studies have been shown that infrared light increases mitochondrial function by 30% and reduces oxidative stress markers by 25%, which supports cellular energy. So if you're a person who has a disease and you need to create new organs and when you need to regenerate your tissues, which is pretty much any condition, everything from leaky gut syndrome to autoimmune disease to chronic pain and inflammation, you want to regenerate your tissues. Well, studies have shown here that using an infrared sauna improves that mitochondrial function, that cellular energy, by 35%, and those stress markers by 25%. This also really important for improving your energy levels if you have fatigue. Infrared sauna is great for that. There's another study that found it was beneficial for weight loss. People over a 4 to 8 week period of time had a— lost about 2 to 4% more weight than other participants. In fact, they also had about a 5 to 10% reduction in body fat percentage and significant improvements in insulin sensitivity, showing it's not only good for weight loss but also for blood sugar and diabetes. Another study found infrared sauna to be great at helping recover from exercise. Another one showed it has anti-cancer benefits. In fact, this study, they looked at the far infrared therapy. It led to a 30% reduction in inflammatory markers and a 35% increase in antioxidant enzyme activity. This suggests potential anti-cancer benefits and the reduction of inflammation and oxidative stress. So we're seeing here amazing, amazing results here on the benefits of infrared light therapy and infrared sauna therapy. We mentioned earlier its ability to fight infections, and there are studies on thyroid health and Hashimoto's thyroiditis. In fact, the study found that patients who did infrared sauna regularly had improved thyroid function and reduced antibodies in those patients, even when they were taking thyroid medications like levothyroxine. The study noted a reduction in in TSH levels by approximately 10 to 15% and an improvement in free T3 and T4 levels by around 5 to 10%. This is incredible, incredible for people with hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's thyroiditis. This suggests that nearly everyone with hypothyroidism or Hashimoto's thyroiditis should be using an infrared sauna on a regular basis. Now, I want to share with you the best ways to use the infrared sauna and things you don't want to forget. First, when you're in a regular sauna or infrared sauna, you want to drink a lot of water and electrolytes. You want to make sure you're hydrated. What I typically do is I get about a 32-ounce, you know, thing of water. I will then add in one pack of electrolytes and I will drink that during my time in the sauna. And then I will also drink one after. Oftentimes if I do it, let's say a 30 to 40, 40-minute session, which is typically what I do. And so Stay hydrated before, during, and after. Drink way more fluids, at least 32 ounces more, along with some electrolytes. And also during the day, get more vegetables, get more fruits like celery and watermelon and those fruits and vegetables that have lots of electrolytes, and add a little bit more sea salt to your food as well. Number 2, be conscious of temperature. If you're just getting started, start around that 100 degrees to 120 degrees. And then work up to 100 and then up to eventually 150 degrees. If you're doing an infrared sauna, but first time, start lower and then work your way up over time. The length of time you want to be in typically at first is about 10 to 15 minutes. Then over time, work your way up to 20 to 30 minutes, even up to around 45 to 50 minutes or so when you're in the infrared sauna. Now, I've been doing this for years. I typically do infrared sauna just a couple of days a week. If I'm not feeling well or it's the winter, I'll do it more often. But I typically get in there anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes on a regular basis is what I tend to do. And again, I don't do every day. I do a couple of days a week. But in the winter— in the summer, sometimes I won't do it for a few days or even for a few weeks because I'm getting the sun. I'm out getting that, you know, some of that light therapy and the heat that way. But I tend to do it a lot more in the late fall, the winter, and early spring. Clothing choices you can wear, you know, I tend to wear— you can wear a bathing suit, you can go naked, you can wear shorts, but you tend to not wear— you know, you tend to wear less. Women tend to wear a sports bra in there or go naked as well. So you really don't typically wear much clothing in there. Now, I do want to mention this. If you have it outside or in the garage, your sauna, or it's a cold area, you want to wrap yourself up up right when you get out because you don't want a lot of cold, or especially if it's windy, any wind or anything blowing to enter your body. And I tend to shower right afterwards and just sort of wash the sweat off of after I do a sauna session. Now, when you're in the sauna, I want to recommend relaxing. Relaxing. One, doing nothing. You could also read, you can meditate, you can listen to music, you could be in there with a friend and visit. This is something I love to do with friends is just sit in there and talk and converse. I want to mention this. Do not go to sleep. You do not want to fall asleep in a sauna. That's not safe.

It's dangerous.

But again, everything else is good. Now, I bought a large sauna and our sauna is actually big enough to do some yoga in there or stretching. So when I'm in there, I tend to either pray, meditate, talk with a friend, just relax, or sometimes I'll do some stretching. While I'm in my sauna.

Okay.

And so sometimes I'll do that, just some moves in there and maybe even a light workout during that time in there as well. But again, most of the time I'm just in there relaxing. Once your session is over, as I mentioned, dry off, get cooled down, drink plenty of water, take a shower or bath. In terms of the number of sessions per week, I think if you're spending a lot of time outdoors getting sunlight, you don't need it as much. But in the fall, the winter, in the spring, when you're not getting much sun, I think is in particular when you want to be doing your sauna the most. I recommend typically at one, one day a week, but I think 3 days a week or every other day is sort of the ideal amount, um, of getting in the sauna. Now, if you're sick or not feeling well and you're just not outside much, it's miserable, then you could do the sauna every day. But I typically do it again about every day for myself, and that's what I recommend for most of my patients. But, you know, infrared saunas are powerful, as we talked about, that, that combination of the heat and the infrared light together helps heal your body at a cellular level. It's been shown to be effective at everything from fighting cancer to helping fight viruses to helping you, you know, with recovery from exercise to increasing your lifespan and longevity. So I want to encourage you, get an infrared sauna. There are a couple brands I've used over the years, um, you know, Clearlight's one, my favorite. What I personally have now is Sunlighten, and you can actually check out the, the website Sunlighten. They've got great ones. Again, they're probably two top brands that most people use, but right now the one I have at my house is Sunlighten, and I love it. I use it on a regular basis. Uh, but, um, but yeah, you know, and, and there are, there are, there's another company I know called Boncharge who does a lot with infrared light. And so I would say, um, Clearlight, Sunlighten for saunas, for the red light therapy. You know, Juve is a brand there, Da Vinci Medical, and Bon Charge. Those are all companies over the years that I know have some really, really great products that you may use. Right now I have an, uh, a Bon Charge infrared blanket. So that's the company Bon Charge. And I have an infrared, uh, light, um, uh, sauna, an infrared sauna from From, uh, Sunlighten, if you want to know what I personally have and what I've recommended over the years. But again, remember, stay hydrated. And, and this can be a great investment. I'll tell you, this is something Chelsea and I got for Christmas one year. We saved up, bought one, sort of a co-gift together. Uh, but again, just great, great health benefits as we've talked about. And hey, I'd love to hear from you. Do you have a sauna? Have you ever saunaed? Uh, what are the benefits that you've personally experienced from doing an infrared sauna? And hey, help me spread the word on the benefits Benefits of Saunas, please share this video and podcast, you know, on YouTube, on Instagram, on Facebook. Help me get the word out. Maybe text it to a friend, say, hey, you've got to listen to this episode. This show is continuing to grow, save more lives, help more people heal. I mean, think about this: if somebody learns about this podcast in this episode and they start infrared sauning, uh, using an infrared sauna, I mean, what it does for their heart health, for their longevity, It's an incredible service if people can learn how to heal using these natural approaches. So I just want to say thank you, all of you, for sharing this. Thanks, all of you, for liking, for commenting, and thanks, all of you that are subscribing. We got so many more great episodes coming out here of the show. Well, I want to say thanks so much for tuning in here to the Dr. Josh Axe Show. I will see you on the next episode. So I hope you enjoyed this episode on the benefits of using infrared saunas.

And I wanted to invite you into my home here in Nashville, Tennessee. I've got my good friend Dr. Christopher Motley here. And actually, Dr. Chris and I have enjoyed doing a sauna session in here together. It's a great thing to do with friends, family members. And, um, and so we're going to ask each other some questions. Dr. Chris, I got the first question here for you. What is your recommended infrared sauna protocol for the patients you work with?

I really And you and I both agree about bio-individuality, that each person is different. But normally with most patients that come in, I usually recommend a 40-minute session, maybe 4 to 5 days a week. Some people like to extend a full week, but I don't let them go too far because of its strength and power. But that's the normal rate that I usually use.

So yeah, yeah, that makes sense. And I think as Dr. Chris mentioned, you really need to listen to your body. When we have people start off, we typically have them start off with maybe 10 or 20 minutes and then work their way up to about that 40-minute mark. And starting off with, again, what your body can handle. I think about Chelsea after she gave birth. This is something she did just for 10 minutes at a time. So, she didn't want to get her body too hot, but she wanted to get some of the infrared heat to help her recovery getting more blood flow circulation. I think about a month after pregnancy, she started getting in to help her circulation. And so, again, again, really depends on your needs. I know a lot of people with hypothyroidism who need— or people have colder body temperatures, we try and get them in more early on to kind of continue to warm up, you know, warm up their bodies.

So we both know there are many, many benefits of using infrared sauna.

One of the things I know you and I both feel passionate about in teaching people about cellular medicine and longevity— how does infrared sauna use contribute to, you know, longevity and decreased mortality?

I think that the longevity question is really important to both of us. I love that you're talking more and more about cellular energy and how it's produced. I think that the importance of the infrared is how much it actually improves your detoxification. It helps with heart health, it helps with your sleep. It actually has been shown to help with your circadian rhythm, all of the things to actually improve the energy of the cell walls. And when you look at infrared research, it's showing that if it makes the cell walls healthier, then you'll actually assimilate all your nutrients better. And it's actually shown people have higher amounts of longevity, more years on their life through research.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

There's some great research out of Europe and other countries too showing longevity benefits. And so agreed, it's just incredible.

Okay, so I have a question for you. Yeah. How can red light therapy in addition to infrared help with your longevity and your cellular health?

Yeah, you know, there's some great research on infrared and near-infrared light. And one of the studies I was looking at recently was on mitochondrial health. And so increasing your mitochondria pretty dramatically in the studies. And so one of the things that I love about infrared light is that it, it can penetrate fairly deeply into your cells and tissues. And so what that's going to do as well is support ATP production by the cells. And we know that this is critical for anti-aging, it's critical for organ function, it's critical for adrenal health. But generally, again, one of the things I love about infrared is there's so much great research behind how it supports cellular health, mitochondrial health, and also supports circulation within the body to, to promote longevity.

I love that. Like, and with the red light therapy involved, we love to talk about nutrition as well. What's in addition to red light therapy? It does nutrition— does it take a big role in like the strength of the infrared that it makes it even more improved?

Yeah, you know, I think there's actually a pretty strong correlation.

I don't know that there are studies in this, but if you look at traditional Chinese medicine, some other other theories around, um, you know, eating certain foods and then promoting the circulation of those, uh, those compounds within your body. So one of the great things is— and, and we know this nutritionally— one of the things that people often do with an herb like turmeric is they will add black pepper to it. In fact, one of the oldest Ayurvedic, uh, recipes is for turmeric golden tea or turmeric golden milk. So they're blending coconut milk along with, uh, typically black pepper, ginger, and turmeric. And those warming spices help circulate the curcumin, which is in the turmeric, throughout the body.

Wow.

That's one of the great benefits of infrared light and infrared sauna is when you eat certain foods with beneficial compounds, it can help promote the circulation of those compounds and get them out to more cells, tissues, and organs, helping you heal. And so I really encourage people to get more really nutrient-dense foods, more berries, and also certain fruits like pomegranates and figs, kiwis. That have anti-inflammatory benefits, detoxifying benefits, but also a lot of those dark black, blue, purple colors as well of berries and the figs and pomegranates, which are going to help longevity. I also think getting some good omega-3 fatty acids via things like wild salmon, getting some collagen in, and then doing more vegetables. In addition to that, doing lots of herbs and spices, doing ginger, doing cinnamon, doing rosemary, doing turmeric, getting some of these anti-inflammatory compounds in our body and allowing the infrared heat to sort of penetrate, improve circulation, getting more of those nutrients and beneficial compounds out to our cells and tissues.

So there's such a huge correlation about how you can use your nutrition to actually enhance what we're doing here. Yeah. And when we're talking about like mitochondrial health with the red light, has there been in your experience and you've seen it with red light infrared, how much it improves energy production? I know we talked about nutrition, but does it overall help boost the energy production of the cells?

Yeah, you know, the, the group of patients I've probably recommended infrared to the most are people with thyroid conditions, whether it be Hashimoto's thyroiditis, hypothyroidism. And across the board, I've heard a lot of them say, this has helped my energy. I had a patient with Lyme disease recently, uh, as well. And so I've heard a lot of people saying this is helpful. And again, so many people have, have their body temperature that's, that's, it's, it's too low, and that's really impacting their body negatively. In fact, so many women, because they were on drugs like birth control or antibiotic drugs, that caused hypothyroidism. Wow. And so one of the greatest things they can do is warm up their body. Infrared light is incredible for that. But yeah, I absolutely believe the infrared light and heat has lots of energy benefits. In fact, my wife Chelsea, one of the— and one of the reasons has to do with sleep. You know, my wife had said that she notices the that she sleeps the best after getting infrared light. Now, whether that be an infrared light panel or an infrared light sauna, but she says she knows a really big difference in sleeping better and waking up feeling more refreshed. And so that's another critical part. So not only does the infrared light help support cellular energy production and ATP, but also indirectly by getting better sleep at night, you're also going to have better energy production as well and have more just, you know, generally more energy throughout the day.

I just love the effect of— the effect of how light wavelength that we can see and we can't see can affect every aspect of our body, you know. So you are the doc that has been known for all things nutrition, about gut health. Does the infrared affect your cravings? Does it have an effect on your cravings and your digestion?

Yeah, you know, well, one of the things that you're aware of because you've studied so much Chinese medicine is the importance of keeping your digestive system warm. That is talked about over and over and over again. There's a condition called spleen deficiency, which I know you're well aware of, which is basically if somebody is not absorbing nutrients well, if they also might have any sort of digestive imbalance, can be bloating, gas, loose stool, those sort of issues, that typically is correlated with that spleen qi deficiency. And, one of the things that all ancient medicine practitioners want you to do is warm up your digestive system. Well, this is one of the best ways to do it. Yes, is warming up your digestion, warming yourself internally, and supporting that system. And so, you know, as somebody who is focused a lot on helping people heal leaky gut syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease and a lot of these gut issues that are also related to the brain and other areas of the body, this is one of the top things I've recommended patients do because warming the system via infrared light has just numerous benefits for improving circulation, improving digestive health. And so absolutely, I think this is a great form of treatment, especially when combined with some of the dietary recommendations we mentioned earlier. Getting more collagen in via things like bone broth, doing more soups, doing more cooked vegetables, um, you know, is going to be tremendous for, you know, helping the body in that way.

Yeah, one of the, the greatest, um, uh, things that we both see, like, within spleen and stomach deficient— you mentioned comment in a podcast I listened to recently about the spleen deficiency in our culture. And you're talking about, you know, mindset and about how the spleen and stomach can be affected, and that using like infrared could actually help the stomach qi and the spleen qi and actually can help your mood as well. So that's awesome stuff.

Yeah, you know, and one of the things too, just for everybody, you know, watching and listening to this, is that, um, when we talk about spleen qi deficiency in Chinese medicine, uh, it's actually not just the spleen.

It's really—

they also couple the pancreas in there So it's really the health of— and really the health of your entire digestive system, specifically your upper GI, focusing on the stomach and pancreas primarily, with the spleen there as well, for, for, for anybody who, who is interested in knowing some of those, those facts there.

So we're getting red light, you're not only getting the sauna, you're getting like your, your, uh, Chinese medicine, you know, body healing at the same time. So this is great news and great information. So with the digestion piece I know that we're talking about how it can affect the actual warmth inside the body. Have you ever experienced with your patient— talk about thyroid— have they ever detoxed like infections and stuff while they've been in the infrared? Have you ever seen things like that?

Well, you know, I think that— listen, when I feel like I'm coming down with a cold or flu, yeah, the very first thing I do is go get— turn the sauna on and get in. I mean, I mean, really, it's one of the first things. Same thing if Chelsea Doesn't feel well. My mother-in-law was over here earlier. She's like, I'm starting to snuffle a little bit. I'm like, she, she, and she knows, she's like, I'm getting in the sauna. So it is the very first thing we do along with, and the other thing we'll do is we, we have these whole concoctions of supplements with apple cider vinegar and garlic and oregano oil and, and other things we take too here in the Axe household.

But, but it really is one of the first things we do.

We know that in order to, uh, kill infections, one of the things our own bodies do is it raises its temperature.

Right?

Our body starts creating, you know, beneficial compounds like interferon and other, you know, biochemicals that are going to then go and help kill the infection. But, you know, there's a, there's a doctor I know over in Europe, in Spain, and he'll treat numerous conditions, but especially viral infections and, um, and Lyme and a number of pathogenic infections with doing really, really, um, consistent infrared heat over time.

So I do think there's a lot of benefits for the immune system.

And in fact, there is a study showing that if you're doing infrared sauna regularly, your cold and flu time go down and your chance of getting it go down. So, there are scientific studies proving the benefits of infrared sauna for fighting infections. And what are your thoughts on that? Because I really think of you as one of the world's leading experts when it comes to how to treat different types of infections whether it'd be mold or parasitic or Lyme or viral. What do you see there?

I completely agree. The— when you go into the sauna, one of the things I was reading about infrared was how, like, infections— when a virus gets in your body, they say that that, or bacteria, literally creates like a magnetic, or basically a frequency-based bond with the tissue. And one of the benefits of infrared is that the wavelength literally goes in the body and will detach or interfere with that, quote, like, magnetic attachment of the infections into the tissue. So when you, you know, take your herbs, you're getting that chemical, biochemical, phytochemical response. But with infrared, you're actually also like literally chopping the connection. And I, I was reading this thinking like that I didn't know that infections could actually bind to you through like their own frequencies to your tissue, which is really interesting to me, like, because this is like a big frequency box, you know.

Yeah, yeah, it's amazing. And what's pretty— what's really powerful, if anyone has studied a these ancient practitioners, I mean, infrared therapy in a way goes all the way back to Hippocrates. And, here's what I mean is that what you're getting with some of these rays, these are some very similar rays that the sun gives off. And so, Hippocrates who's known for saying, "Let food be thy medicine," and also famous for saying, "All disease begins in the gut," he also, one of his top recommendations for his patients was sunbathing. So, if they were sick, not feeling well, he would have them lay in the sun for a long period of time. He didn't want them to get burnt but up into the point to where they would not get burnt and then he would essentially harness those healing rays from the sun, which is part of the benefits here of infrared sauna in that way. It's a similar medical philosophy.

Because you're affecting with infrared, you're not only affecting your structure, you're affecting your biochemistry, you're affecting your digestion, you're basically affecting your immune system too. So, that is a really interesting fact and point. So, when we're in here, you're covering all grounds with the body basically.

It is. It's pretty incredible how vast the benefits are of doing infrared sauna.

So, switching gears here, how would one person choose which model or what type to get for them?

One thing I always do is I do a lot of research when I buy saunas. And, I do this with everything. It's like Chelsea sometimes, my wife, is like, how many months are you going to research something before you buy it?

And this is with literally everything in my life. If I'm buying a pair of shoes, if I'm buying a bike or any—

a bicycle, anything, she's like, okay, just, you know, pull the trigger and buy something here. And she also criticized me for being just so picky, like Christmas gifts. People were like, do not get, you know, Josh, he's going to be—

so all that being said, I—

there's a few things I look for. One is the type of waves and how strong the waves are. And looking that it has far infrared, medium infrared, near infrared. So, making sure it has all of those different forms of infrared light. The other thing is I love cedar. I think there's additional benefits of the type of wood you're using. So again, a very high-level wood like you have in this Sunlight and Sauna. And so, I look for, again, the rays. And the reason why I chose Sunlight Clayton is that from what I looked at in the clinical research, I mean, they had some of the absolute best science behind using it, their infrared light. The other thing is they've been around for so many years. I don't know the exact, maybe 40, 50 years, a long, long time. In fact, my, you know, one of our mutual friends, Jordan Rubin, I went to visit him. This is probably 12 years ago in West Palm Beach, Florida. And he had one of these saunas and he said, I've had this for many, many years. And he gets it anytime him and his family aren't feeling well. So I had a trusted friend who had used it for many years. So I think, I think one, just reputation— the brand's been around so long. I think the actual just power, reading the science behind how much the strength and potency of— in the, the diversity of the different type of lights coming out here. And in terms of size and model, you know, uh, we have friends over, you know, I'll have you over, Chelsea, and I'll get in here together And so, being able to have multiple people in here. Now, one of the other things about this one is sometimes Chelsea and I like to work out even in the sauna. Now, when I say work out, I mean do a light, do stretching, do some maybe bodyweight exercises. And so, it's not an intense HIIT training, anything like that, but we do some stretching and some movement in here, yoga or yoga-like movements in terms of I'm trying to build core stability. So, so anyways, we wanted to get one big enough to sort of move in in that way. Yeah. However, I think some of the smaller ones can be better for if you're putting it inside your home, because if you need to save space. Yes.

You know, so, so, so that's a reason to get a smaller one.

Or if you think, okay, it's only going to be 1 or 2 people in here, maybe you get a 1-person model or a 2-person model. We opted for the big one because we may have at some point 4 people in here. And sort of maxing it out. And we like to do some forms of movement in here as well. But I think for most people, you know, they don't need to focus on doing anything but just sitting here absorbing the red light. Or if they want to do some light stretching, that can be beneficial as well. But that's, again, the biggest reasons why we chose this brand and model. Number one, Sunlight has an incredible reputation. I've had so many people that I respect as peers who are scientists, who are doctors, friends like Jordan Rubin who own the exact same sauna and have owned this for years. Again, the science behind these infrared, the power of these panels, and making sure that these are the top-end infrared light panels. Again, the wood, uh, grain, and then also looking at just, you know, and then within the brand Sunlighten, which size is right for you.

And they've got a lot of different models.

That's something else I think that's appealing for, for a lot of people.

So we're going to see that each person has something for them. And that's one thing that I noticed too, is like when you get into a sunlight sauna, I mean, really, you do feel the power. And it's, it's the diversity of the ability for different saunas to be able to do different things with different wavelengths, different colors. And you're gonna see like it'll heat up like that. I mean, it's, it's a little amazing because at one time Josh said, hey, why don't you go and use the sauna? And I was like, well, I'll press it on. And I mean, it was like hot in like a minute or two. And If anybody knows me, I'll just— I just sweat. I'll glisten right off the bat. So it is quality product. I love the cedar too.

So I'll tell you what, I did a video, a Q&A last year in the infrared sauna here. Yeah. And you and I did one together too.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's right.

So, so you and I also did a—

I think on Instagram or YouTube, but, but after we did that post, I had so many friends texting me, hey, what brand do I buy for a sauna? I mean, like my phone. Just kept going off of personal friends who were— it was getting around Christmas time, so everyone was looking at buying a sauna for their spouse or somebody for Christmas. And so, but yeah.

This is one of the products that you can buy for somebody and it's something that helps them feel good. It's healthy for them. They get pleasure from it. It's something that— and it's actually about self-care. So, I think you're covering all grounds. You're actually helping all parts of to the body and you're covering all grounds as a gift or for yourself, treat yourself.

You know, it's not like if you, you know, like, like there, there are some like no-nos in relate, you know, in, in marriage. It's like, you know, if you buy your spouse a treadmill or a piece of fitness equipment, you can get yourself in trouble.

Yeah, but you buy them an infrared sauna, you're—

it's pretty safe. It's pretty safe.

Oh, so that was advice to all the couples out there. I'm telling you, it's a good one.

I know I'm gonna get this question. Hey, what model are you in now?

And we are in the Impulse model. Impulse. And again, the reason we love this one is, is that it's, it's, it's large.

You can fit a lot of people in it.

It has all the bells and whistles. It's one of the highest-end models in terms of having very, very strong heat panels. And so this is one of the reasons why we, we chose this one is because we spend a lot of time and sometimes have, you know, more than several people in here at a time. And so we've loved this model. It's been great.

So, let's round it out. Okay. So, what if people out there are going to say it's too expensive or it's high price? What would you say to those individuals?

Well, I would say, one, hey, that's understandable, of course. I've had times in my life where I wasn't able to invest in certain types of therapies and supplements and health products. And so, do your best to do the things that are free like the sun. As I mentioned earlier, the sun is so powerful. You and I recorded a podcast recently talking about circadian rhythms. The sun helps reset your circadian rhythms. You are getting some of the benefits of that light there as well. So, that's what I would say is get outside as much as you possibly can. Go on walks outside. That's one of the greatest things that people can do as well in terms of if they can't afford an infrared sauna. What I'd say as well is also maybe plan for it in the future, maybe set up a budget and you start putting money away to where you can get it in several years from now and you start saving towards it. Because I think that there are so many benefits here. And, I love to be able to, again, if our family member, if somebody's not feeling well, we've had friends over there say, "I'm coming down with a cold or flu." We're like, "Hey, stop on over. Why don't you get in our sauna?" And inviting other people over so they can experience the benefits as well. But, I would say, again, if you're in that position, embrace the power of the sun as much as you possibly can. To get some of the, you know, the crossover and overlapping benefits. That's great, everybody. I hope you've enjoyed this Q&A with myself and Dr.

Chris Motley here.

Also, we want to say thank you to Sunlighten for sponsoring this episode. They have been amazing friends, amazing partners, and the reason we partner with them is because they're the best in the industry. And I've just— I'm such a fan of their science and what they've been doing for years with putting out the best infrared saunas out there. And Sunlighten is be so incredibly generous. They're offering up to $600 off their infrared saunas when you use the code AXE, that's A-X-E, when you're checking out of their store. So go to sunlighten.com, you know, pick your model, and then on checkout, make sure to put in the code AXE, A-X-E, for $600 off until the end of the month.

So again, hey, thanks so much for, for being part of this episode.

I hope you've enjoyed this Q&A, and thanks again to Dr. Christopher Motley here. We're probably going to shut the doors, get a good sauna session in here, get a sweat on, start boosting our immunity, detoxifying, supporting gut health, all the great things you can get with the power of infrared light and sauna use. So thanks so much everybody for, for watching.