Why Sauna and Ice Baths Should Be In Your Routine

Welcome to The Chemist Couple podcast! In this episode, we explore the science-backed benefits of sauna therapy and cold water immersion (ice baths), two powerful wellness practices that can improve cardiovascular health, enhance muscle recovery, and promote overall longevity.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

• How sauna therapy can help with cardiovascular disease prevention, increase growth hormone and reduce all-cause mortality.
• The benefits of cold water immersion (ice baths): how cold exposure helps reduce muscle inflammation, stimulates brown fat thermogenesis, boost recovery, and increase mental toughness.
• Practical tips for safely incorporating sauna and ice baths into your routine for maximum health benefits.

This is a must-listen for anyone interested in improving their health with scientifically backed sauna therapy and cold exposure.

🔔 Subscribe now for more expert tips on health trends, wellness, nutrition, and mindfulness!

If you would like to go to a particular section, please click on the time stamp below:

 

00:00 - Introduction

01:06 - Sauna benefits relating to cardiovascular disease

05:27 - How many times to sauna and at what temperature?

06:38 - Disclaimer

06:55 - Who should seek advice before using a sauna?

08:50- Sauna effects of growth hormone

09:32 - Hormesis in a healthy routine

10:18 - Heat shock protein

11:20 - Hormesis continued

12:20- Why we are including sauna into our routine

15:55 - Cold therapy origin 

18:00 - Cold therapy in recovery

20:10 - What is Brown fat?

21:56 - Can we manipulate the amount of brown fat?

25:35 - What temperature should we cold plunge and for how long?

27:35 - Why have we limited studies on cold therapy?

29:50 - Mental health benefits with cold therapy

32:10 - General thoughts on hot and cold therapy

37:10 - Who shouldn’t do cold therapy?

37:58 - Final thoughts and our future routine

 

Sign up to our newsletter and stay up to date with how we personally apply the science to enhance our lifestyle:

https://mailchi.mp/c15c44eee6a0/thechemistcouplepodcast

You can also watch this podcast episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAf1zFQF4_dyVG4z8DD0_3Q 

As always, this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be used in substitute to seeing a healthcare professional. Any questions, please reach out to us and thanks for listening!

Here is a list of the sources that we used to make this podcast:

Hot therapy:

• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7908414/ - Sauna CV benefits in high stress jobs
• https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(18)30275-1/fulltext - Sauna health benefits
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0531556521002916 - sauna effects on health span
• https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2130724 - sauna on all cause mortality

Cold therapy:

• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9896520/ - Cold therapy benefits for recovery & exercise performance
• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8561167/#abs0010 - Altered brown fat thermogenesis
• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9518606/ - Voluntary cold immersion health benefits
• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5285720/ - Cold therapy effect on recovery from resistance exercise
• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9953392#:~:text=Our%20findings%20showed%20that%20participants,emotion%2C%20and%20self%2Dregulation - Cold therapy effect on emotional response

Guyton & Hall Medical Physiology 14th edition- general physiology overview

Rang & Dale’s Pharmacology 10th edition - general pharmacological overview