Most of us can probably agree that there is something incredibly soothing, relaxing, and downright healing about basking in the sun on a nice warm, sunny day. And as it turns out, part of what makes soaking up some sunshine so pleasant, is that the sun delivers healthy warm rays of energy known as infrared energy. This infrared energy penetrates into our bodies and gives us a little boost.
Today we’re going to dive into exactly what infrared energy is, what it does within our bodies, how it can supercharge your health, and most importantly – how you can best harness this infrared energy to elevate your health from the inside out.
What Is Infrared?
Infrared waves, or infrared light, is a type of energetic wavelength that makes up a small portion of what’s called the electromagnetic spectrum. The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of radiation frequencies that emit wavelengths of energy. These radiation frequencies range from the visible light that comes from a lamp to the radio waves that come through your radio station and from the wavelengths that warm up your food in the microwave to the penetrating energy used to create X-ray images.
Infrared radiation is just a small segment of this electromagnetic spectrum that isn’t visible to the human eye. But just because we can’t see it doesn’t mean we can’t sense it. This infrared energy is felt as heat. But these energetic wavelengths do a whole lot more than simply warm us up – they can also have some significant impacts on our health.1
Let’s zoom in on the different types of infrared radiation and how they interact with our bodies.
How Many Types of Infrared Are There? Far Infrared Vs. Near Infrared
Infrared light has three different levels or types based on wave size, frequency, and the amount of energy they carry:
- Near-infrared: Near-infrared has the shortest wavelength and falls on the far end of the spectrum closest to visible light. Near-infrared is able to penetrate and deliver energy into the cells in your skin's outer epidermis layer.
- Mid-infrared: This mid-level wavelength is able to penetrate beyond your skin and into the soft tissues of your body.
- Far infrared: This is the longest wavelength on the spectrum – meaning it lives farthest away from visible light on the infrared spectrum. Far-infrared is able to penetrate deep into all tissues of your body where it’s absorbed at the cellular level by water molecules.
This ability to penetrate into your body and transfer healing energy is what allows infrared rays to stimulate a whole slew of health-boosting effects. Let’s take a peek at how this infrared energy impacts our bodies.
How Exactly Does Infrared Work In the Body?
When infrared is harnessed and those pinpoint-size rays are directed into your body, the energy is absorbed by your cells and tissues – stimulating a cascade of healing effects such as:
- Increased core body temperature: Infrared energy is able to warm your body from the inside out, heating up your core body temperature.
- Energy amplification: The influx of infrared energy stimulates energy production within your cells – supercharging cellular functions and accelerating the healing process.
- Cellular restoration: Infrared energy alters and neutralizes a range of reactive oxygen species (ROS) – a class of highly reactive compounds that if left unchecked, can cause damage at the cellular level. By neutralizing and rebalancing ROS levels, infrared energy amplifies cellular healing and repair while helping to restore cellular function to optimal levels.
- Enhanced circulation: Infrared energy triggers the release of nitric oxide (NO), a potent signaling molecule that helps dilate your blood vessels and boost blood circulation – maximizing the delivery of oxygen, healing nutrients, and anti-inflammatory compounds that enhance cellular regeneration and function.
- Inflammation mitigation: As infrared energy penetrates your tissues, it sparks a combination of chemical and cellular reactions that spikes pro-healing mediators and halts the inflammatory process in its track – drastically diminishing overall inflammation levels.
The energy delivered by infrared is like a little nudge that stimulates your cells. And this little nudge creates a combination of effects that translates into some pretty impressive health benefits.
Benefits of Infrared Light
Some of the most potent health benefits associated with exposure to infrared energy includes:2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10
- Improved heart health: Infrared serves as a sort of passive cardio workout, which helps your heart by improving circulation and even helping to lower both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
- Better muscle recovery: By increasing circulation and mitigating inflammation, infrared energy allows more oxygen to be delivered to your muscle cells while more effectively removing waste products – allowing your muscles to recover faster and perform better.
- Weight loss: Infrared energy can jumpstart a sluggish metabolism and create a passive workout – burning calories and improving fat burning.
- Enhanced detoxification: Infrared energy increases your body's core temperature – promoting an effortless, deep, and productive sweat. This increase in sweat allows your body to mobilize and release toxins that are then excreted through your sweat glands.
- Anti-aging: When infrared energy penetrates your skin, it boosts circulation while triggering your body to ramp up the production of collagen and elastin – two important fibers that work together to give skin its supple, youthful appearance. Amplifying these effects can leave skin feeling rejuvenated and revitalized – serving as a “fountain of youth” and giving you a healthy glow.
- Deep relaxation: The therapeutic heat delivered by infrared energy lulls your body into a deep state of relaxation – banishing stress and leaving you feeling physically restored and mentally refreshed.
- Increased immunity: The combined effects of infrared energy help support and enhance your immune system – allowing you to better ward off harmful pathogens and recover from illness.
- Improved sleep: The deep relaxation and healing effects induced by infrared energy can help support a healthy circadian rhythm – helping you more easily slip into a deep, restful slumber.
With all of these impressive health benefits, you’re probably curious how you can best tap into the power of infrared energy. The best way to experience the healing and restorative power of infrared energy is through the use of an advanced infrared technology known as infrared sauna therapy.
What Is Infrared Sauna Therapy?
In simplest terms, infrared sauna therapy uses a confined space to contain infrared energy and direct it into your body. Infrared saunas are similar to traditional saunas, but rather than relying on humidity to heat up the space around you, infrared saunas warm up your body directly by emitting infrared light wavelengths that are immediately absorbed by your cells. Infrared saunas deliver heat directly to the source (your cells) – making the sauna experience more pleasant and more productive.
But when it comes to infrared sauna therapy, not all saunas are created equally.
What Is the Best Infrared Sauna? What to Look for When Buying an Infrared Sauna
If you really want to tap into the healing power of infrared, the quality of the infrared sauna you use matters – a lot. Some of the key points to look for in an infrared sauna include:
- Optimal infrared levels: Creating each infrared wavelength (near, mid, and far) requires different conditions and a lot of advanced math – meaning it’s impossible to deliver all 3 through a single source. To truly tap into the health benefits of infrared, you want a sauna that can deliver peak wavelengths of each level of infrared, at optimal levels, and with the right combination to stimulate healing.
- Peak emissivity: Emissivity is the ability of a material to absorb and release energy in the form of infrared energy. To stimulate health benefits, saunas need a source to emit high concentrations of peak infrared waves – not just heat. So you want to be using an infrared sauna that has been tested for optimal emissivity (the higher the percentage the better).
- Safety: When you’re dealing with any equipment that requires electricity and generates heat, you want to be sure all materials are crafted with the utmost care and with safety in mind. Ideally, infrared saunas should have carefully coated layers of wire for protection, have heaters covered with a safe non-flammable material, and have strict oversight from manufacturing to delivery to ensure the highest safety standards are met.
- Non-toxic materials: When heated, many materials can emit a cocktail of toxic chemicals that can contribute to your overall toxic burden. Lower-quality infrared saunas may use toxin-laden materials to cover their heaters. So it’s important to look for saunas that only utilize non-toxic fabric as a protective covering for heaters.
- Customizable programming: You and your health goals are unique – meaning there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to infrared sauna therapy. Different wavelengths and combinations can be adjusted to optimize anything from detoxification to muscle recovery, and from weight loss to anti-aging – and everything in between. Look for saunas that have a variety of customizable settings to ensure you’re getting the most bang for your buck with each session.
So, to answer the question, “what is the best infrared sauna”, you simply can’t go wrong with Sunlighten Saunas. Not only do they meet (and exceed) all of the above requirements, but their saunas have clinically-proven effective health benefits.
Sunlighten Sauna: What Makes Sunlighten Infrared Saunas Special?
What exactly makes Sunlighten Saunas so superior? For one, they specialize in home saunas – meaning they craft high-quality saunas to be installed within your own house. That means you have access to the healing power of infrared sauna therapy in the privacy of your own home – simply step inside, push a button, and enter your own mini wellness retreat.
But they don’t simply offer any old infrared sauna set-up, they offer world-class technology. Just take a peek at what Sunlighten has to offer:
- 4 sauna collections: Sunlighten has 4 unique saunas to choose from, each with its own different light combination and varying levels of functionality and aesthetics which include:
- The Solo System: This one-person sauna surrounds you with highly effective far-infrared treatment in a portable, sleek, and lightweight single-person design – allowing you to create your own, on-the-go mini sanctuary at an affordable price.
- The Signature Far Infrared Sauna: The Signature line of saunas delivers far infrared in a beautifully constructed, wood-paneled cabin – creating your very own wellness oasis at the push of a button.
- The Amplify Full Spectrum Sauna: This full-spectrum sauna (near, mid, and far infrared) offers the hottest, most intense sauna experience for those who like a cabin sauna with a little extra heat.
- The mPulse Smart Sauna: The mPulse takes 3 in 1 infrared therapy (near, mid, and far infrared) at optimal wavelengths and blends it with red light therapy – amplifying the healing benefits of this sauna and creating a more natural, relaxing kind of heat.
- Superior full-spectrum heating technology: All of Sunlighten’s saunas utilize their patented SoloCarbon heating technology that emits far infrared at the optimal wavelength – delivering the highest quantity and quality of infrared available.
- Personalized settings: All of Sunlighten’s saunas have programmed settings – with each program directing the heaters to emit precise combinations of near, mid, and far wavelengths using 54 data points from 30+ clinical studies on how infrared interacts with the body. From weight loss to muscle recovery and from skin rejuvenation to better sleep, Sunlighten’s patented infrared technology can help restore your body and your mind.
- Premier craftsmanship: Each of Sunlighten’s cabin-style saunas feature 100% solid wood with tongue-in-groove boards magnetically sealed together – resulting in a functional and beautiful overall design.
- Unmatched safety standards: Sunlighten goes above and beyond to ensure each of their saunas meets the highest safety standards. They oversee every step of the process from design to manufacture to delivery; use only eco-friendly, non-toxic wood; and utilize third-party verified low VOC and low EMF heating technology.
- Clinically proven health benefits: Sunlighten Saunas don't simply claim to be the best, they have the proof to back it up. Click here to visit their website and explore the science behind their innovative technology.
I personally love and trust Sunlighten Sauna's remarkable infrared technology. And I regularly recommend their products to patients because I know Sunlighten can deliver on their promises of the healing power of infrared. Click here to learn more about Sunlighten and check out their line-up of infrared saunas.
Ready to Experience the Healing Power of Infrared for Yourself?
Infrared sauna therapy can be a powerful tool in your tool belt. Whether you’re in the process of healing an underlying condition, grappling with ongoing, unexplained symptoms, or simply looking to take your health to the next level, infrared sauna therapy can give you an edge on achieving your goals and supercharging your well-being. And when it comes to your health and well-being, you deserve nothing less than the best.
Which is why I so strongly recommend Sunlighten Saunas – their technology is simply superior to other infrared saunas. In fact, I love Sunlighten Saunas so much and believe in their technology so strongly, that I’ve partnered with Sunlighten to bring you – my patients and readers – an exclusive deal to save up to $600 on your Sunlighten purchase.
While purchasing a sauna is indeed an investment in dollars, it’s also a major investment in your health. And with regular use of the powerful technology you’ll find in Sunlighten’s Saunas, you truly can transform your well-being from the inside out. Click here to learn more about Sunlighten Saunas and snag your special sauna discount today!
Resources:
- Far infrared radiation (FIR): its biological effects and medical applications – PMC (nih.gov)
- The blood pressure and heart rate during sauna bath correspond to cardiac responses during submaximal dynamic exercise – PubMed (nih.gov)
- Auburn Flexibility Study with mPulse.pdf (kc-usercontent.com)
- Raising body temperature relieves depression symptoms, small study finds (medicalxpress.com)
- The effect of repetitive mild hyperthermia on body temperature, the autonomic nervous system, and innate and adaptive immunity – PubMed (nih.gov)
- Effects of far-infrared sauna bathing on recovery from strength and endurance training sessions in men – PMC (nih.gov)
- Fever and the thermal regulation of immunity: the immune system feels the heat – PMC (nih.gov)
- Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead, and Mercury in Sweat: A Systematic Review – PMC (nih.gov)
- The effect of physical exercise on endothelial function – PubMed (nih.gov)
- Effect of a Single Finnish Sauna Session on White Blood Cell Profile and Cortisol Levels in Athletes and Non-Athletes – PMC (nih.gov)
8 Comments
Please note that some of the studies you cited apply to Finnish saunas (the types with heaters with stones), and that the health benefits from these studies applies only to traditional saunas and not infrared enclosures.
Also, the only weight loss you’ll do in a sauna is water weight. To do so in an attempt to lose weight long term can result in serious, and sometimes even deadly, dehydration, and is never a good idea.
For those that don’t have room for sunlighten, I have had amazing success with my sauna space. It’s nontoxic and I think mostly near infrared. it fits in our home easily and my labs and energy have improved a lot. I think the red light is very effective for me personally…. I get a little claustro without a window but otherwise I do really recommend.
Dr Jill You should know that sunlighten has such aggressive selling policies that I felt like they were hounding me to buy when I was at my sickest. Calling daily from different numbers when I repeatedly asked them to stop. A year later I looked into it again and they said “we’ve changed our selling policies” but the whole thing happened again. As a result I am very suspicious of their company. Dr Jill, I am an avid follower of yours and appreciate the work you do very much. However you should know this reads like an advertisement and maybe you could comment on even one of the cons of sunlighten and mention other saunas on the market. I’ve also heard that there are other decent ones beyond sauna space as well.
Hello, I appreciate all the valuable info that I have received form you over the years!
I almost purchased from SunLighten this past year and would have if I was looking into a full walk in sauna but I was comparing their solo system to other more affordable options. I ended up getting a Therasage sauna due to the materials in the Sunlighten Solo system.
Even though I saw it recommended by so many trusted Health leaders, I wanted to be sure that the materials used in the solo was safe. I was surprised by my interactions with a couple different representatives. I was told different things about materials.
I was told 1st that, “The pads are made out of bamboo carbon which is completely toxic-free. Please let me know where you were seeing memory foam! We would never use toxic materials in our saunas!” Then after directing the rep wher it is listed, I had phone call with another rep who was rude, prideful and dismissive. After gong back and forth in email, the rep avoiding clarification that it is indeed made of memory foam, in the end was told: “It is memory foam on the inside and covered/heat-sealed with bamboo carbon.” I asked, “Is the Sunlighten company saying that this memory foam used in their product is nontoxic and does not off-gas?” He said “Yes”.
I was met with kindness until I asked questions they maybe they didn’t want to answer, I don’t know, b/c after I brought up foam the service was horrible. I am only relaying this to you b/c I see so many ppl recommending the solo and wonder if this detail of memory foam is or is not an issue for you? It just seems counter productive to lay on something toxic as one is detoxing.
Thank you for your time 🙂
Deanna
Thank you for your comments, Deanna! I am curious to know more and will do some research
Curious – if these kinds of saunas are good for MCAS. Generally my neuropathy always feels better when I’m in a hot bathtub, but I no longer have a bathtub! Looking for more warmth in general.
Hello. I so appreciate all your recommendations. I was recently diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease, lichen planopilaris. I have a Sunlighten sauna, but am worried the high heat will just aggravate my already “burning” scalp and supercharge my immune system, when I want it to calm down instead. I would love to know your thoughts on this concern.
I would recommend starting slowly and working up in time and temperatures and monitoring response. Many people feel well and it enhances detox when you can slowly work up as tolerated in dose of the sauna. It is possible to trigger symptoms in heat-intolerant patients but often if you start at 100 degrees for 5min, you can slowly work up in time.
Dr. Jill, please do an article on those who have difficulty detoxing in general due to the MTHFR mutation.
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