Can sauna use improve your mood? | Jari Laukkanen
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People who have poor cardiorespiratory fitness are more likely to be depressed. Sauna improves cardiorespiratory fitness and may offer a means to ameliorate the symptoms of depression and improve mood. In this clip, Drs. Rhonda Patrick and Jari Laukkanen discuss the benefits of sauna use in terms of cardiorespiratory fitness and mood.
Rhonda: Something else that I find very interesting is the effect on mood. Actually, it's what got me interested in the sauna in the first place. So when I was in graduate school, I was very stressed out, you know, exams and failed experiments and lots of pressure, so I was using the sauna and it noticeably improved my mood and helped me deal with stress. It helped me deal with the anxiety I was experiencing. And there is a lot of, sort of, speculative reasons, I think, that's possible, but one is related to cardiorespiratory fitness. So there's actually been studies, one very recently done, published, in a very large sample of people, I believe it was like a million people, looking at cardiorespiratory fitness and depression. And the study found that people with poor cardiorespiratory fitness had a 75% increased chance of being...have been, you know, diagnosed with depression. So I'm sort of interested in...clearly the sauna is affecting, you know, cardiovascular health. And do you know, like, cardiovascular fitness would be, you know, one way to...a measurement of cardiovascular health. Have you ever looked at cardiorespiratory fitness?
Jari: Yeah, we have been measuring, also, cardiorespiratory fitness in our study also in this new study path we have measured, and we can see if there's association between the fitness, and sauna use, and these different parameters. Yeah, yeah.
Rhonda: So that's ongoing right now?
Jari: Yeah, ongoing in our population-based study, although we have adjusted for the level of fitness, yeah, there are also independent associates between the use of sauna and outcomes.
Rhonda: Oh, cool. So but you're saying, you know, in addition to people, obviously, that are physically active, you're adjusting for that, and they're trying to look just specifically at how the sauna may, in and of itself, affect cardiovascular fitness.
Jari: Yeah, itself.
Rhonda: That will be really great. I look forward to that. The other one which I won't get into too much detail because I don't want to talk so much, but it affects endorphins. So sauna releases endorphins. Endorphins make you feel better.
Jari: Feel better, yeah, yeah. It's relaxation, yeah, yeah. Also, in Finland, I think quite many use it for that purpose. They want some relaxation, you know, after working all day and so on. It's like a happy to end your day and go to sauna and after that you feel more relaxed.
Rhonda: Do you think that may also have to do with the improved longevity? Because stress is also linked to longevity, and so if it's something that's lowering stress and making you more relaxed, that seems like it goes hand-in-hand with longevity as well.
Jari: Yeah, it can be. There are studies showing the role of autonomic nervous system and cardiovascular diseases, how they are related together. And also in our study we want to explore how the sauna may have effect on heart rate and heart rate variability, which is one of the measures that can be used to assess the autonomic nervous system and its function.
A division of the peripheral nervous system that influences the function of internal organs. The autonomic nervous system regulates bodily functions that occur below the level of consciousness, such as heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, pupillary response, urination, and sexual arousal. It is the primary mechanism in control of the fight-or-flight response and the freeze-and-dissociate response.
A hormone produced in the brain that blocks the sensation of pain. Beta-endorphin is released in response to a wide range of painful stimuli and stressors, including heat.[1] Beta-endorphin exhibits morphine-like activity, but its effects are up to 33-times more potent than morphine.[2] Both morphine and beta-endorphin act on the μ-opioid receptor.
A mood disorder characterized by profound sadness, fatigue, altered sleep and appetite, as well as feelings of guilt or low self-worth. Depression is often accompanied by perturbations in metabolic, hormonal, and immune function. A critical element in the pathophysiology of depression is inflammation. As a result, elevated biomarkers of inflammation, including the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, are commonly observed in depressed people. Although selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and cognitive behavioral therapy typically form the first line of treatment for people who have depression, several non-pharmacological adjunct therapies have demonstrated effectiveness in modulating depressive symptoms, including exercise, dietary modification (especially interventions that capitalize on circadian rhythms), meditation, sauna use, and light therapy, among others.
An essential mineral present in many foods. Iron participates in many physiological functions and is a critical component of hemoglobin. Iron deficiency can cause anemia, fatigue, shortness of breath, and heart arrhythmias.
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