A home infrared sauna is backed up by medical research that has found a reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressure. These are two key factors that play an important role in maintaining a healthy heart. Some medical professionals recommend their patients use the best infrared sauna as part of a blood pressure therapy program.
Regular use of your home infrared sauna is good for cardiovascular health. Just in the United States, one in three adults suffers from heart disease, stroke or some other form of cardiovascular disease in their lifetime. If you have high blood pressure, it is important to control your blood pressure since you increase your risk of getting heart disease, kidney disease or serious stroke.
What Is Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)?
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is when blood produces excess pressure against the lining of blood vessels walls. This additional force usually increases from the heart working vigorously to bypass the battle of the blood vessels. When a person with hypertension uses an infrared sauna, it helps them to relax and to manage healthy blood circulation.
Normal blood pressure is 120 over 80 of mercury (mmHg), while someone with hypertension will have a pressure reading of 130 over 80 of mercury (mmHg). Living a stressful life, consuming lots of caffeine and nicotine, or anxiety can temporarily increase blood pressure, so numerous readings might be needed to form an accurate diagnosis.
What Causes Hypertension?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) has indicated various reasons for the swell in hypertension worldwide. Although better testing and reporting can justify a small percentage of the rise in incidents of hypertension, the World Health Organization has mainly pointed the finger at the processed foods industry, which usually consists of much higher salt and saturated fat content in their products.
Nowadays, people are suffering from a lack of exercise and it is harder to set time aside for passive relaxation. These two modern-day inabilities increase a person’s risk of developing hypertension.
Exercise and relaxation encourage a healthy flow of blood flow and the decrease of glucocorticoids and adrenaline, which are the two hormones that heighten heart rates, elevate blood pressure and cause an accumulation of LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol).
Here is a list of factors that can cause high blood pressure.
- Consuming foods that are high in sodium and saturated sodium.
- Blocked blood vessels because the deposition of fat can cause high blood pressure.
- Some pregnant women develop high blood pressure, particularly in the third trimester. High blood pressure in pregnant women should always be treated by a doctor. If high blood pressure is left untreated in pregnant women, it can lead to a seizure called eclampsia which can be fatal.
- If you have a genetic history of high blood pressure, then there is a possibility you can develop it as well.
- The older you are, the more likely you will develop high blood pressure. As we mature, the elasticity in our blood vessels reduces. This is an issue when high blood pressure is concerned.
- Till the age of 64, males are more susceptible to high blood pressure than women. However, after the age of 65, high blood pressure happens a lot more in women than in men.
- People with chronic kidney disease are vulnerable to high blood pressure. In this circumstance, if high pressure is left untreated, it can make chronic kidney disease even worse.
- Stress can cause high blood pressure.
- Pre-existing diabetes can cause high blood pressure.
- Excessive alcohol consumption.
- Smoking and tobacco use.
- Lack of physical activity.
Why Is High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) Bad For The Body?
The health menace of hypertension isn’t just in the fact that the blood pressure is high, but also in the complications that can occur from the condition, such as an elevated risk of heart disease, stroke, and early death.
Two of the top five causes of premature death in the United States and many parts of the developed world are heart disease and stroke. Therefore, it is crucial to manage your hypertension to live a long, healthy and happy life.
How Do Infrared Saunas Alleviate High Blood Pressure?
Decreasing your blood pressure isn’t something that is going to happen overnight, and it isn’t the easiest thing to do. The best ways to decrease your blood pressure and diminishing the effects of hypertension all consist of some form of prescribed medications and lifestyle changes.
For a lot of people, changing your lifestyle is the most difficult part of the treatment to start and maintain. Since it means that you have to change the way you live, which is not an easy task to do by any means.
Most people who eat processed foods do so since they do not have a lot of time to assemble a nutritious meal, which also means they probably have very little to no time to visit the gym or do some form of moderate exercise for 30 minutes each day, as recommended by most doctors.
So, how does a home infrared sauna help in lowering your blood pressure? Infrared saunas work to lower blood pressure and the risks linked with hypertension in many different ways, which are mentioned below:
Better Circulation
Medical professionals know all to well that poor circulation can lead to pain in the limbs, water retention, poor sleep, a decrease in mental alertness, and a reduction of oxygen to the organs.
Poor circulation can increase blood pressure, which can lead to even poorer circulation, worsening both conditions. Infrared saunas encourage healthy circulation by stimulating the body, boosting the heart rate, and dilating the blood vessels in the same way as moderate exercise does.
Relaxation
Since infrared saunas use radiant heat rather than the convection heat that traditional saunas use, you get a deeper sense of relaxation in an infrared sauna. Also, the gentle and penetrating heat in an infrared sauna allows users to spend more time inside the sauna relaxing since the heat is very tolerable.
As mentioned before, relaxation reduces stress hormones such as glucocorticoids, cortisol, and adrenaline, which, in turn, lowers hypertension. Even after you have finished your infrared sauna session, the blood pressure reducing effects are still working hours and also days after your session.
Lower Risk Of Heart Attack And Stroke
Regular use of an infrared sauna has proven to be an effective means to lower systolic blood pressure. This similar effect lowers pressure against the lining of the heart and arteries, which, in turn, reduces a person’s chances of experiencing a stroke or heart attack.
Since cardiac events are typical in men, it is worth mentioning that men who regularly use an infrared sauna lower their risks of experiencing a fatal heart attack.
