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Page 12 | Abby's Magazine | instagram.com/abbyshealthfood One of the main reasons people buy different saunas, is because they promote detoxification. And yet, many people don't really know how to conceive detoxification or how to optimize it. We will explain how you can maximize your detoxification processes by three simple steps. Consider these three steps the most important in maximizing detoxification during a sauna session, even though alternative methods do exist that I deem less important. Before digging into these steps though, I first want to say something about the human body's ability to detoxify through the skin. Remember that infrared saunas increase sweating, and sweating is one of the main alleged mechanisms for detox - I'll explore that concept first: Detoxification Through The Skin 101: How You Detox Using An Infrared Sauna If you read many authoritative online newspapers, you'll get away with the impression that detoxification is a fully automatized process that you cannot influence in any way. The Wall Street Journal claims, for instance, that while infrared saunas are a great source of stress relief, it's a myth that somehow detoxification through the skin increases with a sauna session. Next up, National Geographic states that humans don't eliminate toxins through the skin in any major way. While the article does suggest that eliminating toxins through the skin happens, the quantities are "so low that they're essentially meaningless". Other thoroughly grounded scientific opinions exist though: A systematic review from 2012 - which integrates many individual studies in medicine - concludes that the human skin is certainly a major contributor to the detoxification process. What's more, for some types of toxins such as heavy metals, the skin is the primary detoxification means. Many other toxins might be preferably excreted through a combination of many different organs such as the liver, kidneys, digestive system, and more, but that's not true for all of them. Therefore, the statements of the Wall Street Journal and National Geographic are incorrect at the very least. The reason for this incorrect conclusion is probably because the writers of these articles aren't immersed in the scientific research on sweating physiology, sauna studies, and other topics on a daily basis. And many of these toxins can have huge effects on your health, especially with chronic exposure. Mercury, cadmium, lead, and arsenic affect everything ranging from brain function, metabolism, hormonal function, basic energy production, organ health, and much more. Heavy metals and other toxins matter to your health. Having higher levels of these heavy metals in your body translates into a higher risk for conditions such as Alzheimer's, heart and blood vessel problems, diabetes, autoimmune disease, different types of cancers, and more. If you and I thus assume that sweating does increase the detoxification rate and that sweating is positively a primary detoxification pathway for at least some toxins, then a sauna protocol to maximize this process is highly recommended. Therefore, let me introduce the first step of this sauna detox protocol to you: Sauna Detox Protocol Step 1: Preferably Exercise Before Your Sauna Session Exercise affects what is called the "lymphatic system". So before talking directly about exercise I'll take a detour and consider the topic of the lymphatic system. Many people have heard about that lymphatic system, but few know about its actual purpose. The lymphatic system plays a role in the circulatory system of your body, your immune system, metabolism, and also detoxification. One of the primary components of the lymphatic system is the lymphatic fluid, which helps carry immune cells throughout the body. Waste products from cells are in part removed by the lymphatic system. This happens after the circulatory blood system has delivered nutrients and other compounds to the cells through the tiniest of blood vessels: capillaries. And although the topic isn't completely understood scientifically yet, exercise does seem to improve the lymphatic system's overall efficiency. Slow cardio exercise, for instance, increases the flow in the lymphatic system by 2-3-fold compared to if you're idle. The reason exercise, or just plain movement, is so important for the lymphatic system is because the system doesn't have a pump like the heart for your blood circulation system. The solution? When your infrared sauna is warming up, perform 20-30 minutes of exercise or movement. If you cannot handle (intense) exercise, then just walking or working in your garden are already excellent options. Again, even slow cardio already improves lymphatic function massively so doing something is more important than reaching perfection. Of course, if you're in good shape, you can push yourself quite hard. Do keep in mind though that exercise before your infrared sauna session places more stress on your body, so only combined the two when you've adequately recovered. If not, then a relaxing gentle walk or bike ride does wonder. Moving on to the next infrared sauna detox protocol step: Protocol SAUNA DETOX 3 Simple Steps For Maximal Detox Effectiveness