Sauna use can improve your longevity.
This might sound totally weird, but these are some great reasons to consider Sauna use. The longevity issue is hard to prove, but this is more a case of risk factor mitigation to prolong life. Some research was done on Finnish men, with a couple of studies published from the same data set which showed the following:-
you can reduce your risk of myocardial infarction if you sauna 2-3 /week by 27% , and 4-7/week by 50%.
Sauna use lowers all cause mortality by 24-40% (4-7/wk).
Sauna use is like a work out. It increases cardiac output and heart rate by up to 100bpm for moderate session, 150bpm for intense session. The heat stress induced increases blood flow;long term use improves Blood pressure.
Want to improve your exercise tolerance? Sauna use can improve your functional exercise capacity by 32% if you do a 20min post workout sauna.
Mode of action.
Response proteins are proteins which are released to try to repair/ protect cells from damage. These are special proteins which are quite common across species.
Heat shock protein is a response protein. Another example is melatonin. (?Future post idea: if you want me to do a post on this, drop a comment below). It works by helping other proteins maintain their 3D-shape during times of heat stress, protecting the protein from denaturing. Doing this helps prevent the formation of protein aggregates, which form by accumulation of mis-folded proteins, proteins which have lost their proper shape, and then clump together. Protein aggregates are seen in Neuro-degenerative disorders like Alzheimer's, Lewie Body disease, Huntington's, AMD and Parkinson's disease.
Subsequent research confirms this as the 2-3 sauna/ wk men had 22% lower dementia rate, 4-7/wk was 66% lower risk
Another molecular pathway of interest that may help to explain some of what’s going on with this association between a type of longevity and sauna use is a pathway known as the FOXO3 pathway. In Addition to the neurodegenerative disorders listed above, FOXO3 can help protect against Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. FOXO3 is a master regulator, and is involved in: autophagy, DNA repair, metabolism, endogenous antioxidant production, stem cell function and Immune function, energy metabolism, oxidative stress, proteostasis, apoptosis, cell cycle regulation, metabolic processes, immunity, inflammation and stem cell maintenance.
There is some evidence that part of the natural cellular stress response when confronted with heat is an activation of this pathway. FOXO3 is super important in ageing. Different versions of FOXO3 can result is up to a 2.7-fold increased chance of living to be 100. In mice, having more of their homologous version of this same gene can extend their lifespan by up to 30 percent!
As a pattern of aging, our FOXO3 activation trends downward… decreasing in expression with age. A lot of research is going on into how to up-regulate FOXO3 activity. Some success is being found with phytochemicals such as polyphenols and flavinols. For example, rats green tea extract ECGC in drinking water increased sirtuin 1, FOXO3 (by 67-100%), SOD, glutathione peroxidase and lifespan (by 14%!!), reduced NF-κB, IL-6, TNF-α, ROS, inflammation, oxidative stress in serum, liver and kidney, and protected against organ damage. In a human population, it was shown recently that associations between tea drinking and risk for cognitive disability among the oldest old were dependent upon FOXO genotype.
Curcumin, from turmeric, reduces FOXO3 phosphorylation, resulting in a doubling of FOXO3 gene expression. Curcumin lowers lipid levels in peritoneal macrophages of obese mice. Curcumin, through its actions on increasing FOXO3 activity, may protect against oxidant- and lipid-induced damage in the inflammatory cells of the vascular system, thus reducing the risk for age-associated cardiovascular disease.
In cultured human skin fibroblasts, resveratrol inhibited the expression of the senescence mediator INK4a. Resveratrol and sirtuin-activating compounds can, in certain cases, delay ageing, age-related diseases and increase lifespan.
So. Get your self some sauna time regularly, pre-hydrate with green tea and /or concentrated blueberry extract. A bit of curcumin would add the kicker to the mix (usual recommendations for use i.e. dissolved in an oil to aid absorption)