Put Saunas on the Frontlines of Your Body's Health Battles

A great many battles continue to be fought around the world today, and one that demands more attention is the war deadly toxins incessantly wage against our bodies. It is a very quiet conflict, but one with an escalating casualties count. Some of the human body's better known enemies are the heavy metals aluminum, lead and mercury, but, presented in its entirety, the complete list of toxins silently sickening the human population would be truly overwhelming. Many experts agree, however, that one name that would surely be near the top of the list and therefore warrants aggressive retaliation is cadmium. Cadmium contaminates our air, water and food. Like so many other heavy metals, it is a pollutant that cannot be avoided by any person hoping to live a normal life on Earth. That's the first bit of bad news, and here's the second: According to Dr. Sherry A. Rogers, author of the book Detoxify or Die, "As a carcinogen, cadmium can trigger, for example, cancer of the lung, prostate, testicles and more. And once you have any cancer, cadmium acts like fertilizer for cancers, making them grow more rapidly and spread or metastasize." Cadmium toxicity has also been linked to angina, hypertension, high blood pressure, arthritis, osteoporosis, migraines and depression, as well as other medical conditions and disorders. Another toxin on the long list of inescapable health hazards is toluene. A chemical found in cosmetics, nail polish, shoe polish, inks, cleansers, paints, glues and many other everyday household items, toluene has been linked to liver damage, heart attack, depression, cancer, and more. Rogers notes in her book that toluene has an addictive potential equal to that of alcohol and opiates. "So instead of finding it disagreeable," she says, "people actually seek it out." Once cadmium, toluene, mercury and the many other toxins we constantly expose ourselves to end up in our bodies, our health is certainly at high risk. However, there are ways to work to get these pollutants out of our systems. One such way is with a sauna. Sauna heat raises our skin's temperature and, through perspiration, the toxins that are dissolved in our sweat and body oil are flushed out to the surface of our skin where they can be easily washed off. That may be an oversimplified explanation of the process, but the key points to remember are these: Sweating helps detoxify the body, and one of the best places to work up an intensely powerful sweat is inside a sauna. A comprehensive detoxification or detox program can include other elements such as dietary changes, supplements, and even enemas, but the importance of sauna therapy as a detox program component should not be underestimated. As for the specific type of sauna, Rogers is among a group of experts who recommend the far infrared sauna over the traditional Finnish variety. The author counts the lower, more tolerable temperatures and deeper, more direct heat penetration offered by a far infrared sauna among the reasons for her personal preference. Today, high-quality home saunas of all types can be found at affordable prices. If the extra expense is of particular concern to you, however, consider the educated opinion of Dr. Rogers. "When you realize the lifelong incapacity and expense of diseases such as chronic pain syndromes, heart disease, chemical sensitivity, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, migraines, Alzheimer's, cancer or any others caused by chemical toxicity," she says, "a sauna is cheap."