The sauna and heart study everyone quotes, read properly.
In 2015, a study of 2,315 Finnish men linked frequent sauna bathing with fewer fatal heart events. This is what it found, what it can’t tell you, and the routine our scientific advisor Jim LaValle suggests.
See the options
Twenty minutes
Four times a week
Intertek testedHeart disease is still the number one killer.
That is where Jim LaValle starts. Because heart disease is the number one killer, he recommends making sauna part of your day, daily if you can.
His heart comments are about traditional sauna heat, not infrared, and we keep them that way.
A habit to keep, not a quick fix.
Disclosure: Jim is on SaunaBox’s scientific advisory board and is a partial owner of the company. You should know that before you read the rest.
What heat does while you sit in it.
Jim describes it simply. Sauna use widens your blood vessels and raises your heart rate, which mimics light aerobic activity.
That is what happens during the session. It is not a promise about what a sauna does for your heart over years. For that question, people point to one study, and we get to it next.
is how a review in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health describes heat therapy, one that helps mitigate aspects of cardiometabolic disease.
The Finnish study, in plain English.
Researchers in Finland followed 2,315 middle-aged men for about 20.7 years and grouped them by how many times a week they used a sauna.
The men who went four to seven times a week had a lower risk of dying from a cardiovascular event, and of dying from any cause, than the men who went once a week. It was published in JAMA Internal Medicine in 2015.
More sessions, fewer fatal heart events. That is the association.
Every sauna in the study was a traditional Finnish sauna.
Source: Laukkanen T et al., Association between sauna bathing and fatal cardiovascular and all-cause mortality events, JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015;175(4):542-548, PMID 25705824. 2,315 middle-aged Finnish men, about 20.7 years of follow-up, traditional Finnish saunas, observational.
It’s a link, not a promise.
Men who used a sauna more often had fewer fatal heart events. The study can’t say the sauna was the reason. Men who sit in a sauna four times a week may differ in other ways too.
It only included middle-aged men, and every sauna was a traditional Finnish sauna, a different kind of heat from an infrared cabin. So we don’t apply its results to the Solara.
If a sauna brand tells you its sauna protects your heart, it’s telling you something the research doesn’t say.
Source: Laukkanen T et al., JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015, PMID 25705824. 2,315 middle-aged men, observational, traditional Finnish saunas. An association, not cause and effect.
Twenty minutes, four times a week.
That is Jim’s protocol. Twenty minutes, four times a week, at whatever heat you can handle. In his words, “just go to tolerance.”
He counts the cool-down too. Jim says part of the benefit comes after you step out, as your nervous system shifts while you cool off.
On the Solara, that means setting the heat to a level you can sit with for twenty minutes. The 1-Person runs from 77 to 158°F and ships set at 149°F. If you’re new to it, start lower and shorter, drink water first, and build up.
Four sessions, twenty minutes each. Eighty minutes a week, all in.
Got a heart condition? Ask your doctor first.
A sauna is a habit. It isn’t heart care.
Heat raises your heart rate. That is the point of it, and it is also why anyone with a heart condition, blood pressure concerns, or who is pregnant should talk to their doctor before starting.
Drink water first, skip alcohol beforehand, stand up slowly afterwards, and step out if you feel unwell.
A sauna doesn’t replace anything your doctor recommends, including your medication.
Four sessions a week. Two seats.
The Solara 2-Person seats two, and you can stand up inside. Same heat, up to 158°F. It needs a 20A outlet, so check your circuit before it arrives.
If your partner is going to be in there with you, this is the one.
One seat or two.
Both are full spectrum infrared saunas built for a corner of your home. Pick the size that fits how you’ll use it.
Plugs into a standard household outlet.
Seats two, and you can stand up inside.
Twenty-minute sessions
Tested by Intertek
2-Year Warranty
HSA/FSA via TrueMedTwenty minutes. Four times a week. At home.
No membership and no booking. A Solara in the corner and a heat you can tolerate. Talk to your doctor first if your heart is the reason you’re here.
Questions.
Nobody can promise that. A 2015 study of 2,315 middle-aged Finnish men found that more frequent sauna bathing was associated with a lower risk of fatal cardiovascular events and death from any cause. It is observational, men only, and used traditional Finnish saunas, so it shows a link, not a cause.
No. The study used traditional Finnish saunas, which heat the air around you. The Solara is a full spectrum infrared sauna, which warms you more directly at a lower air temperature. We don’t apply the study’s results to infrared. If you want the closest match to the study, that’s a traditional sauna, like our Forge.
Jim LaValle’s protocol is twenty minutes, four times a week, at a heat you can tolerate. Start shorter if you’re new to it and drink water first.
Talk to your doctor first. Heat raises your heart rate, so anyone with a heart condition, blood pressure concerns, or who is pregnant should get the all clear before starting.
A clinical pharmacist and board-certified clinical nutritionist working since 1984, founder of Metabolic Code Enterprises, academic co-chair at A4M and chair of the International Peptide Society. He sits on SaunaBox’s scientific advisory board and is a partial owner of the company.
The Solara 1-Person runs from 77 to 158°F and ships set at 149°F. The Solara 2-Person goes up to 158°F.
The Solara 1-Person plugs into a standard household outlet. The Solara 2-Person needs a 20A outlet.
The Solara 1-Person has a 2-Year Warranty. The Solara 2-Person has a 2-Year Limited Warranty.
SaunaBox saunas are general wellness products, not medical devices, and nothing on this page is medical advice. The study described is observational, included only middle-aged Finnish men and used traditional Finnish saunas. It shows an association, not cause and effect. Jim LaValle is a SaunaBox scientific advisor and partial owner. Do not use a sauna when you are ill or after drinking alcohol, do not fall asleep in it, drink water first, stand up slowly afterwards, and speak to your physician before starting sauna use, especially with a heart condition, if you are pregnant, or if you take blood pressure medication.
The sauna and heart study everyone quotes, read properly.
In 2015, a study of 2,315 Finnish men linked frequent sauna bathing with fewer fatal heart events. This is what it found, what it can’t tell you, and the routine our scientific advisor Jim LaValle suggests.
See the optionsTwenty minutesFour times a weekHeart disease is still the number one killer.
That is where Jim LaValle starts. Because heart disease is the number one killer, he recommends making sauna part of your day, daily if you can.
His heart comments are about traditional sauna heat, not infrared, and we keep them that way.
Disclosure: Jim is on SaunaBox’s scientific advisory board and is a partial owner of the company.
A habit to keep, not a quick fix.
What heat does while you sit in it.
Jim describes it simply. Sauna use widens your blood vessels and raises your heart rate, which mimics light aerobic activity.
That is what happens during the session, not a promise about your heart over years.
is how a review in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health describes heat therapy, one that helps mitigate aspects of cardiometabolic disease.
The Finnish study, in plain English.
Researchers in Finland followed 2,315 middle-aged men for about 20.7 years and grouped them by how many times a week they used a sauna.
The men who went four to seven times a week had a lower risk of dying from a cardiovascular event, and of dying from any cause, than the men who went once a week. Published in JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015.
Every sauna in the study was a traditional Finnish sauna.
Source: Laukkanen T et al., JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015;175(4):542-548, PMID 25705824. Observational.
It’s a link, not a promise.
Men who used a sauna more often had fewer fatal heart events. The study can’t say the sauna was the reason.
It only included middle-aged men, and every sauna was a traditional Finnish sauna, a different kind of heat from an infrared cabin. So we don’t apply its results to the Solara.
If a sauna brand tells you its sauna protects your heart, it’s telling you something the research doesn’t say.
Twenty minutes, four times a week.
That is Jim’s protocol. Twenty minutes, four times a week, at whatever heat you can handle. In his words, “just go to tolerance.”
He counts the cool-down too. Jim says part of the benefit comes after you step out, as your nervous system shifts while you cool off.
On the Solara, set the heat to a level you can sit with for twenty minutes. The 1-Person runs from 77 to 158°F and ships set at 149°F. New to it? Start lower and shorter, and drink water first.
Four sessions, twenty minutes each. Eighty minutes a week, all in.
Got a heart condition? Ask your doctor first.
A sauna is a habit. It isn’t heart care.
Heat raises your heart rate. That is the point of it, and it is also why anyone with a heart condition, blood pressure concerns, or who is pregnant should talk to their doctor before starting. Drink water first, skip alcohol beforehand, and step out if you feel unwell.
A sauna doesn’t replace anything your doctor recommends, including your medication.
Four sessions a week. Two seats.
The Solara 2-Person seats two, and you can stand up inside. Same heat, up to 158°F. It needs a 20A outlet, so check your circuit before it arrives.
One seat or two.
Both are full spectrum infrared saunas built for a corner of your home.
Plugs into a standard household outlet.
Seats two, and you can stand up inside.
Twenty minutes. Four times a week. At home.
No membership and no booking. A Solara in the corner and a heat you can tolerate.
See which one fitsQuestions.
Nobody can promise that. A 2015 study of 2,315 middle-aged Finnish men found that more frequent sauna bathing was associated with a lower risk of fatal cardiovascular events and death from any cause. It is observational, men only, and used traditional Finnish saunas, so it shows a link, not a cause.
No. The study used traditional Finnish saunas, which heat the air around you. The Solara is full spectrum infrared, which warms you more directly at a lower air temperature. If you want the closest match to the study, that’s a traditional sauna, like our Forge.
Jim LaValle’s protocol is twenty minutes, four times a week, at a heat you can tolerate. Start shorter if you’re new to it and drink water first.
Talk to your doctor first. Heat raises your heart rate, so anyone with a heart condition, blood pressure concerns, or who is pregnant should get the all clear before starting.
A clinical pharmacist and board-certified clinical nutritionist working since 1984, founder of Metabolic Code Enterprises, academic co-chair at A4M and chair of the International Peptide Society. He sits on SaunaBox’s scientific advisory board and is a partial owner of the company.
The Solara 1-Person runs from 77 to 158°F and ships set at 149°F. The Solara 2-Person goes up to 158°F.
The Solara 1-Person plugs into a standard household outlet. The Solara 2-Person needs a 20A outlet.
The Solara 1-Person has a 2-Year Warranty. The Solara 2-Person has a 2-Year Limited Warranty.
SaunaBox saunas are general wellness products, not medical devices, and nothing here is medical advice. The study described is observational, men only, and used traditional Finnish saunas. Jim LaValle is a SaunaBox scientific advisor and partial owner. Do not use a sauna when you are ill or after drinking alcohol, drink water first, and speak to your physician before starting sauna use, especially with a heart condition.