38. Are Saunas Worth the Hype? What Saunas Actually Do For Recovery And Stress

Saunas look like the ultimate wellness upgrade, but the real benefits are simpler and the hype is louder than the evidence. We break down what heat actually does in the body, what gets exaggerated online, and how to use sauna and cold plunge without letting them replace the basics that build health.

• how sauna heat affects heart rate, circulation, and sweating
• realistic sauna benefits for relaxation, stress, and recovery support
• why detox claims do not hold up and what your liver and kidneys do instead
• why sauna weight loss is mostly water loss and temporary
• why sitting in heat does not replace walking or training
• dehydration risk and why rehydration matters
• heat as a stressor and when sauna use may backfire
• the false sense of “doing enough” and how to keep priorities straight
• women-specific considerations around hormones, hydration, and recovery
• dry sauna versus steam room and how to choose
• cold plunging benefits, timing, and muscle growth caution
• simple guidelines for frequency and session length
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Transcript

Welcome And What We Stand For

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What's up? Welcome back to Vito with Alita. This is a podcast about evidence-based wellness for real life. I'm Alita and I'm here to talk about fitness, health, mindset, and building a strong and sustainable life. But doing so without extremes, guilt, or perfectionism. If you care about your health, but you also want a life that you can actually live, you're definitely in the right place. Now before we jump in, I just want to say thank you for being here. It genuinely means a lot that you choose to spend your time listening. And I don't take that lightly. If you've been enjoying the show, following the podcast really helps it grow and lets me know that you're enjoying what you're listening to. And it will actually help more people find these conversations, which means I can keep bringing you new episodes every single week. Alright, let's get into today's episode.

Why Saunas Feel Everywhere Now

SPEAKER_00 1:28

I'm really happy you're here today. I'm Alita, and today we're getting into saunas. Saunas have been everywhere lately. Every other post I see that's somewhat related to wellness, there's someone sitting in a sauna with a red light mask or whatever. Red light mask is not the point of today. I'm here to focus on the sauna parts. Maybe we'll leave that for a future episode. But for now, let's get into our little sauna conversation. I think there's a lot of confusion around what they actually do and whether they're actually useful and something that you really need, especially when you are looking to optimize your health. And saunas are often presented as this extra thing that takes your health to the next level. And if you're not using one, you're missing out. But are they actually that important? Or are they just a way to zzz up your routine and make it feel make it feel more optimal than it really is? So if you spend any time in the wellness spaces, you've probably heard that saunas can detox your body. They can help you lose fat, improve recovery, boost your overall health. It's just a must-do for everybody. And while some of that is maybe partially true, a lot of it is either misunderstood or even exaggerated. Surprise, surprise. So let's break this down in a simple and realistic way.

What Heat Does Inside You

SPEAKER_00 3:08

When you sit in a sauna, your body is exposed to heat. And that causes your heart rate to increase, your blood vessels to dilate, and it causes you to sweat. So physiologically, it creates like a mild stress on your body. Similar in some ways, if you think about it, to very light cardiovascular activity. Like if you were to brisk walk, you know, you're increasing your heart rate, you're sweating, all those

Real Benefits Worth Keeping

SPEAKER_00 3:35

things. But there are some legitimate benefits of the sauna. So kind of, let's break them down. Number one, there is some sort of cardiovascular support. So regular sauna use has been associated with improved heart health. So your heart rate increases, you know, your circulation is improving. It's kind of like a gentle stimulus for your cardiovascular system, getting it kind of working without putting too much stress on it. So there is a little bit of support from that end. Now, another benefit that we kind of see with saunas is sort of the relaxation and stress reduction portion. And this is probably the most immediate benefit. When you're in the sauna, you know, you're slowing down. Hopefully your phone is off. Side note here, a little pet peeve is when people are using their phone in the sauna. And then they're not even wearing headphones or something, they're just playing whatever video or music loudly. Like anyway, don't use your phone in the sauna, okay? And hopefully your body is relaxing, and that alone can be very valuable. It could be a space where you know you turn your mind off, you know you just carve out that time to be in there, to be in the moment, to enjoy, to take a step back. So that's a really to me, that's a pretty good benefit. Now, another sort of benefit is potential recovery support. And some people find that saunas can help with muscle soreness and relaxation after workouts. And not because, you know, the sauna is magically repairing your muscle or speeding up the recovery. No, it's more because it helps your body unwind and it's the actual act of that resting, which is supporting the recovery of your muscles. So

Detox And Fat Loss Myths

SPEAKER_00 5:30

now I kind of want to pivot into what's actually overhyped, and this is where we need to be clear. First kind of overhyped statement: detoxing. I'm sorry, the sauna is not detoxing you. Your body already has systems for these things, you know, they're called your liver and your kidneys. Sweating doesn't detox your body in a meaningful way. I know sometimes we can associate sweating with like releasing toxins or whatever. Not really. That's that's not how that works. Sweating is a mechanism for your body to regulate its temperature. So that's why when you get hot, you sweat, we're regulating ourselves here temperature-wise. We're not detoxing. Another one that is overhyped or statement is fat loss. You might lose weight after a sauna session. I don't know, I saw a video about like a before and after weight. That's mostly water, you know, from all the sweat that you, you know, you just sweat. And it's also temporary as soon as you kind of go back to your daily life, like you didn't do any permanent change there. So no fat loss, no detoxing. And lastly, a replacement for exercise. I know I mentioned that sauna could kind of mimic the sort of stimulus that you would get with some sort of light cardiovascular activity, but sitting in the sauna is not the same as actually going on that walk. It can support your health, but it's not building it. Like the walk and the stimulus and all the things that accompany you exercising and physically doing the exercise is what's building your health, not sitting in the sauna. So keep that in mind.

Dehydration And Hidden Stress Costs

SPEAKER_00 7:26

And I think I'm gonna take this opportunity as well to also talk about I want to say drawbacks because saunas are seen as like this thing that's only beneficial and not very harmful, but that's not always the case. We don't always talk about some of the drawbacks, and this is just to, you know, give everyone a full picture, right? That's sort of the goal here. So the first drawback can be potential dehydration. So you're losing fluid through sweat. So if you're not rehydrating properly, this can work against you, just like normal life dehydration, right? You need to be replenishing the water or the fluid that you are losing through sweat. Another sort of drawback can be potential added stress on the body. So, yes, saunas are a mode to relax. I mentioned they can maybe support recovery because you are taking that time to kind of unwind. But at the end of the day, heat on the body is still a stressor. So if you're already somebody who is underrecovered, you're not sleeping well, you're training hard, you're inflamed everywhere, you're just stressed in general, adding more stress might not be helpful. And this is a delicate balance, and this is where you kind of have to know yourself because some folks think the sauna is relaxing and allows them to de-stress. Yes, mentally that may be the case, but it's not always physiologically the case, like I mentioned. Heat is some sort of stressor, so you want to make sure you are you are sticking to the basics. At the end of the day, the sauna is an addition. So if you are sleeping well, eating well, and moving your body in a way that works for you, sauna is just the cherry on top if you choose to add it to your routine. And another sort of drawback is kind of what I call like this false sense of doing enough. Okay, what do I mean by this? Using the sauna can feel like, oh, like I did something for my health today. Even if you skipped movement, even if you didn't eat well, even if you did not sleep well, but you know you went into the sauna for 10-15 minutes, you might have this sense of like, oh well, at least I did something for my health today. I showed up. And listen, I'm all about showing up in small ways for consistency. You don't have to be going at 100% every single day. That's not how consistency is built. But let's not lie to ourselves here. Going to the sauna doesn't replace five, 10 minutes of moving your body. It does not replace having a nutritious meal to support your body. It doesn't replace if you can go to bed an extra 10, 15 minutes earlier, that's even better. So just keep that in mind. It is something in the wellness space, it is something that could be supportive of your health, but it shouldn't be replacing some of the basic needs and giving you that false sense of this is my way of showing up today. This is enough. Caveat here. Sometimes the sauna is maybe the way you show up for yourself. And what I mean by this is you just need a mental break. And the sauna helps you to recoup, and that's kind of all you can do that day. I don't know, you're sick, you're stressed at work, you just you're not feeling movement. We all have those days. I'm not talking about one-offs here. You should be following your respecting your body's cues and everything. I'm talking about using it as a you know, more than just the one-offs and convincing yourself that that's you doing something for your health that day. It's not. Stick to the basics. Again, the sauna is just the support, it's not the foundation. Now,

Women Specific Sauna Considerations

SPEAKER_00 11:30

I would like to sprinkle in some women-specific considerations, because why not? And this is where I want you to think a bit more intentionally. Now, as women are our as women's, you know, as if the women is not already plural. As women, our bodies are already responding to, you know, hormonal shifts, energy availability, different stress levels, and adding something like a sauna, sauna use regularly without paying attention to your hydration, to how you feel, to your recovery, to your basics, can sometimes actually do more harm than good. Especially if you're already pushing yourself in other areas. Again, heat's a stressor, so be mindful of what's working for you and what's not.

Dry Sauna Steam Room Cold Plunge

SPEAKER_00 12:22

Now, before we move on, I want to quickly go over something that comes up a lot, which is the difference between different types of heat and also where things like cold plunging might fit into all of this. So the two kind of most common saunas you may hear about are dry versus wet saunas. And we know that not all saunas are the same. So our dry saunas are the ones that kind of use our high temperatures with low humidity, and our wet saunas, which are actually better named as steam rooms, and they have more of like that wet heat, they actually use lower temperature but much higher in humidity. So, from a physiological standpoint, both are sort of increasing your body temperature and making you sweat. So the core effects are actually pretty similar, you know, increased heart rate, vasodilation, sweating, but the main difference would probably be more related to how you feel in each type. Some people tolerate the dry heat better, and some prefer humidity of a steam room. There's no strong evidence that I think one is significantly better than the other for general health. So this is one of those situations where pick the one you enjoy and you can tolerate, or even pick the one that's available to you. Now, I feel like I can't really talk about saunas without talking about cold plunging. So cold plunging is often paired with sauna use, and you'll see people kind of doing the cycle where you do sauna, cold plunge, repeat. And again, this is something that's that's become very popular. And we see a lot of, I guess, like spas that are open and dedicated literally to this cycle. So cold exposure can have some benefits, it can feel energizing, it may help to reduce inflammation in the short term, it can improve your tolerance to stress, but just like with saunas, I wouldn't say it's essential. It's not something you need to do to be healthy. And also, this is important here. If your goal is muscle growth, doing intense cold exposure immediately after strength training might actually blunt some of the muscle adaptation. So timing matters here. This is not something you want to be doing right after, but again, this is it's value-specific, it's person-specific. It's it's a just a general sort of statement I'm making here.

How Often To Use Them

SPEAKER_00 14:50

And how often, if you were to kind of engage in sauna use, should you be doing this? You don't need to be doing it every day. I don't think anyone should be going to the sauna every day. For most people, if it is something you want to add to your routine, two to four times per week is more than enough for sauna use. And sessions are usually no more than 20 minutes. I think it's about 10 to 15 minutes, and that again depends on the tolerance. And for cold exposure, again, a few times per week is also plenty, and it doesn't need to be extreme to have an effect, if any. The real takeaway here is that all this is optional. These are just tools, these are not requirements, they can zhuz up your routine, make it feel more intentional, more enjoyable, but they're not what's going to determine your results. And this sauna use, for example, if if you if you have access to a sauna, so for me, for example, my gym in the change room has a sauna, and that just comes with my membership. I don't pay extra for it. And sometimes when I am lightly, slightly, I mean, not lightly, when I am slightly low on motivation, which is quite often, and I don't really feel like going to the gym, I will tell myself that if I have a good gym session, I will then go into the sauna. Now, I know that's not one of the benefits or whatever I listed, but for me, that's sort of if it's helping me to stay consistent with the fundamentals and the things that actually matter and determine my health, I'm all for it. A little sauna session adds a little bit extra benefit, and if it's mentally helping you get there, go for it. But again, not essential. If you don't have access to sauna, that's completely okay. I think literally I just started going to the sauna like a year or two ago when I moved gyms, but the first six, seven years of my weightlifting journey, not a single time that I enter the sauna, and I don't think it would have made a difference in my results in any way.

Zhuzh And The Motivation Trick

SPEAKER_00 17:06

And now I realize that I went through, I don't know, what are we like 20 minutes into this episode right now, maybe 15 minutes into this episode, and I didn't even introduce our word of the week, but I've used it, so our word of the week is zuj. Zuj. Z-H-U-Z-H. I thought it was a fun one. Um it means to make something, you know, more attractive, exciting, or interesting, often by adding a little something extra, you know, a small little improvement. And that's exactly what the sauna is. Saunas are a way to zhuz up our routines, make it feel more elevated, more optimized, more next level. But again, it's important to recognize saunas for what they are, just a zhuz, just an addition, not a foundation. Alright, so I did a lot of talking. So what should you actually do with all this information?

Practical Rules And Closing Requests

SPEAKER_00 17:59

Some practical takeaways, as always. Numero Uno, if you enjoy it, use it. If it helps you relax and you genuinely like it, that's enough of a good reason. So go for it. Adding a little happiness never hurt anybody. Numero two, don't rely on it. It is not a replacement for training, for eating well, and for sleeping. The basics, the boring stuff, don't replace them. And three, pay attention to your body, notice how you feel after, notice your energy levels, notice your hydration, all these things matter, and just to ensure safe use of this tool that is available to us. Number four, keep your priorities straight. Your health is not built on sauna usage. Your health is built on consistent movement, balanced nutrition, and good sleep, not the extra zuff. So saunas can support your health, but they're not going to be what builds it. Alright, my lovely folks, beautiful person listening to this, thank you for your ears. Thank you for your time. And if this episode helped you think about your routines a little bit differently, I'd love for you to follow the show. Thank you so much for listening, and I'll see you in the next episode. Have an amazing week. Bye-bye. Thanks for hanging out with me today. I really appreciate you being here. If something in the episode clicked for you, send it to a friend. Or you can reach out to me directly using the link in the description. I genuinely love hearing from you. And if you want more evidence-based wellness, you can connect with me via my Instagram. Again, that link will be in the description below. Take care of yourself this week, and I'll talk to you soon. See you on the next one. Bye bye.