For thousands of years, humans have used the principle around which the sauna is based to cleanse their bodies of impurities, from the physical to the spiritual. In Rome, the poor and the elite alike used public facilities, which included steam baths and saunas, on a regular basis, as they sought remedies for various ailments as well as stress. In North America, many different native cultures would use the idea of a sweat lodge for healing and before ceremonies, in order to rid themselves of harmful spirits.

The idea that a sauna can assist in cleansing one’s body, therefore, is nothing new. But we all know that just because a body of "knowledge" has existed for a while, it is not necessarily true. For instance, in medieval Britain almost the opposite way of thinking held sway; people believed that a bath would rid the body of oils that would help to stave off illness! In this article, we will look at the veracity of the claim that saunas can help to cleanse.

So, does using a sauna actually work when it comes to getting toxins out?

The good news for sauna enthusiasts is that in the case of the sauna, the Romans, the Cheyenne, and thousands of other global cultures were right; saunas do help to rid the body of many built up, harmful chemicals.

The way this works is simple, and has been proven in many cases, most notably in efforts to detoxify a body that has become addicted to drugs or alcohol. During the normal metabolism process, the body does not have the outside pressures it needs to successfully rid itself of many chemicals that can get trapped in fat and in the water that runs through our bodies. The body can transfer the chemicals into the water, but the water must find a way out. That way out is through sweat, and the sweat that we see in a sauna is impure water, containing chemicals our body does not need.

But what about an infrared sauna? Does it work the same way?

The answer is a resounding yes; in fact, an infrared sauna will work more efficiently than a traditional steam sauna when it comes to getting out the toxins that plague our bodies. Infrared rays are able to penetrate deeper and faster than steam heat, and that means that in the same amount of time, your body will be able to get rid of more chemicals and other toxins, and ones that may never get out with traditional steam heat.

So if you are concerned about the myriad of chemicals and other contaminates that are in your body due to every day living, the use of an infrared sauna may be just the thing to get the worries – and the toxins! - out.