One of my best friends in the world is the renowned nutritionist and antiaging expert Oz Garcia, Ph.D., who I’ve been pals and colleagues with since 1990, when we were both on staff at Equinox Fitness Clubs in New York City. I think he’s one of the brightest people on the planet, and when he recommends something, I listen. He tends to be right an awful lot of the time.
It was Oz who first told me about the energy enhancement benefits, which he calls no less than miraculous, of infrared saunas. ‘They’re one of the most healing, beneficial treatments I know for energy, detoxification, and vitality”, he told me.
That we’re exposed to a veritable cornucopia of toxic chemicals on a daily basis is a given. Less clear is their direct relationship to our daily life and energy level. Personally, I think the relationship is huge. Here’s why: If your body uses its resources to defend itself against toxins, pollutants, medications, carcinogens, pesticides, and other chemical riffraff, carcinogens, pesticides, and other chemical riffraff, then it’s using up valuable energy and draining at least some of your vitality. Who wouldn’t be tired form the sheer effort?
Establishment voices will scoff that these environmental toxins aren’t harmful in small doses, that our bodies are perfectly able to get rid of them naturally, and that many of them haven’t been “proven” to be harmful in the first place. These same folks will then reassure us that, in any case, the government keeps its eyes on this stuff anyway, so what’s to worry about?
Well, if you believe that, I’ve got this lovely bridge you might be interested in buying……
The truth is that no one knows the end effect of being exposed to the almost 80,000 chemicals that are now in the atmosphere, environment, and food supply; no one knows the “safe” dosage of many of them; and no one knows for sure how such constant exposure can ultimately affect our health and energy, especially given that, for many of us, our immune systems and detoxification pathways aren’t performing optimally to begin with. I’d prefer to err on the side of caution, and do everything I can to support my body in getting rid of what shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
Infrared saunas can help.
THIS ISN’T YOUR FATHER’S SAUNA
Now don’t misunderstand me. There’s a world of difference between the sauna in your gym and the infrared sauna I’m talking about here. Infrared radiation is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength longer than that of visible light, but shorter than that of radio waves. This radiating energy penetrates the body and heats it directly and more efficiently. Because of the longer wavelength of far infrared, the skin is penetrated more deeply than with conventional saunas. The body slowly warms up while preserving vital electrolytes such as sodium, chloride, potassium, and magnesium.
“Since the heat is generated in the skin layers below the surface, the slow gentle warming is completely different, and invokes different physiological processes to get rid of the heat other than the evaporation of sweet from the skin’s surface”. Lewis Meltz, D.C., an expert in infrared saunas, told me. (A regular old garden-variety sauna simply works by placing very hot coals in a room and generating extremely hot air, which simply makes you sweat).
“Infrared saunas are one of the most healing, beneficial treatments I know for energy, detoxification, and vitality”.
“You need to think of the effects of far infrared photons of light like a process similar to the photosynthesis process in plants”, Meltz explained. “Far infrared rays are converted by the body into electrochemical impulses and sent to the pineal and pituitary glands, which in turn produce healthy hormones that are sent through the central nervous system to all the cells of your body. Thus, light is essential to the functioning of our entire endocrine system”.
Because photosynthesis is the process by which plants get their energy from the sun and convert it into the energy they need to live, the parallel is a good one. Far infrared rays help fine-tune our systems so that we can make our body’s natural energy-producing mechanisms work at optimal efficiency.
Meltz shared with me the Mayo Clinic Proceedings of 1999, which report how superficial heat – or the inherent production of infrared energy – is naturally associated with a wide variety of healing responses. “As our ancestors knew instinctively,” he told me, “there are times when the body needs a boost of infrared radiant heat energy to ensure optimum tissue repair and healing. “healing”), anything that contributes to or accelerates that latter is going to increase our energy.
Plus, let’s be honest, it feels great. And anything that feels that good reduces stress, which increases energy. As my grandmother used to say, “What could be bad?”
WHERE TO SEEK THE HEAT
Of all the infrared saunas I’ve looked into, I’m most impressed with the home saunas made by Life Saunas International. They have some really cool features, such as incorporating color (which they call “chromo-therapy”) to invoke the many different emotional and psychological benefits that color can provide.
These infrared saunas also have an oxygen ionizer to reduce free-radical damage and encourage that feeling of well-being that comes from negative ions (such as the ones near a waterfall, or that you experience right after a rainfall, when everything feels so peaceful and energizing).
I think some time in an infrared sauna such as the LifeFIT system makes a lot of sense as part of a detox program and as well as an overall program for increasing energy and general well-being. They’re surprisingly affordable and will make a huge difference in your energy.
No comments:
Post a Comment