Shed Your Toxins And Boost Your Healthspan With Sauna Therapy

Tess Harris

Thank you so much. I’m thrilled to be here today.

Sharon Stills, ND

Before we even start diving in, how did you find yourself getting in the sauna business with your background in science?

Tess Harris

Sure. I’ve always loved science, research, biochemistry, and really that scientific aspect of medicine. I have also been a professional athlete for a while, and so I was into fitness and recovery, utilizing saunas. My husband is also in fitness, so I had used saunas and started to learn a little bit about them through him and just through going to saunas at gyms. I found High Tech Health really when I was just looking for some other avenues to share my scientific experience, but working more with people and outside of the laboratory setting. It just seemed like such a great fit, and I have hit the ground running in terms of learning about the science behind sauna therapy and really delving into the environmental medicine aspect of it, which has always been an interest, but that’s really sparked a lot of my knowledge in this direction.

Sharon Stills, ND

I love it. We talk about it, and we hear a lot of the speakers when we’re talking about how toxins affect your hormones and how you need to detox and use a sauna. And so that’s why I’m so excited that today we’re really going to dive in, so you listening at home can really understand. I think knowledge is such power, and when we really understand, then we’re more apt to get naked and go sweat. And I always say that sweating is one of my favorite activities for good health. And if you are not sweating, you are not healthy. And so, inducing a sweat every day is so crucial. So let’s dive in. So first off, most of us are familiar with saunas, and as you mentioned, there’s the sauna at the gym, but what’s the difference? Why can’t I just go to the gym? Why do I have to have that looks like a little playhouse? What is an infrared sauna?

Tess Harris

Sure. So an infrared sauna, we’re using infrared light or infrared energy, which is actually part of the energy we get from the sun. It has a direct heating effect on our body. So as a good example, it’s the same reason the sun feels warm on our skin, even on a cold day. So we’re experiencing this direct heating from infrared. Typically, an infrared sauna operates will max out somewhere between 120 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and that really depends on the user and your comfort level, but the hot air isn’t the only mechanism for heating. We’re getting this direct heating from the infrared as well, and the way it directly heats our body can actually help mobilize toxins. And there are even some non-thermal effects so effects we get from infrared in addition to the heating. So there’s a lot that’s unique about infrared saunas.

Sharon Stills, ND

So what you are saying is you can go to the gym and sweat, but it’s not going to mobilize the toxins like an infrared sauna will?

Tess Harris

Correct, the sweat as a whole is a really effective pathway out of the body for certain toxins, and I can go more into that, but infrared saunas in particular are uniquely well suited for detoxing, and some studies do show that infrared saunas in particular help our bodies excrete certain toxins.

Sharon Stills, ND

Yes, go more into it. So tell us, what are the toxins? Let’s learn about them.

Tess Harris

Lots of factors, right? So it’s estimated in production there are over 85,000 chemicals in production in the US right now. They can range from not even just things in production like metals, right? So things in our water like lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury can have effects on our bodies, and lot of organic pollutants, things like pesticides, plasticizers, PBDEs, which are used in flame retardants, and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Those can all have effects on our bodies. There are numerous toxins, and some organic things or  naturally occurring, like mold, is another toxin that can affect our body, and that’s when that specifically infrared sauna studies show there’s a big increase in mold excretion with sauna use.

Sharon Stills, ND

That’s interesting, because often when you are hearing about mold detoxification, you just hear take some binders. And so that’s another unique thing because I think, at least in the naturopathic world, it is well known that if you want to get heavy metals out, an infrared sauna is a good way to do it, but I do not think we talk about the mold aspect of detoxification as well. So can you talk about why infrared? Why is it different? What is it doing that’s mobilizing the toxins rather than just going to the gym?

Tess Harris

Sorry, go ahead. So some of it we know well, and some of it is more observational in terms of these are the results we see and the difference in terms of the actual biochemical mechanisms or what’s actually happening. But in terms of the biggest body of studies that we know about saunas, look at how we can compare… Well, let me go back. Let me backtrack a little bit. So the way they directly heat our body can actually change like intracellular fluids and things like that, and that can actually support it, but also we see through studies comparing blood, urine, and sweat and concentrations of heavy metals, pesticides, and various compounds in our sweat, we see higher levels in sweat than in blood and urine. And so those are the ones that are really showing that sweat is a very effect effective pathway out of the body. And then, in terms of the infrared saunas, we’ve seen in some of the studies the biggest spikes in detoxification in urine and in sweat post-infrared versus other types of saunas.

Sharon Stills, ND

Which is why it’s important to stay hydrated. And so the infrared is penetrating the skin differently—deeper?

Tess Harris

Like I said, a lot of it is more observational in terms of how we see the results versus understanding all the mechanisms. There is some research in Washington being conducted looking at how that intercellular fluid can change to a different structure, and that can actually help with excreting certain toxins, especially fat-soluble toxins, but the mechanism is not as well known as we would like, but it’s more observational in terms of how we see the results.

Sharon Stills, ND

Gotcha. So, menopause, hormones, environmental toxins—how does that all play together, and then what’s the role of the sauna?

Tess Harris

Sure, absolutely. So, like you said, we have a lot of exposure to toxins throughout our lives. In particular, a lot of toxins will affect the brain and the endocrine system. Many are called endocrine disruptors. So they can either bind to hormone sites and increase or block normal hormonal activity. And a lot of these are chemicals that we cannot naturally metabolize and excrete from our bodies. When looking at menopause, there’s actually a very recent review looking at many studies, looking at how endocrine disrupting chemicals affect menopause, and across the board, it shows earlier onset menopause and earlier onset of certain symptoms like hot flashes, and also looking at how early onset menopause can actually contribute to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, decreased lifespan, and increased depression risks.

There are a lot of factors, and, of course, these chemicals are all playing a role in our normal aging and our endocrine system and how that changes throughout our lives in aging. Sauna therapy can be very powerful as a tool for helping us eliminate these toxins. And there’s a really interesting group of studies, like I said, the blood, urine, and sweat studies, that show this active transport. For compounds that aren’t even detectable in the blood, we see high levels excreted in sweat.

Sharon Stills, ND

Well, what I find interesting is that I do a lot of toxicity testing on patients, and I do the GPL tox test from Great Plains Laboratory frequently, which looks at organophosphates and plastics, and no matter what the toxin is, the solution is always an inference sauna. I would call the lab because there are about 22 different toxins we’re testing. We do not have the ability to test the large amount you mentioned yet, but I would call the lab, because I’d be like, Okay, well, they have numbers one, five, and seven. Do I need to do something different for detox? Nope, infrared sauna. Glutathione and an infrared sauna, and that is going to be the solution. And so in a world where we’re learning throughout this summit where toxicity and especially environmental toxicity, is rampant and unfortunately unavoidable. To me, including and having sauna therapy, whether you have high levels or you do not, is either a treatment or a prevention. I always say it’s not a matter… Maybe at some point we used to ask, Are you toxic? Now it’s just a question of how toxic are you and are you eliminating your toxins that you are being exposed to? And so, to me personally, the infrared sauna is this powerful medical tool that we really need. Detoxifying is not a five-day cleanse. It’s not something we do for a month. It’s not something we do not have to think about. It’s something that needs to be part of our lives. So I see it as a daily event, a weekly event, a monthly event, a quarterly event, and a yearly event. And the sauna is just so key in that. We have to really be sweating. You can take a hot bath you can get a good workout, but it’s not the same. You are not getting the medicinal results from actually utilizing and harnessing the power of infrared. So, let’s talk about it because there are other benefits other than detoxing, like burning calories and improving your cardiovascular system. So let’s talk about some of the other benefits as well.

Tess Harris

Sure. One of my favorite topics is the cardiovascular health. There are numerous studies and benefits linked to cardiovascular health with infrared saunas and saunas as a whole, everything from lowering blood pressure to lowering your risk of cardiovascular disease to improving the endothelial lining and the elasticity of the endothelial lining. Sauna therapy has also shown to mimic cardiovascular exercise. So I’ll go more into that in a moment. One of my absolute favorite, and this is a very well-known study that was conducted over 20 years, so a long-term study looking at regular sauna users and then broken into categories of people who use sauna once a week, two to three times a week, or four to seven times a week, and looking at their long-term health outcomes. And across the board, all of the sauna users saw a lowered risk of sudden cardiac death, fatal cardiovascular disease, fatal coronary heart disease, and lowered risk of all cause mortality, meaning death from any cause. So across the board, regular sauna users saw a reduction in risk in all of these categories. And the most frequent sauna users saw the biggest reduction in risk. So, basically, regular sauna users have better longevity outcomes and a lowered risk of all types of cardiovascular disease, which is prevalent in our country and around the world for aging.

Sharon Stills, ND

And in women, it’s like huge. We talk about bioidentical hormone replacement as prevention for cardiovascular disease, which also lowers the overall mortality, but coupling it with sauna, you are just like, Ooh, we’re going to live to 130. So it’s got a benefit, of so we talked about detoxification. It’s got a benefit of cardiovascular health. What else? You mentioned exercise. That’s one of my favorites.

Tess Harris

Yes, exercise and weight loss. So, like I said, mimicking cardiovascular exercise. Regular sauna use also improves our exercise tolerance, meaning how much exercise can we do, and delays the onset of muscle soreness so that soreness we can get it after a hard workout. In terms of weight loss, there’s a really interesting study looking at sauna compared to exercise, and then the combination. So a group of subjects were subjected to heat therapy and sauna therapy. Another group was doing treadmill running. And then a third group was combining the heat therapy and the treadmill running. So similar: about a 40% reduction in body fat mass for both the heat therapy group and the exercise group. And then in the combined group, there was a 72% reduction in body fat mass.

Sharon Stills, ND

Wow.

Tess Harris

A significant improvement or a significant finding in terms of we’re all trying to lose weight, and we know that gets harder as we age. That’s just remarkable. That difference that the combination makes. But even pretty remarkable that sauna is on par with exercise in terms of the-

Sharon Stills, ND

And it’s all fun while you are sitting on your butt. I mean, hello.

Tess Harris

I mean, I’m reading my books. I am like catching up on all sorts of things in the sauna or meditating. It’s a great time to just have some time to decompress or put your phone away. There are so many reasons I look forward to using the sauna beyond the sweating and all the benefits I know I’m getting. It’s just such a nice retreat.

Sharon Stills, ND

Absolutely. At the end of the day, I’m like in my sauna after seeing patients, and I’m decompressing. Just what you said, it’s like, It’s the end of the day. And I think a lot of us are like, Oh, it’s the end of the day; I’m going to go to the couch and watch TV. And I’m like, not that I do not like to watch a good Netflix series, because, trust me, I do, but before that, I’m like, Ugh, the sauna and just the stress reduction of just sweating and sitting and feeling the heat and breathing. I have done everything from pay bills in the sauna. I am dating myself back, because when I used to have the sauna in the actual clinic when I had a brick and mortar, I would take the big checkbook in there. This was before computers and paying online. And I’d pay my bills at the end of the day. And my younger son, he struggled with heavy metal toxicity when he was younger. And so we would go in the sauna together, and I have such fond memories of singing Linkin Park with him in the sauna and just rocking out, and you can listen to music or podcasts. It’s such a like me time. So what other benefits? 

Tess Harris

In terms of also boosting metabolism, so similar to the study and reduction of fat, so exercise versus sauna versus the combination, we saw about a 35% increase in mitochondrial activity, so cellular energy and cellular metabolism. There was a 35% increase with just the heat therapy, a 31% increase was just exercise, and a 62% increase with the combination of sauna and exercise.

Sharon Stills, ND

We’ve talked about how important mitochondrial health is. So what about immune system function?

Tess Harris

Yes, absolutely. Sauna therapy can really help with the robust immune response. I’m not as familiar with all of that research off the top of my head, but I know a lot of the findings show like more robust immune response, lowering inflammation and oxidative stress on an acellular level and throughout the body, which also can help us to fight off infection and boost our immune response.

Sharon Stills, ND

It might be easier to ask the question, What does not sauna therapy help with?

Tess Harris

Even benefits for sleep and mood, right? So lowering cortisol, which is a stress hormone that directly inhibits sleep, and then boosting and elevating endorphins, which are the feel-good hormones, are both clinically shown with sauna therapy. And the higher your cortisol, the more of a reduction you see post-infrared sauna.

Sharon Stills, ND

That’s fantastic. And what about skin and skin health?

Tess Harris

Some really cool benefits with that so suppressing the photoaging damage we get from ultraviolet, so really neutralizing some of that, improving skin microcirculation, so just the vascularization throughout our skin to help maintain the health of our skin as a whole, improving water holding capacity, and just the elasticity of our skin. So those are all findings that are associated with saunas and infrared saunas specifically.

Sharon Stills, ND

So far, we’ve got detoxification. We’ve got hormone balance, skin health, weight loss, exercise, cardiovascular health, and immune health. Am I producing any of the other big ones?

Tess Harris

Just like the cardiovascular health, lowering your risk of neurodegenerative diseases.

Sharon Stills, ND

That’s the huge one.

Tess Harris

Yes, that’s a huge one.

Sharon Stills, ND

To me, I always think of health. I have my favorite hashtag that I created: Not all medicine comes in a bottle. And so how we heal is multifactorial, and it has to do with what we put in our mouth, both food and liquid, and supplements. And it has to do with the thoughts we think and the lifestyle we live and the tools we use, and the actions we take. And just as we’re having this conversation, I’m just seeing how two of the things, and I never really thought about it before this, but how bioidentical hormone replacement and sauna therapy are two of the things, you get my patients in a room and they’re like, She might have done different things for us, but, yes, she has definitely told us we have to get a sauna. And if we’re women on a journey, we’re on bioidentical hormone replacement. And they just have so many similar benefits for the cardiovascular system and for the immune system and for neurodegeneration, and brain health. And so what a beautiful marriage of really taking care of yourself through the menopausal transition! I love it. We got a dog excited in the back too.

Tess Harris

Sorry about that.

Sharon Stills, ND

Do you put your dogs in the sauna?

Tess Harris

Oh no, because they do not sweat. So thermoregulation is different, but surprisingly, we hear from folks all their time, their pets want to get in the sauna with them.

Sharon Stills, ND

Interesting.

Tess Harris

We do not recommend it.

Sharon Stills, ND

So let’s talk about your sauna and why it’s important to get the right sauna.

Tess Harris

Absolutely. Yes, this is key. There are a lot of factors that go into obviously making a good sauna that supports detoxification: the materials, the types of heaters, et cetera. So let’s start with materials first, because we’ve been talking about our environmental exposure, and obviously we do not want to be adding more chemicals to our environment and, of course, with heat, outgassing of certain materials. So, for example, plywood is full of formaldehyde, which is a known carcinogen. That’s volatile. It can outgas. Certain types of wood are also high in terms of the compounds naturally occurring in the wood that can outgas and really trigger a lot of sensitivities for folks and contribute to exposures in wood glues. So specifically for our saunas, we use a very specific Poplar wood from Europe that is known for having almost no wood smell and very, very low outgassing. It is the number one wood for environmental medicine clinics for anybody already experiencing sensitivity, and even before you are experiencing sensitivity, just having something in your home where you are optimizing all the benefits. You are not going to have any cheap materials. They’re 100% single wood, and they’re built with tongue and groove joinery to eliminate glues and materials that are going to be outgassing. So that’s an important part of it.

Sharon Stills, ND

As you are detoxing, you do not want to be in something that’s detoxing you and retoxing you. So that is super, super important, which it goes to speak, why it’s important to get an infrared sauna and not rely on your gym sauna, which I know may be a bummer, and I hear patients say, Well, I do not have room for a sauna. And I’m like, Yes, you do. It’s just like we always find a place. It’s just like a little playhouse. There’s always a place. Look, yours is right there.

Tess Harris

It fits in the corner really well. You can put it close to a wall; it’s really versatile. It can go on any type of flooring. They’re extraordinarily efficient to run, at least with the technology at High Tech Health. We have a very unique type of heater that is really designed to optimize the benefits. So they’re very ultra power efficient to run. We estimate it costs about $2 a month to use our two-person sauna every single day.

Sharon Stills, ND

So talk about: What is special about the High Tech with the heaters? And do we need to be worrying about EMFs? And speak to that, please?

Tess Harris

EMF it’s a really important part of this, So our heaters are all designed by High Tech Health and have been since the beginning of the company. And I know you’ve known for a long time, but EMF, or electromagnetic fields, which happen when anything is running on electricity, they can radiate from the source of where the electric current is coming in, and high EMF can cause a lot of cellular stress. In particular, it affects heart and brain cells, but it affects all of our cells. And unfortunately, a lot of infrared saunas out there are known for very, very high EMF, sometimes thousands of times higher than these thresholds for causing biologic effects.

The High Tech Health saunas have our own patented technology on how we mitigate all types of EMF, and that’s all independently tested and thorough lab testing. And so our saunas, as a whole, are lower in EMFs than most household appliances, and that is a big factor in terms of getting the most benefit, not adding stress to your body, and really allowing yourself to detox. And in our experience, a lot of folks experiencing environmental sensitivity, whether it’s chemical sensitivity, mold sensitivity, or any of these hyper reactions, may also be experiencing electrohypersensitivity or EMF sensitivity. So it is a really big piece of what makes a good infrared sauna that you can really benefit from is this low EMF technology.

Sharon Stills, ND

Huge piece. So we’ve got the poplar, which is non-formaldehyde, non-off-gassing wood. We’ve got low EMFs. Anything else that stands out to you that you want to share?

Tess Harris

Yes, some numerous things about our saunas. So the EMF mitigation is, of course, part of that. We add a fresh air fan in our sauna, which keeps some fresh air flowing through the sauna. That really makes it a lot more comfortable for a lot of folks. So sitting in this chamber, yes, it’s designed to allow some air flow, so you do not get this stuffy feeling and just build up CO2, and that makes them much more comfortable experience. You can breathe deeply. You can really enjoy the sauna experience. So that’s another really important feature of our saunas.

Sharon Stills, ND

Now, do you have any tips for sauna use, any contraindications, or anything you should do before and after?

Tess Harris

Hydrate? That is certainly key. Hydrate before, hydrate after, and maybe hydrate during the sauna if you are comfortable with it. That is a key to replenishing minerals as well. We sweat out a lot of minerals as well. So replacing magnesium, calcium, sodium, and potassium is important. In terms of: Is there one right way to use the sauna? Not necessarily, because everybody’s different and everybody’s tolerance levels can be different. I would say an average 30-minute session. We actually do provide protocols for use to get people started pretty slowly because you can detox too quickly with a sauna, and that can feel uncomfortable. You can feel a little lousy if you are going too fast. So you start slow, and then you basically work your way up in terms of duration. And as you go, you learn what feels right for you. And so it may be daily sessions for one person and twice a week for another person, or somewhere in between. We guide you through all of that, and the product specialists are all sauna experts; we all use saunas and understand the research. We guide our customers through that process as well, in terms of helping you learn as a new user and a new owner what’s right for you and answering all of those questions.

Sharon Stills, ND

Right, Yes. I’ll just reiterate hydration. I have patients utilize glutathione before their sauna sessions. Certainly, replenishing the minerals and electrolytes is so important. You want to be not draining yourself. You want the sauna to be supporting you. And so it’s really important that you take care of yourself. And so when you are partaking of sauna therapy, it’s like hydration is so important, and this gets you in that, Oh, I’m going to stay hydrated, because if I do not, I’m not going to feel good when I use my sauna, and I want to use my sauna because I want to burn calories while sitting on my butt and strengthen my cardiovascular system. talking about all these wonderful things. And even just sitting in the sauna as the panels are heating up, you get benefit. And so we, like you were saying, I often work patients up, and everyone is different. And ultimately, I like to get patients to a half-hour at 120 or higher if they can tolerate it where they’re getting a good sweat. A big sign of toxicity to me is when a patient says, I do not sweat. And when they come in for an intake, if that comes up in the intake, because I ask every patient, that becomes a priority for me. If someone’s not sweating, that jumps to the top of something we need to handle and get happening. When we’re sweating, we’re allowing our lymph to move. There are just so many benefits, as we were talking about not only with the infrared but also with the actual act of sweating. And so it’s crucial. I always tell patients, All right, you’ve got the sauna; now you’ve got to use it. Now you’ve got to use it. If you have it in your house, it’s hard to make excuses. If it’s at the gym and you are not even getting the same benefits at the gym, it’s like, Oh, I did not make it there; I’m tired; I do not want to leave. But when it’s in your house, and I have some patients who set up TVs outside of it, there are so many ways you can incorporate it into your evening, afternoon, or morning routine that it can just be a part of your detox life.

Tess Harris

It’s so easy to incorporate. I utilize there’s a delay start function, so I can set a timer. So if I’m going to a yoga class, it’s on it’s ready for me to get right in when I get home. So there are lots of ways to work it in and really make it your own: have a TV outside, have it be your quiet time, or have it be the time where you and your spouse just sit and talk. I hear lots of great stories from folks on how they love to use their sauna. 

Sharon Stills, ND

That’s awesome. We would have patients call and be like, I’m on my way; turn on the sauna. I’m coming from a session. And I want to emphasize that it’s a birthday suit. Obviously, when I was in the sauna with my son, we covered a little, but if you are with your partner or you are alone, you do not want to be wearing anything. You want to get full exposure to your whole body. And can you talk about whether you should you shower right after, or should you be wiping the sweat? Can you just speak to that?

Tess Harris

Absolutely, Yes. So dry brushing or brushing your skin, either with a brush or even just take a towel and wipe off sweat as you go, will actually help your body to sweat more. So that is absolutely recommended. I’m sitting on a towel in my sauna, and I’ve always got an extra towel or two, so I can be wiping off sweat as I go and then obviously wash those towels right away. And yes, you should shower after the sauna. We know there are a lot of toxins, metals, and all sorts of other things coming out in our sweat. So obviously, we want to wash our towels, and we want to wash ourselves as well.

Sharon Stills, ND

Right, you do not want to reabsorb what you are sweating out.

Tess Harris

Exactly.

Sharon Stills, ND

Anything else that we did not touch upon that’s important for the listeners?

Tess Harris

Yes. I talked a lot about the importance of sauna therapy and far-infrared therapy. It is important to note that this is specifically far infrared, which is a long wavelength of infrared. There is no clinical foundation for near-infrared in saunas. Sometimes you see that it is a trend out there these days to have the full spectrum of infrared. There are risks with near-infrared. So in the sauna, where we’re spending more time and using it regularly, far infrared is where all of the clinical research is, and it’s extremely well established and safe. And so that’s

Sharon Stills, ND

I was going to ask you about near-infrared. So what are the risks? I’m curious. 

Tess Harris

Cataracts. It can cause cataracts, damage to both the cornea and the retina. It can actually accelerate skin aging just like ultraviolet, so the opposite of what far infrared can do. It activates certain proteins that can break down collagen, and it can actually increase other risks from ultraviolet. So it can actually increase the risk of certain cancers. So near infrared really has a place in targeted localized therapies, so devices that are lasers and LEDs that are very specialized in terms of how they are calibrated and the wavelength and the intensity of the light are very focal treatments. With long-term, regular use in a sauna, we cross over to where these risk factors come into play. And any research showing those benefits with focal therapies is also a benefit we already get with far infrared.

Sharon Stills, ND

Interesting, and I was just thinking of one other. What about pain reduction?

Tess Harris

Huge. I’m sorry I missed that earlier. That’s a huge topic. Lots of studies showing reductions in chronic inflammation, acute inflammation, reducing oxidative stress. There’s a far-infrared study looking at lowering pain or pain management for folks with fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis and showing really good outcomes for both of those groups. So they’re really effective tools for so many health factors.

Sharon Stills, ND

I just thought of it, ’cause I was thinking I have this dream and this mission of transforming health and transforming all of you who are listening, your experience of your hormonal journey, and your lives. And I was thinking, wouldn’t it be amazing if every house had a sauna, and rather than reaching for the Advil when you have pain, you just strip down, get naked, and get in your sauna? And that’s why I thought about, Oh, pain, we need-

Tess Harris

I’ll be honest, that actually was a big transformation for me having a sauna in terms of what my first response is when I’m not feeling well. Maybe I’m coming down with a cold or I’m a little sore or something, in the sauna, not the medicine cabinet, and that’s been really life-changing.

Sharon Stills, ND

Yes, that’s such a good point too. When you are first getting sick, what does Mama say? She says, You’ve got a sweat, right? Drink some hot tea or hot chicken noodle soup. And so the sauna—I’ve seen in the sauna personally and professionally avert serious illnesses because you just sweat out the toxins. You sweat it out, and then you feel better. You get a good night’s sleep. So it really is. There are not many things. I always say there’s the myth of the magic bullet and that there really is no magic bullet for healing. It’s multifactorial. But if I had to pick a tool that was going to come the closest to being a magic bullet to me, it would totally be the infra-red sauna.

Tess Harris

Absolutely, Yes. The more I learn and the more research comes out, just the more excited I get. Every time I read a new paper and a new finding, I’m like, All right, I’m getting in the sauna. I have another reason to get in the sauna—not that I need more, but Yes, it’s just remarkable.

Sharon Stills, ND

Yes, and I just see it clinically. I’ve seen so many of those things, whether it be weight loss or patients who are injured or have illnesses where they cannot exercise yet. The sauna helps their cardiovascular system, so they’re not missing out on that training or helping with chronic illness, or helping to detoxify. I work with a lot of patients dealing with cancer. It’s one of my other specialties, and the sauna is always involved. It’s like, if you are going to work with me, you’ve got to be doing infrared sauna therapy because I want you to get better and we need this tool. So I did not have a huge clinic, and we carved out a spot and stuck a sauna in there. I’m going to make it work. We did not have a private place. I hung a pole, and we had curtains so people could have privacy. We made it work because that’s how important it was for me to be effective with my patients.

That’s why I wanted to have you here. And that’s why I’m so honored you are sponsoring it, because I feel so passionate about this as a tool, and it really does change when you are a sauna owner. It’s like it changes how you view health and what you do, and how you heal. And I believe it’s one of the greatest prevention tools for aging healthily. We know that toxins are such a huge part of; there’s yet to be a cancer that does not have a toxicity component. And so it it’s just crucial, as I said before, that we become chronic detoxifiers, that we’ve become chronically involved and actively involved, and passionately involved in tools to detox and sweat.

So, thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for sharing the studies. I tend to be… I’m a clinician. I am on the ground. I see it with patients. I see women losing weight. I see them aging backwards. I see their skin just changing in front of my eyes. I see their brain fog going away. I see their sleep being enhanced. I just see so many benefits from it. So, I appreciate it because it makes my job easier.

Tess Harris

Thank you so much for having me. It’s been wonderful.

Sharon Stills, ND

You are welcome. And for those listening who are interested, I know we have a special gift for them if they’re interested in learning more: purchasing a sauna. What do they need to do and say to get a discount?

Tess Harris

Absolutely. You can visit hightechhealth.com or give us a call and mention Dr. Sharon Stills. Mention this Mastering Menopause Summit, and you will be eligible for a special discount.

Sharon Stills, ND

Thank you for doing that. Thank you for helping me to spread sauna love. It’s so key, so, so key. So I hope you all are like, I’ve got to sweat. I’m like,I’ve got to go hopping in my sauna. That’s how I’m feeling now. That’s one other thing too. We talk about it addictions, and we think of addictions as bad, but I think there are some good things to be addicted to. For me, I’m addicted to the sauna. I’m addicted to sweating, but I think, if you are going to, I have overcome many bad and unhealthy addictions. But if you are going to have an addiction, at least let it be a healthy one.

And so, join my sweat addiction and start to think about how saunas can change your life, because, trust me, they can. So thanks for being here. Happy to answer any questions. High-tech is a wealth of information. I was fortunate enough to meet the founder when I was still in medical school and I was traveling around the country teaching at different health conferences. I was teaching European biological medicine, and I ran into the sauna, and I was like, Ooh. So I got educated very early. So it became part of what? As soon as I liked it, even before I graduated, I was using it. And so it just became something that I used. And I definitely credit sauna therapy to being a big piece of why I have such good success with my patients. So thank you, thank you, thank you. And everyone, get your sweat on. We will see you soon. Be well.