I saw an ad yesterday about infrared sauna - they are all on sale right now - 2 000 $ for a 2 persons sauna - all wood

They look nice, come in kit and are easy to assemble at home.

I have tried the usual wet sauna a while ago and I wonder if infrared offers the same benefits. Anybody here having tried it or having one?

Please do share your insights and experiences about it.

I like sauna. I use them regularly at the gym where I pay 70 dollars a month, I guess it may be cheaper and more convenient to own one at home.

cynthia Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I saw an ad yesterday about infrared sauna - they
> are all on sale right now - 2 000 $ for a 2
> persons sauna - all wood
>
> They look nice, come in kit and are easy to
> assemble at home.
>
> I have tried the usual wet sauna a while ago and I
> wonder if infrared offers the same benefits.
> Anybody here having tried it or having one?
>
> Please do share your insights and experiences
> about it.

Check out what Brian Clement has to say about it! Like powerlifer has said I believe Brian says the same. Either way if you can sweat it out at least you are doing something. We don't always need these new age healing machines, just good old sweat will do the trick!

Yes, Brian raves about infrared saunas. He says it is one of the very best detox tools.

Thank you for your commentaries and advices

sounds cool

they also use infra red in acupuncture

had it done before both used in conjunction

some people are caught into words. Regular saunas with tiled walls have lots of far infrared. If the wall is hot, then it is emiting IR. Your skin naked is emiting infrared (skin is a very good emiter so is paint). my point is that far IR does not need to come from LEDs. A regular room radiator (painted) is a good source though it may not make you sweat.

I'd say the old fashioned dry sauna is the best. In my culture sauna is a very important part of life. So I tried everything. Infrared messed up my hormones. Then I researched it was mentioned that it affects your thyroid. My personal experience was enough to never try it again.

a piece of cloth over the neck would stop FIR waves. I have an FIR sauna and it only goes to the neck. With dentists XRays, the thyroid is supposed to be the most sensitive (need neck protection) but never heard of FIR being the case.

I had 2 experiences with infrared- once sauna ( used regularly for about a week), and another time this [www.jellenproducts.com] used for about 10 days. The instructions on the DPL said that if someone has hypo(or hyper?)thyroidism they shouldn't use infrared therapy. So that infers that it affects the thyroid in some way.. Mine is healthy, I went for a test afterwards, thanks God. As to the effect both the sauna and the DPL use had on me, my monthly cycle came 2 weeks after it ended. It never happened in my life ever. And there were no other lifestyle/diet changes I made in that time that might have caused this. I don't take any medication, contraceptives, nothing like that. High raw gluten free vegan diet, nothing else. Thankfully, everything got back to normal next month, no issues ever since.
Maybe it was just a coincidence, or maybe it's just me, I don't know. I don't want to spread misinformation out there though. I just tried to google more on this subject and couldn't find anything.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/09/2013 03:21PM by littlemermaid.

Steam rooms or saunas put your entire system into high gear in just few minutes, that is not how nature works. There should be more studies on the adverse effects of these machines on the human body in the long run.

powerlifter Wrote:

> If you were already low in zinc, magnesium, copper
> etc which are involved in healthy cycle and were
> doing sauna's daily it me have been from lowering
> of these minerals further. Most people are low in
> zinc i have found and too rich in copper, which
> causes many of the typical PMS symptoms.
>



What should one eat to get adequate amount of zinc, magnesium, and copper on a raw food diet. I love steam rooms.

powerlifter - thank you, very interesting. The DPL system I was using only on the face though, and it didn't cause any sweat. Yet, I had the same reaction as from infrared sauna.
I've been using regular saunas on more or less consistent basis all my life though with no negative effects ever. So I'll just stick with the old fashioned way

madinah Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What should one eat to get adequate amount of
> zinc, magnesium, and copper on a raw food diet. I
> love steam rooms.

You will struggle to get enough zinc on the typical raw vegan diet, the best sources of Zinc unfortunately are animal foods. Lack of zinc isn't the only problem on a raw diet, the excessive Copper intake from plant foods can further lower Zinc. This is why most long term raw vegans suffer from Copper imbalances largely stemming from Zinc Deficiency. This is why many long term raw foodists are emaciated despite consuming some protein daily, zinc is critical for protein synthesis and digestion of protein.

A cooked vegan diet will typically contain higher levels of zinc due to the inclusion of beans, legumes, grains which are "ok" sources of zinc, but not foods which you would want to consume in any large amount if you do tolerate them. Nuts and seeds are about the only half decent raw vegan source of zinc, but will still not achieve the RDA unless your eating excessive amounts.

There are so many factors which lower zinc such as stress, alcohol, drug, cigarette, stimulant use, high level of copper in the diet, heavy metal toxicity, losing zinc through sexual fluid loss etc. Many individuals are zinc deficient, an easy crude way of testing is through a zinc tally taste test. If you don't taste anything, your likely deficient. Most zinc deficient individuals will also have vertical ridges on the nails amongst other symptoms such as weak immune system/frequent infections, adrenal fatigue, poor stress tolerance, anxiety, low libido, stretch marks etc.

Zinc deficiency is more common in men because males require more zinc than females. Which is why many females can last longer on the raw vegan diet, but in the end the copper imbalances/lack of zinc will set in and cause problems with healthy cycles, hormonal symptoms, anxiety, panic attacks and the other symptoms associated with coppr imbalances/toxicity.

Magnesium and copper aren't really that much of a problem on a raw diet pending you include enough variety. Greens, nuts and seeds are typically the best sources of magnesium and copper if you are eating raw. Zinc is the main problem and iodine can be too if sea vegetables aren't included, as there is no other reliant raw vegan source. Iron can also be a problem because non-heme i.e plant iron is poorly absorbed. However Vitamin C can increase the absorption and utilization of iron.

Kelp is good for replenishing minerals after sauna use and whilst not very rich in zinc, has a good balance of zinc to copper and is an excellent all round mineral supplement. Natures way is the only brand of kelp i recommend and is fairly cheap - Natures Way Kelp Capsules



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 10/09/2013 08:11PM by powerlifter.

That is scary. In the end it is very difficult to be a successful long living vegan.

powerlifter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> You will struggle to get enough zinc on the
> typical raw vegan diet, the best sources of Zinc
> unfortunately are animal foods. Lack of zinc isn't
> the only problem on a raw diet, the excessive
> Copper intake from plant foods can further lower
> Zinc. This is why most long term raw vegans suffer
> from Copper imbalances largely stemming from Zinc
> Deficiency. This is why many long term raw
> foodists are emaciated despite consuming some
> protein daily, zinc is critical for protein
> synthesis and digestion of protein.
>
> A cooked vegan diet will typically contain higher
> levels of zinc due to the inclusion of beans,
> legumes, grains which are ok sources of zinc. Nuts
> and seeds are about the only half decent raw vegan
> source of zinc, but will still not achieve the RDA
> unless your eating excessive amounts.
>
> There are so many factors which lower zinc such as
> stress, alcohol, drug, cigarette, stimulant use,
> high level of copper in the diet, heavy metal
> toxicity, losing zinc through sexual fluid loss
> etc. Many individuals are zinc deficient, an easy
> crude way of testing is through a zinc tally taste
> test. If you don't taste anything, your likely
> deficient. Most zinc deficient individuals will
> also have vertical ridges on the nails amongst
> other symptoms such as weak immune system/frequent
> infections, adrenal fatigue, poor stress
> tolerance, anxiety, low libido, stretch marks
> etc.
>
> Zinc deficiency is more common in men because
> males require more zinc than females. Which is why
> many females can last longer on the raw vegan
> diet, but in the end the copper imbalances/lack of
> zinc will set in and cause problems with healthy
> cycles, hormonal symptoms, anxiety, panic attacks
> and the other symptoms associated with coppr
> imbalances/toxicity.
>
> Kelp is good for replenishing minerals after sauna
> use and whilst not very rich in zinc, has a good
> balance of zinc to copper and is an excellent all
> round mineral supplement. Natures way is the only
> brand of kelp i recommend and is fairly cheap -
> Natures Way Kelp Capsules

The best ways to get zinc is:

* consume sprouted poppy seeds (highest vegan land source by far), but the problem is that most poppy is irradiated.
* consume sea weeds
* consume blue-green and green algaes.


Also make sure that citric acid is in the diet along with a good balance of the amino acid methionine to help absorption.

Also ferment various high zinc foods to remove things like phytic acid and tannins and to provide additional organic acids. Fermenting seeds to dephytinize the seeds and algae to break down high levels of tannins is very important. Fermenting will greatly help bring the zinc level up towards copper.

Alfalfa sprout juice would also help.

Yes, the copper to zinc ratios are seemingly impossible to get right, but how accurate is the science of this??? Same goes with the crazy theory that 2.5 parts calcium should be balances with 1 part phosporous. It's like...hardly any foods in nature have these ideal ratios, so maybe science hasn't grapsed the entire picture of nutrition yet (they have no ability to take into account all possible variables, so some theories are going to be questionable, especially when opposing common sense).

Some basic reading below:

Dietary Factors Influencing Zinc Absorption
Bo Lo¨ nnerdal
[jn.nutrition.org]

Effect of citrate on zinc bioavailability from milk, milk fractions and infant formulas
Ph.D. Martha L. Pabón1, Ph.D. Bo Lönnerdal
[www.sciencedirect.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/09/2013 08:57PM by The Sproutarian Man.

powerlifter - if you click on the link I posted, it explains about the DPL. It uses infrared rays. That's why I mentioned it as poart of my experience