I thought weekends couldn’t get any sweeter until I experienced some new detox spa treatments this past Saturday. A few weeks back I picked up a Groupon.com deal for a $55 dollar spa package including an hour infrared sauna session and an ionic foot bath. Two detox methods I’d been crazy curious about trying.
As you all know by now I love saunas! I typically sweet it out a few times per week in one of the spacious cedar saunas at the UCSF campuses. I teach several classes and private clients at those spaces and try to pop into the box for a quick sweat and mediation in-between clients.
There’s actually a World Sauna Championship in Finland where the sauna originated.
Scientific literature shows that sauna’s are amazing for flushing the body of toxins and stimulating the circulatory, lymphatic and immune system. So what’s the difference between a traditional sauna and it’s modern infrared cousin? A sauna heats the air, infrared heats objects (meaning you!).
Cheesy photo I know…bare with me!
Instead of sweating due to hot dry air, infrared sauna’s heat you from the core. Penetrating two inches into the body, the infrared electromagnetic heat is apparently supposed to dig deeper and flush more out of your system then a traditional hot box. Though not backed by a lot of scientific studies, spas have gobbled up the gadget charging big bucks for an hour long session.
The Ionic foot bath has a similar claim. You soak your feet in a tub of salt water with an electromagnetic current running through it. This current of energy is supposed to effect the positive and negative ions in the body and pull toxins out of the 4000 pores in your feet. The water will change color depending on what is being leached out. Orange for joints, black for heavy metals, etc.
Let’s say I was a little skeptical! After hacking through the sales claims I found that there isn’t any scientific evidence to back up the detox claims. The water will change color whether your feet are in it or not. Many say the orange color is just a chemical reaction between the salt, the tap water and the electrodes.
Who knows! All I know is any warm foot soak with epsom salts will have the same relaxing effects. The spa even rubbed down my tootsies with peppermint lotion. The tingling sensation from the peppermint alone would have felt amazing.
Follow me behind the scenes into the spa…
Ionic Foot Bath Verdict: A bunch of bullshit. To put it bluntly. Soak your feet in the tub and add a scoop of epsom salts. Rub your feet with peppermint oil or lotion afterward for the same stress reducing, relaxation effect. Easy and cheap.
Infrared Sauna Verdict: I’m not sold completely. I bet if I sat in any sauna for an hour I would sweat as much and feel equally revitalized. I like that the infrared sauna isn’t as hot or suffocating as a traditional sauna though. I did feel incredible afterward and could smell the metal coming out of my pores during the session. I would love to try one where I could lay down as well. I like to meditate on my back or stretch.
Hoax or not, I walked out of the spa feeling absolutely on top of the world. Taking the time every week to do something sensational for your mind and body is necessary in our stressful lives. Lately I’ve been running around like a chicken with my head cut off and desperately needed a day of rest and rejuvenation. Why do we make life so hard for ourselves? We deserve to enjoy our bodies!
Have you tried one of these detox methods? How do you unwind and take care of your body?
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Hi Amber! I agree with you, I think most of the foot baths are hoax too. I heard that the changing color of water mainly depends only on what kind of junk do you have on the outer layers of your feet, and that the stuff they put to “Detox” you is simply also reacting to your natural oils and minerals in your feet.
Thanks for giving some props for Finland and our world sauna championships, LOL!! I like the traditional Finnish sauna’s much better than the infrared’s (although I am biased because I am from Finland and it is part of our culture), but I think infrared sauna’s can be a great additional way to detox for people who are seriously out of shape of overweight. I have also tried infrared sauna’s where additional extra oxygen is being pumped while you are in the sauna and the detox is even that much better.
But I think for people who are already in fantastic shape I think the benefits of an infrared sauna is more to just to relax you and make you feel good if you enjoy it. Thanks for the great post!
Mikko- Glad I could give a good shout out to Finland. I have a dear friend from Finland! The added oxygen sounds fantastic. A little oxygen high never hurt anyone. I agree that infrared is great for weight loss and over all relaxation. I love nothing more than stretching in a sauna after an intense yoga, pilates, or dance class. Thanks for sharing your insight!
Amber, that’s nice
!! I agree stretching after a sauna is awesome for you. I wish I got to do the Finnish sauna more often here in San Francisco. Occasionally, I have had the chance to do it with some stretching as I am trying to become more flexible to improve my salsa dancing. It is just so hard to get this stiff, basketball player from Finland to bend though 
. I really need to check out your pilates and stretching tips more often. I am shooting for a split!! Wish me luck 
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