You might think that the benefit of having a sauna, steam bath or hot tub is that they are each enjoyable experiences. You might even know they have health benefits beyond relaxation and pleasure.

For example, the benefit most commonly known is that the heat opens your pores and helps you eliminate toxins through your skin. In that way they help clean your body from the inside, which is a major health benefit indeed

However, there's a benefit to these experiences that goes far beyond just helping your body clean out. It's one savvy people know at least intuitively, which is why they see to it that they have these experiences on a regular basis. Historical evidence of steam bathing exists as far back as the Bronze age (starting around 3000 B.C.). It's a tradition that has existed in some form or another in a wide variety of cultures.

Ancient Greeks had hot bathing rituals; the Romans their public baths (thermae); the Japanese their hot springs (Onsen). Native Americans, from the Inuit of Alaska to southern Mayan and Aztec cultures have sweat lodge traditions; the Middle East has its Turkish baths In Eastern Europe you'll find a long-standing tradition of steam baths (Banya), while in Icelanders make use of their natural hot springs. All these cultures emphasized  the health benefits of sweating and cleansing the body in these ways.

Now, modern science has discovered an additional benefit - one that just might convince you to develop and keep such a ritual in your own life. It has to do with something called 'heat shock proteins. They are particular kinds of proteins found in the cells of all living things, and they are fundamental to the survival of cells. They act like 'molecular chaperones' that keep cell proteins in their proper shape and protect the cells against stress, developing and regulating cellular survival functions.

So what do they have to do with saunas, sweat lodges, hot tubs and steam baths? In short, heating the body through such experiences upregulates heat shock proteins with all their protective benefits.

It's scientifically verified that people who have genetically upregulated heat shock proteins are long-lived.

The good news is, that whether or not you have that genetic predisposition, you can take charge of your fate in that regard and upregulate your heat shock proteins.

Just heat your body in one of these traditional ways, The benefits of such heating will support your optimal cellular health and the health of your whole organism.

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                                       http://www.betterhealthbytes.com
Pamela Levin is an R.N., & a Teaching & Supervising Transactional Analyst with 500+ post-graduate hours in clinical nutrition, herbology and applied kinesiology. In private practice offering health improvement services 45 years, she is an award winning author and nutritional journalist. She is the mother of 2 and grandmother of 2.
                                                                                           Pamela Levin, R.N., T.S.T.A.
                                                                                                             October 13, 2015

For lots of tips to support your better health and greater well-being of body, mind, spirit, emotions and relationships, and to request a topic you'd like covered, go to www.betterhealthbytes.com.

Source: www.BetterHealthBytes.com

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