HEALTH MATE

	HEALTH MATE has proudly served as the benchmark in the industry, for over 30 years, innovating with the latest technology to provide quality far infrared home saunas, ideal for deep relaxation and soothing comfort, as well as health and healing.
	"Sweat Your Way to Radiant Health" Click on the Play button (>) below to listen to this 30 - minute Radio Interview with Susan

Saunas, in one form or another, have been used across ages and oceans. For thousands of years, cultures around the world have recognized the relaxing benefits of rendered heat within a warm, welcoming space. From the Romans to the Japanese to the Scandinavians, heat therapy has been essential for the body to unwind from the stresses and hardships of daily life.

Health Mate takes the timeless sauna to the next level, utilizing state-of-the-art infrared technology developed by NASA to provide a deep heat and relaxation never before encountered. They use only the finest Canadian Western Red Cedar wood from their very own mill, ship saunas worldwide, and in Canada and the United States, offer a lifetime warranty. Each sauna is handcrafted, individually manufactured, assembles in only 10-15 minutes, without any major tools, uses less energy than most other saunas—same as a blow dryer—and is effective at lower temperatures.

For 35 years, I have been an avid sauna enthusiast and know that taking infrared saunas regularly is one of the main reasons that I am so healthy. Before I tell you why you’ll want to incorporate a Health Mate Sauna into your health program, and make it easy for you to order, here’s an excerpt from my book The Healing Power of NatureFoods: 50 Revitalizing SuperFoods & Lifestyle Choices to Promote Radiant Health about the benefits of sweating and taking saunas that may interest you.

Sweat Your Way To Radiant Health

by Susan Smith Jones, PhD ©

For thousands of years, cultures throughout the world have enjoyed the many therapeutic benefits of saunas, from the elaborate bath/sauna/exercise complexes of the Romans, to the simple but effective "sweat lodge" structures of the Scandinavians and Native Americans. These cultures recognized the many therapeutic benefits of the sauna (i.e., rids body of toxins, aids weight loss, kills viruses), fully enjoying these benefits in a community setting.

In Finland, the sauna is an historic tradition. For over a thousand years, the sauna has been an important part of Finnish life and Finnish culture, cherished by every Finnish man, woman and child according to Paavo Airola in his book Health Secrets From Europe. In fact, the sauna is credited for much of the rugged vitality and endurance - the sisu - of the Finnish people. In a country of approximately 5 million people, there are an estimated 700,000 saunas - one for every 7 people! Airola writes, "Most Finnish saunas are in separate buildings specially constructed for this purpose. Every farm has its own sauna, usually built on the shore of a lake or river. Most family houses in the city have saunas built on the lot, usually in the back yard."

Business meetings between strangers in Finland are often conducted in the soothing surroundings of the sauna, and it has been suggested that the combination of high heat and nakedness enabled the Finns to successfully negotiate the international trade minefields between East and West during the cold war. There is a saying in Finland that one must behave in the sauna just as in church. They consider taking saunas very sacred. What can we learn from the Finns about the benefits of saunas?

Sweating is not only an important part of our physical well-being, but in these modern times of water and air-borne pollution, toxic chemicals, heavy metals and poor dietary and exercise habits, the therapeutic internal cleansing of regular sweating is critical to maintain a healthy body and mind.

Dry Air Saunas Vs. Wet Steam Rooms

The hot, dry air of the sauna is therapeutically different from the steam room sauna. The dry sauna causes profuse sweating—the air itself absorbing the sweat. But the water-saturated air of the steam room doesn't readily accept the sweat released by the body. The steam room makes you feel hotter because your sweat doesn't evaporate and carry away the heat. This raises a question: Is it better to be warm on the inside or sweaty on the outside?

That depends on what you want from either system. When exposed to heat of any kind, blood vessels in the skin dilate to allow more blood to flow to the surface. This activates the millions of sweat glands that cover the body. The fluid in the blood hydrates the sweat glands, which pour the water into the skin's surface. As the water evaporates from the skin, it draws heat from the body; it's nature’s cooling system.

Either the sauna or the steam room can be used to relax and unwind; however, the dry sauna clearly has more therapeutic benefits. For one thing, the dry sauna has an advantage over a steam room by helping to rid the body of more toxic metals picked up from our environments. Of course, the kidneys take out many of these toxins, but a daily sweat can help reduce the body's accumulation of lead, mercury, and nickel in addition to cadmium, sodium, sulfuric acid and cholesterol.

The sauna is also more beneficial over the steam room, if weight loss is desired, because of the energy expenditure. Compared to the steam room, the sauna places a greater demand on the body in terms of using up calories -- therefore assists in fat loss. The heart has to work harder to send more blood to the capillaries under the skin. The energy required for that process is derived from the conversion of fat and carbohydrates to calories. In addition, the sweat glands must work to produce sweat, which also requires energy and more calories. Studies show that a person can burn up to 300 calories during a sauna session, the equivalent of a 2-3 mile jog or an hour of moderate weight training.

From sweating, you can lose up to a quart of water during a 20-minute sauna. Without replacement, such a high water loss can lead to disruption of normal heart rhythms, and cause fatigue and nausea. Therefore, I recommend drinking fresh fruit juice or water before, during and after the sauna. Any attempt to lose weight by depriving your body of replacement fluid is extremely risky and can land you in the hospital. Further, I suggest eating plenty of leafy greens and a variety of vegetables and fresh vegetable juices to replace such essential minerals as iron, zinc, copper and magnesium that are lost in sweat.

Therapeutic Benefits

Sweating by overheating the body in a dry sauna also produces these effects:

• Speeds up metabolic processes of vital organs and inhibits the growth of pathogenic bacteria or virus. The vital organs and glands, including endocrine and sex glands, are stimulated to increased activity.

• Creates a "fever" reaction that kills potentially dangerous viruses and bacteria and increases the number of leukocytes in the blood, thereby strengthening the immune system--important for fighting colds, flu, cancer and bolstering resistance to infections. In other words, it increases and accelerates the body's own healing activity and restorative capacity.

• Places demands upon the cardiovascular system, making the heart pump harder and producing a drop in diastolic blood pressure.

• Stimulates vasodilation of peripheral vessels, which relieves pain and speeds healing of sprains, strains, bursitis, peripheral vascular diseases, arthritis and muscle pain.

• Promotes relaxation, thereby lending a feeling of well-being.

Studies on Artificially Induced Fever

There is a great health benefit of fever. Nobel-Prize winner Dr. Andre Lwoff, a French virologist, believes that high temperature during infection helps combat the growth of virus. "Therefore, fever should not be brought down with drugs," he said.

Two medical doctors, Werner Zable and Josef Issels, have this to say about fever: "Artificially induced fever has the greatest potential in the treatment of many diseases including cancer."

In the early 1990’s, Dr. E. Ernst, a professor in the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation in the medical school in Hanover, Germany, found that there were no cancer patients among marathon runners. He conducted a study of marathoners who logged about 20 miles a day. Analyzing their sweat, he found it contained cadmium, lead, and nickel. Ernst concluded that these athletes excreted these potential cancer-causing elements from their bodies by perspiring. He and other scientists conclude that it is necessary to sweat profusely at least once a day to maintain good health.

Usually, only the most active of athletes achieve sweat through heavy exercise on a daily basis, and usually not of the deep, prolonged, therapeutic type that will flush out toxins and heavy metals. Unfortunately, most people do not exercise enough or spend time in saunas to sweat frequently to eliminate these accumulation of toxins. And yet, we now know to maintain a healthy body and mind, everyone needs to eliminate and flush out these accumulated poisons regularly. And those who are unable to exercise heavily, for whatever reason, have an even greater need to create a regular sweat. Deep sweating through daily saunas is the best method of doing this.

When saunas are used regularly, studies have shown such benefits as improvement of blood circulation, restored youthfulness, toxin and heavy metal reduction, weight control, cellulite reduction, skin cleansing and rejuvenation, allergy reduction, rash reduction and muscle and joint pain reduction.

With a Health Mate sauna, a person is able to stay in for a longer time, thus able to reap greater benefits than through the use of other saunas. Also, because body temperature will rise slightly, the body reacts in the normal manner by raising the heart rate to a mild aerobic range, increasing blood flow, opening up the capillaries for greater blood flow to sluggish areas, opening up the pores, and creating the deep sweat that flushes out the toxins.

On a cautionary note, certain people need to approach saunas slowly and judiciously. Folks over age 60 are in a high-risk group for undiagnosed heart disease. The sauna's no place to find out. See your doctor before using the sauna. So should those who are on regular medication, obese, pregnant, or have thyroid, kidney or respiratory problems, diabetes or high blood pressure.

Today sweating in not only "in", it's been proven to be one of the healthiest things a body can do. Nothing beats the feeling and overall well-being or the health benefits you get after you've worked up a "good sweat" and the easiest key to a "good sweat" is a sauna.

Why Choose Health Mate?

From my extensive research on saunas and the benefits of sweating over the past three decades, my personal preference among all the saunas available is Health Mate. For almost 30 years, Health Mate has been the world leader in the sauna business and has gained a reputation of making the best-of-the-best. They choose from only the finest materials to make their saunas. Each sauna is handcrafted, individually manufactured, assembles in only 15-20 minutes—without any major tools—uses less energy than most other saunas (same as a blow dryer), and is effective at lower temperatures.

If you’re like I am, you also will appreciate the option of a full sound system, complete with CD player, AM/FM tuner and remote control. The interior bench offers an elegant embossed molding that provides added comfort and relaxation while enjoying each session. A high tech digital control panel is accessible from both inside and outside. It features a convenient “reservation” function, setting the sauna to preheat at the desired time of day. As mentioned above, the finest Canadian Western Red Cedar is hand-selected at the company’s very own mill.

Because of the company’s rich history, there is legitimacy to the product and company. They can claim a lifetime warranty because they have been around long enough to prove it. Newer companies and other fly-by-night operations cannot offer the same conditions. Health Mate’s reputation is supported by the company’s ability to back up their claims. Their commitment to excellence is backed by their superior customer service.

Additionally, Health Mate carries domestic and international safety certifications and is proud to provide a copy, if requested. Along with the lifetime warranty, these safety measures assure me of Health Mate’s efficacy and effectiveness. And one of the things I appreciate most about this company and their saunas is that they also guarantee it!

Choose from an intimate unit that snugly seats two people all the way up to a sauna large enough for the entire family, or an innovative corner unit, seating up to three people with a unique V-shape that allows it to fit conveniently in any home corner.

When you invest in a Health Mate sauna, you’re making an investment not only in your health, but also an investment for life Discover for yourself all the amazing benefits of a Health Mate sauna. I would not be without mine. For more information or to purchase a sauna, please visit their website: www.healthmatesauna.com or call the company at: 1-800-946-6001.