Reaching Menopause? Time to Hit the Sauna

Hitting the sauna might come with a boost in health benefits for older adults, especially postmenopausal women. According to new research from the American Society for Nutrition involving mouse models, 30 minutes of daily, whole-body heat therapy resulted in lower obesity and insulin resistance, HealthDay reports.

• The study: Researchers removed ovaries from the mice to induce menopause, then put them on a Western diet that resulted in weight gain. Split into two groups, the mice that received heat treatments over the 12 weeks gained less weight from their diet and had improved insulin sensitivity.

• Benefits for women: According to lead author Dr. Soonkyu Chung, an associate professor in the Department of Nutrition at UMass Amherst, women are at higher risk of becoming obese. "This is especially true after menopause, due to the loss of estrogen in the body. Our study suggests that whole-body heat therapy could serve as an effective, non-invasive solution for managing weight gain and insulin resistance associated with menopause."
• Heat treatments?: While the mice hung out in heat chambers for this study, the researchers say the outcomes could potentially be replicated for humans. "It could be easily integrated into routine healthcare practices through regular sessions in saunas, heated baths or with specialized heat wraps," says Rong Fan, an author on the paper.
• Saunas FTW: Menopause is just the tip of the iceberg, sauna-wise. Per HealthDigest, research shows saunas can help people better and also boost cardiovascular health. OSF Healthcare also shares findings that sauna-use can decrease dementia risk.
• What's next?: The researchers stress that more experiments are needed to verify that humans experience the same results, while also pinning down the best duration and intensity of the treatments, as well as potential safety concerns.
  (Starting a menopause journey? This could be a risk.)