The Best Way To Use Sauna for Real Detox Results | SaunaCast Ep.2

In this episode of SaunaCast, we’re digging into one of the most misunderstood topics in the wellness world — detoxing with infrared saunas. I’ll explain what detox actually means (no gimmicks or juice cleanses), how infrared saunas really work, and exactly how to use them safely for better energy, mental clarity, and recovery.

You’ll also learn my beginner detox protocol — binder, sauna, rehydrate — and why that simple formula works better than overcomplicating it. We’ll bust some common myths, cover how to avoid detox mistakes, and I’ll share a few real stories from the Certified Saunas community that’ll inspire you to get consistent.

Stick around for the advanced tips too — like pairing sauna with red light therapy or tracking HRV recovery over time. This is foundational stuff that anyone serious about health should understand.

Read the transcript >

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Transcript

So while the air temperature of the cabin may only reach 130 or 140 degrees, you’re sweating in much less time at a lower temperature, with less stress on your body, at a much deeper level. Just after three weeks of consistent infrared sauna use, their brain fog lifted for the first time in years. SaunaCast episode two, infrared saunas and detox, the truth, the science, and the myths. Welcome back to another Certified Saunas podcast. I’m your host, Matt Justice. Today, we’re talking about one of the most powerful and honestly, one of the most misunderstood tools for health and healing, the infrared sauna. Now, if you’re new to the show, welcome. Every single week, we break down the science, the protocols, the real-life stories about detox saunas, living in a healthier or living healthier in a toxic world, I should say. If you’ve been with me for a while or you’re a longtime subscriber, thank you for being part of the community. I love seeing all your stories in the Certified Sauna Facebook group on YouTube. There’s 35,000 people strong now. And while they’re not scientific studies, I myself get great benefit out of seeing the anecdotal benefits and all the health benefits that you guys have been able to create for yourselves. So thank you very much for being a part of everything.

So here’s what we’re covering today. Why detox even matters, how saunas actually work, the exact protocols I recommend for beginners, a little myth-busting, and some community wins, audience Q&A as always, and next-level strategy if you’re already a seasoned sauna user. It’s a lot, so let’s get into it. Let’s talk about why detox even matters in today’s world. People sometimes roll their eyes at the word detox. I’ve got the YouTube community pulled up over here. I’ve got the Facebook community pulled up over here. I see all your questions and your responses. We pull in Q&As for the weekly episode, and I get it. The wellness industry has just watered down the term detox with juice cleanses, seven-day quick fixes, oh, buy my supplement and sit on the toilet for 72 hours or some crazy stuff. It’s not a colonoscopy. It should be more of gentle lifestyle adjustments that lead to better health. At least that’s my opinion. But here’s the truth. Our bodies were never designed to handle the toxic load of modern-day life. They’re adjusting over time, but they need to be supported. Health systems need to be supported. That’s what I’ve understood out of all the functional medicine doctors that I’ve used. Every day, we’re exposed to pesticides in our food, microplastics in our water, heavy metals in our environment, sometimes our occupation, medications. Sometimes the medications have these compounds in them, and even persistent organic pollutants that become like or come from stuff like nonstick pans, industrial chemicals, cleaning products. Here’s the kicker. Your body doesn’t always just flush them out. A lot of these toxins get stored in fat cells. Why? Because your body doesn’t know what else to do with them, so it tucks them away for later. The problem is later never comes. Unless you’re creating a process for mobilizing and eliminating them on a regular basis, you can have a buildup or an accumulation that leads to other health issues down the road. That’s what we’re all trying to avoid. In one study, environmental science and technology measured BPA levels in sweat and found that people who sat in saunas and actually excreted more measurable amounts of BPA, that’s not just water coming out. That’s chemicals, and there’s a huge benefit to it. So detox isn’t really just about feeling better, clearing brain fog, although you’ll notice that too. It’s about lowering the burden on your liver, kidneys, immune system, so your body can function the way it’s supposed to.

Section number two, saunas 101, how they work. Let’s talk about how saunas actually make this happen in your body. Most people are familiar with traditional saunas. They think Finnish sauna, hot air, wood benches, 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Sometimes you toss water on the rocks for steam, sometimes you don’t. So those work by heating the air, convection, and in turn your body gets hot and sweats. Infrared saunas, like I’ve mentioned before in the gazillion videos on the YouTube channel, they use infrared wavelengths, basically invisible light that penetrates directly into your body’s tissues. Instead of having to heat the air around you, infrared can heat your core up by penetrating radiant heat directly at your tissues. So while the air temperature of the cabin may only reach 130 or 140 degrees, you’re sweating in much less time at a lower temperature with less stress on your body at a much deeper level. Why that matters? Well, deeper sweat means mobilizing toxins that are stored in fat cells. That’s the number one goal that no one talks about. Now, some people argue that infrared isn’t a real sauna, but listen, it’s just a different tool. As long as it accomplishes the same result, I’m all for any form of heat therapy. If traditional saunas are a hammer, infrared is a screwdriver. Both are going to get the job done, they just do it differently. And some of the key benefits of infrared that I love, it’s more tolerable for people that can’t handle super high heat. It allows longer sessions without feeling suffocated. It directly supports detoxification at the cellular level. I’ll never forget the first time I sat in a low EMF, well-built infrared sauna. I thought, this isn’t that hot. I can handle this. And I was health challenged at the time. This is pretty easy. But about 15 minutes in, my body kicked into high gear. I walked out feeling like I just unloaded a backpack full of stress I didn’t even know I was carrying. I had clarity and an elimination of brain fog. And the best part, I slept like a baby that night. It slowly started to convince me after being a skeptic for years. So in the next section, let’s talk about some protocols that actually work, that’ll make a difference for you. Here’s the biggest question I get all the time. How do I actually use my sauna to detox? This is where so many people get it wrong. They buy a sauna, they sit in it a few times, they sweat a little, and they wonder why they don’t feel different. Here’s my method after years of doing this, step-by-step for beginners. For more advanced protocols, see different sections, please. I recommend always beginners, never sauna two days in a row so you don’t end up taxing your body, especially if you’re health-challenged. So step number one, take your binder before your session. This is huge. If you only take one thing away from today, let it be this. You need something in your GI tract to trap the toxins that are going to be mobilized. That could be activated charcoal, it could be bentonite, it could be zeolite, it could be a binder blend, I don’t care what it is. Take it before your sauna session, an hour before. It’s sitting there ready to catch the toxins, your body pushes out. If you don’t, those toxins can just recirculate if you have leaky gut, and you might feel worse instead of better. This is the number one solution to most people’s complaint. Step two, your sauna session. Aim for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on your heat tolerance. Don’t push yourself to exhaustion. The goal is consistency, not torture. Think of it like exercise. You don’t go into the gym on day one and deadlift 500 pounds, do you? Start light and build up. Step three, rehydrate smart. This is where people miss the mark. They chug plain water, but what your body really needs are electrolytes and minerals. Every drop of sweat you lose contains sodium, potassium, magnesium, and trace minerals. If you’re not putting those back in, and you’re draining your reserves, it’s not a good idea. That’s why I always keep a good electrolyte mix or minerals drop on hand, and I make a sauna drink for every session. Step four, journal your sessions. Might sound silly, but it’s powerful. Write down how long you stayed in, how you felt after, how you slept, your energy the next morning. Over time, you’re going to see patterns, and you’ll know if three sessions a week is enough, or if daily use is giving you the results that you want, or if it’s overly taxing your body. The way that you know is you’ll feel tired the next day. Just cliff notes. Now, advanced users sometimes try the niacin sauna detox protocol. That’s where you take niacin to mobilize fat-stored toxins on a schedule, usually three to three and a half weeks, and then sweat them out. Firefighters in New York after 9-11 use this exact method, but it’s not for beginners, and if you don’t do it right, it can be rougher than if you wouldn’t have done it at all. So if you’re new, just stick to the binder sauna electrolytes formula. Trust me, it works. The foundational benefits you will receive without overtaxing your body. Worry about doing a more complicated and intense detox protocol later. Get your body used to the heat therapy first.

Now, section four, these are myths and controversies. Let’s do some quick myth-busting, right? Myth number one, sweat is just water. Nope. Studies show that it contains arsenic, cadmium, BPAs, phthalates, the real detox that’s happening through your skin. Yes, everything else is sent to the organs for processing and will be excreted in other ways, but you are removing certain compounds from your sweat. Myth number two, infrared is an unsafe method of radiation. False. Infrared is the same spectrum of light that warms your skin when you’re sitting in the sun. It’s not ionizing radiation. It doesn’t damage your DNA. It’s just an isolated wavelength and it gets rid of visible light. Myth number three, only high heat works. This is just simply not true. I, myself, and tens of thousands of others have used infrared to mobilize toxins at lower temperatures, and that means people can stick with it more consistently, and consistency is the real magic over time. Let’s do some community voices really quick. One of my favorite parts of this work is hearing from you guys. Last week in our certified sauna group, someone shared that just after three weeks of consistent infrared sauna use, their brain fog lifted for the first time in years. Another person said their pain dropped dramatically after adding two sauna sessions per week. Then we had a firefighter share that his sleep improved so much his wife noticed before he did. She said, you’re finally sleeping through the night without tossing and turning. Now, I don’t show people’s names or anything else. We respect privacy, but these aren’t extreme athletes or celebrities. These are everyday people just like you and I who are getting real results, and it fires me up. It makes me want to do more of this, and I appreciate contributing to this work and serving you guys the best way I possibly can. It does so much for me, so thank you very much. Let’s do some audience Q&A really quick for this episode. All right, audience questions of the week. Question number one, how often should I use my sauna for detox? Great question. For most people, three to four times a week is ideal. If you’re dealing with heavy toxic load or health issues, daily sessions can help, but I recommend every other day so that you allow some rest. You’ve got to listen to your body. If you’re feeling drained after every session, back it off. If you’re feeling energized, no problem. Keep it

Question number two for this week, do I need to shower immediately after? My opinion is yes. We’re not doing an anti-cancer or viral protocol where you’re going to wrap yourself in blankets and retain heat for an hour at a time, and you’re being coached by a therapist, and you have somebody there to assist you. These are home sauna sessions. Once you’re done, those toxins are sitting on your skin, but not only that, it’s not a toxin reabsorption issue. It’s that get your skin clean. Do you want to have acne? If you don’t wash off your skin, your body can have trouble with excess sebaceous oily sweat. Even a quick rinse, in my opinion, is better than nothing. If you can, use a shower filter to cut out the chlorine and other contaminants after you’ve just cleaned your skin with the sauna session.

Question number three from you guys, is it safe for kids or older adults? Generally, yes, but sessions should be shorter and cooler. Kids under 12, five to 10 minutes max, always supervised. Older adults, same thing. Keep it gentle. Always check with their healthcare provider if you have medical conditions. We’re not doctors or licensed medical physicians that could advise you on a relative’s personal healthcare. Please see a licensed medical physician for that. You got to take into account their medications. You would want to take sauna detox binders around the time that they take medications. It could render them useless and ineffective, et cetera, et cetera.

Question number four, what’s the best time of day to sauna? Well, it depends on your goals. Morning saunas can give you a circulation boost and some mental clarity that’ll last throughout the day. Evening saunas can calm you down, lower stress hormones, prep you for sleep. I like evenings myself, but test both and see what feels best for you.

Segment number seven, next level strategies. For those of you who’ve been at this for a while and you want to go deeper, try pairing sauna with red light therapy. Red light’s going to stimulate your mitochondrial energy production. It’s going to prime your body for detox. Do 10 minutes of red light therapy while your sauna is heating up and you’re going to feel the difference over a two-week period. Other advanced stacks include intermittent fasting plus sauna, tracking your HRV with a wearable. That way you can see how your body is adapting to detox over time and you can also see the areas throughout the week where you’re overdoing it and your recovery just isn’t on track. It should be slow and slow approach and you can adjust from there.

Today we covered why detox matters in today’s toxic world, how saunas actually work, the exact protocol I recommend, and a little myth busting, and we tackled your Q&A questions. Here’s your action step. This week, schedule two to three sauna sessions. Take your binder before your sauna session, an hour before ideally. Hydrate after with minerals and electrolytes. Jot down how you feel. Keep it simple. Let the consistency work for you over a period of time. If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app. Check the show notes for free guides and links to our community. Until next time, I’m Matt Justice reminding you, sweat smarter, not harder.