Today on The People's Scientist podcast, I continue to give us some positive stimulus on ideas to promote our mental well-being during our quarantine time. I have received quite a few requests in the last year to cover the scientific evidence of heat therapy on mental health. Heat therapy includes: sauna use, hot yoga, hot bath, hot shower, and cold adapted showers. Heat therapy is a mild physiological stressor which can cause adaptations to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The HPA axis induces a stress response and tends to be hyperactive in anxiety and depression. So, heat therapy through its effects on heat shock proteins can induce a negative feedback loop to self inhibit the HPA axis. What does this mean? Heat therapy may reduce stress and promote mental health by inhibiting the HPA axis. Tune in for more details!
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