Luke O'Neill

And so therefore we want to go back to that kind of, maybe subconsciously, who knows.

So maybe it's something to do with the fact that we evolved in warm, humid places and now we're in a cold place and we long,

for that heat yet again.

And so therefore we start using these, you know, sweat houses or whatever you call them.

So that might be an evolutionary reason for this.

Now, we have to have definitions as scientists.

What is a sauna?

Well, it's a small room.

First of all, they aren't very big.

Lined usually with unpainted wood and we usually use heated rocks.

and you can heat them in a special device for heating them up.

And then water is poured over them to create humidity.

And the temperature in saunas can reach 70, 80, 90 degrees centigrade.

They can be very hot places, as you would all know.

The relative humidity can get to 100%.

So the air is very, very humid.

And, you know, I guess a good analogy would be the steaming jungles of Africa, partly where we evolved, although

It did evolve on the savannas, but even still, it sort of replicates those conditions.

And so, therefore, the sauna is trying to recreate what it was like in Africa is one way to think of it.

As a result of all this, then, people have wondered, is it good?