Why do we need a Far InfraRed (FIR) Sauna?
The Australian released the news in May 2006: AusDiab2005 study done by the Melbourne-based International Diabetes Institute leads to the findings:
The diabetes epidemic costs taxpayers $3 billion a year and one-quarter of hospital beds are filled by patients with the disease.
- It shows that high blood pressure and kidney disease-associated with excess weight and diabetes- are also growing fast, affecting a further 400,000 and 270,000 adults a year, respectively.
- The Australian waistlines grew by an average of 2.1cm and their weight by 1.4kg in the five years. The findings actually happened to almost all the age groups, both male and females.
- More than two-thirds of the 6000 participants who died from cardiovascular disease had diabetes or its precursor condition pre-diabetes.
The Australian August 8th, 2006
About 1.4 million Australian have some form of diabetes. However Diabetes Australia predicts that number will rise to 1.7 million by 2010. An Australian study of 3900 people with Type 2 diabetes found 50 % had impaired kidney function.
What is wrong with us?
Today, with water and airborne 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.
This combination of the scientific theory and people’s gluttony in eating made for high consumption of animal food. And, the result has been an epidemic of heart and blood related diseases, which has earned its place as today’s number one killer.
Elevated levels of commonly used chemicals are currently being detected in human sera. Many compounds have been shown to accumulate and remain stored in body tissues.
According to the EPA, our bodies accumulate 210mcg of just plasticizers (phthalates) everyday. Others have demonstrated that most of us have between 400 and 800 chemical residues stored in the fat cells of our bodies. The problem is excretion. Most of these potentially harmful chemicals just sit there and cannot be metabolized. An incredibly large population is suffering from toxic illness.
What is the best way to get rid of toxic chemicals including pesticides, heavy metals and hydrocarbon residues? The answer is the far infrared sauna.
The heat of far infrared sauna penetrates almost two inches beneath the skin and can melt fat deposits there. When fat is discharged from the skin in the form of sweat, the fat carries out with it heavy metals that cannot be discharged by either the kidneys or the lungs.
The skin is our largest eliminative organ. It is generally considered that the skin should eliminate 30% of the body wastes by way of perspiration.
These chemicals are often toxic to the immune system, nervous system, endocrine system, and liver. "Sweating the out" reduces chemical stress on the body and generally leads to improved health.”
(More information in Sauna ABC)
Questions and Answers
1. What is the far infrared ray?
Solar energy from the sun covers a broad energy band including infrared, visible light, ultra-violet, x-ray and gamma rays. Only a small mount of these solar rays are visible as colors. The greatest of amount of the sun’s energy output is in the infrared segment of the spectrum. This band of light is not visible but can be felt as heat.
The infrared segment of the electromagnetic spectrum is divided into three segments by wave frequencies and wavelengths. Wavelengths are measured in microns (mm), which are one millionth of meters: near infrared: 0.76-1.5mm; Middle: 1.5-5.6mm; Far: 5.6-1000mm... A narrow spectrum between 4-14 microns has been shown to have particularly beneficial effects on the human body. (Far Infrared by Valerie H. Free, USA) Near and middle infrared ray is a kind of heat.
(More information for this topic in Sauna ABC)
2. Is the far infrared ray safe?
Yes, the hospital use the infrared cabin for the newborn baby and sports clinic use infrared lamps for the recovery of injuries.
Our human send and receive far infrared ray with output at 9.4 microns.
Far infrared rays are the healing and safe rays of the sun's spectrum, responsible for photosynthesis. It has nothing to do with UV ray or microwaves. Without this wavelength, plants would be unable to make energy, and consequently, there would be no life on earth.
(More information for topic in Sauna ABC)
3. What are the benefits coming from the far infrared ray? (Do you need Far infrared box or a simply a heat box)?
Among the total spectrum of solar rays coming from the sun, the far infrared ray is the safest and the most beneficial. For example the visible light spectrum, with very short wave lengths, is reflected away from the body. When near infrared wave’s heat organic substances the surface gets hotter than the interior and the interior get heated by conduction from the surface. By contrast, far-infrared penetrates deeply with a very uniform warming effect.
That is why if the heaters do not generate far infrared ray, they will not give you the same effect as our far infrared heaters. In Melbourne show, a lady told us that she got completely different feeling from hers after sitting in ours for some minutes. (More information for this topic in Sauna ABC)
4. Who is the pioneer of the far infrared sauna industry?
Started from 1979, Health Mate sauna comes to the market. That is the first manufacture of the mass production of infrared sauna in the world. PLH Products Group of Companies, USA is the pioneer of far infrared sauna industry. Most of the researches have been done in 1980s and 1990s. Health Mate was the major player in those years. Most of our competitors just have few years’ history. So the literatures they are using for marketing their products actually not coming from the researches or studies of their saunas, because at that days they simply did not exist.
Head office of PLH in Buena Park,CA, USA
5. What is the difference between the far infrared sauna and steam rooms?
Infrared Saunas offer more healthy benefits.
Both saunas and steam rooms can be used to relax and unwind. However, dry saunas have an advantage over steam rooms by helping to rid the body of more toxic metals picked up from the environment. Of course, the kidneys take out many of these toxins but a daily sweat can help reduce the body's accumulation of lead, mercury, nickel in addition to cadmium, sodium, sulfuric acid and cholesterol.
The sauna is also more beneficial than 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 the terms of using up calories, thus assists in fat loss. (Susan Jones, Ph.D in Lets live magazine, June 1994, USA) The heart needs to work harder to send more blood to the capillaries under the skin. It helps to improve the heart function. The energy required for that process is derived from the conversion of fat and carbohydrates to calories.
It is running at lower temperature. It’s more comfortable. With CD/Radio, you can relax.
Far infrared sauna is therapeutically different from the wet air of the steam room sauna. It is lower temperature with dry heat, much more comfortable. Most of us enjoy that gentle heat.
Since this sauna employs the very low end of the infrared spectrum, it causes the user to sweat at temperatures just under 65 degrees centigrade, a temperature that is much safer for the aged and for people with weak hearts.
It is low running cost. (25 to 40 cents per session varies from different models.)
It generate 2-3 more sweat in FIR sauna and eliminating much more toxins out you body.
It is portable. It is free standing. It takes about 30 minutes to set up. It needs only one normal power point. No electrician or plumber required.
(More information for this topic in Sauna ABC)
Heating up your body with inside or heating up the air?
6. What are the health benefits of a far infrared sauna?
The Health Benefits are:
- Deep cleanse and detoxification
- Reduce muscular stress, tension and physical fatigue
- Give comfort and relaxation of aching body
- Improve whole body conditioning and wellbeing
- Relax and improve sleep
- Burns calories
- Improve skin tone
7. Why Health Mate Sauna offers the best heaters?
To provide a new standard of effective heat for the body, Health Mate Saunas use infrared energy, also called radiant heat. This heat is produced by infrared rays, a form of energy that is just below visible light on the spectrum. This technology actually developed by NASA and exclusive to Health Mate and Aurora products. NASA has been tested and proved that the far infrared heat would be the ideal way to maintain cardiovascular conditioning in American astronauts during long space flights. (Near or middle infrared, which below 5.6 microns is not effective on the human body. So it is important that an infrared heater emits far infrared ray.) The radiant heat penetrates to a depth of 35-40mm, soothing and relieving muscles and tissues. At lower, more comfortable temperatures, infrared heat can generate two to three times the sweat produced in conventional saunas. Radiant heat works on the body directly from within. Normal sauna heaters simply don’t offer the same results.
The heaters designed are specifically for the human body. It enjoys good reputation of high efficiency, accuracy and reliability of its heaters.
Health Mate saunas use a ceramic heater core coated with incoloy, a metal alloy effective in high temperature applications. The incoloy coating distributes the heat evenly throughout the heater, ensuring a consistent far infrared wavelength. The heater housing, in conjunction with the heater, maximizes far infrared generation toward the front of the sauna while minimizing any energy loss through the back of the sauna.
Our heaters are specially designed to evenly distribute far infrared rays and to have almost infinite lifetime. The large reflecting panels placed behind the heaters are designed to reflect the specific far infrared wavelengths emitted from our heaters for maximum results. The result is that you can benefit from the far infrared that modern science can offer while enjoying a sauna session.
Our heaters have the most effective ceramic elements inside coated with metal alloy. The ceramic elements are specially processed to emit the wavelength at the most beneficial level to human body. This structure not only ensures the constant emission of far infrared ray but also make the heater lifetime longer than any other infrared heaters in the market.
Our customers are very happy with our heaters. We had done a survey on customer’s satisfaction. The main comments from our customers are:
“I love my sauna.”
“It is a great product.”
“The heaters give gentle warm heat, pretty comfortable.”
“It is a reliable product.”
We give 15 years replacement warranty on our heater units.
Health Mate latest version heaters are M type heaters that insure the gentle warm the human body more efficiently and effectively from the inside, evenly throughout the entire sauna interior for maximum results.
8. Why Western Red Cedar is the best timber for sauna use?
Cedar wood and its oil have been used from 3000~4000 years ago to prevent or cure illnesses throughout the regions. The early Europeans used cedar wood oil to help heal the sick and to prevent outbreaks of disease. Europeans used cedar wood oil to cure indigestion, flatulence, leprosy, bubonic plague, smallpox and fever. In the 17th century, English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper had observed that cedar wood was a remedy for heart failure, coughs, and shortness of breath, tuberculosis and menstruation.
Western Red Cedar produces natural oil and extractives that act as preservatives to protect the wood from insect attacks and decay-causing fungi. Cedar wood is renowned for its resistance to bacteria and fungi, along with its ability to deter most insects, moths, and pests. Cedar wood’s structure creates interior air space that gives it a higher insulation value than most woods. It also boasts very low shrinkage value, making it suitable for a variety of uses in high-moisture areas such as saunas. The Cedar timber is renowned for not warping or twisting, excellent heat insulator.
Not all saunas, however, are created equal. We believe that quality products only come from quality materials. We fresh-air-dry (NOT artificially kiln-dry) our Cedar for minimum of 3 weeks to preserve the wood’s natural state. Then we inspect and handpick all clear & vertical grain (NO flat grain) Cedar.
No one else in the industry has the capacity to choose Cedar wood like we do. That’s why no one can come close to the quality of Health Mate sauna.
9. What is the difference between Health mate brand and Aurora brand?
Started from 2002, the cheaper copy saunas from Asia come to the market. They use the cheaper timber HAMLOCK. The timber comes from Burma, rainforest area. The Health Mate Brand has been in the market for many years (1979 started) with Canadian western Cedar. As you may know that the Canadian Red Cedar is very expensive, which cannot compete with the copies? We ask factory to make another type of timber. Factory spent newly one year for testing and heating with 5 different timbers. Finally Alaska spruce is the champion. It is hard pine with good quality. People use that timber for making piano. The quality of the workmanship is same as Health Mate Sauna, same heaters and control panel and power box.
10. Is Health Mate Sauna expensive to run?
No, it is a low running cost machine. Up to the size of the saunas, the cost can be varying, from 25cents to 50cents per session. (20 minutes heating up with 30 minutes sauna session. If it is in summer, it needs 5 to 10 minutes for heating up. Running cost will be cheaper.)
11. How often professional people recommend to use Health Mate sauna?
To start with you can do 2-3 three times a week at low temperature. You will find your favorite temperature after a few sauna sessions and stay longer and use more times per week. Every day 30 minutes is a good base, do this at least you will have 3 to 4 times per week, you’ll how well you perspire, and in no time understand how good you’re feeling.
12. Why Health Mate Sauna can remove more toxins from your body at lower temperature?
Since humans are bio-accumulators, numerous toxins that cannot be removed immediately after entry are stored in our body. For example, when toxic gases such as sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide or toxic substances such as lead, mercury or chlorine meet large water molecules, they encapsulated by the clusters of water. Where these toxins are accumulated, blood circulation is blocked and cellular energy is impaired.
However, when a FIR wave is applied to these large water molecules, the water begins to vibrate. This vibration reduces the ion bonds of the atoms which are holding together the molecules of water. As the breakdown of the water molecules occurs, encapsulated gases and other toxic materials are released.
Scientists in Japan report that in the FIR wave treatment of clogged capillary vessels, a similar process occurs: heat expands the capillaries and then initiates the start of a process to dissolve hidden toxins.
Far infrared ray offers deep penetration.
Understand, not all the saunas offer the same effect; make sure it is a Far Infrared sauna.
You need a far infrared ray not just the heat which comes from the near or middle infrared ray. Anyone can buy a heater from the local hardware store, but it will NOT give you the required beneficial effect.
13. Is Health Mate Sauna easy to assemble or disassemble?
Yes. Health Mate is the easiest one for setting up. No need for any special tools. It is portable. No need for a plumber or electrician. It just needs a normal power point, plug in and go.
14. Can Health Mate Sauna put outside?
Yes. Since the way they built like the way we build timber house in Australia, inside and outside are timber with supporting frame in the middle and hollow. It offers very good insulation. The sauna needs to put under the cover if you put it outside. We can supply the canopy cover for the protection of side way water.
15. Any maintenance do we need?
No, but your must bear one thing in mind that each time, sweat into your towel. We suggest you put the two beach towels on the bench and a mat on the floor, hold one in your hands. If you sweat into your towel not timber, you just wash your towel not the timber.
16. Is the branding important?
Yes, it is. That is the goodwill setting up by a company for long time. If you think about the top brand in the car industry, you may think of say, Mercedes Benz car, it's the same in sauna industry. Health Mate has been a leader in the sauna industry for the past 27 years, and in that time with the quality of product, after sales service and innovative design, they have become the brand name, which others are judged by. You will not be wrong with Health Mate brand. 27 years via few years’ history will not be the same thing.
17. What is the warranty policy?
15 years on all heaters, 5 years on workmanship and 3 years on electronic parts, 1 year on CD/Radio. This is factory warranty policy. If the marketing companies offer lifetime warranty or 8 years warranty but the factory’s commitment is only one year to their parts, it just does not make sense.
18. Is Health Mate an international brand?
Yes, it is. It has over 50 dealers in the world. It is called Health Mate everywhere, not like someone go to Asia to order the product simply create a name. They can do that business today and give up tomorrow. Or they can change the manufacture without notice to the customers.
19. Does Health Mate Sauna have safety certificates?
Yes, it has been tested by the top credit labs in USA and get the certificate of USA, Europe, Canada and more including Australia and New Zealand.
20. Do you have public liability insurance?
In Australia, New Era Imports P/L handles the public liability insurance10, 000,000.
21. Why we suppose not buy the sauna from the Internet?
The good part of the internet is you can get more information. But remember some of this information maybe misleading or even fraudulent. A Sauna is not the style of product you can simply purchase from the Internet like you buy a book. It is a health product with high value. If you cannot see it, smell it and listen to it or test it, you just do not know what it is. The price means nothing. It can be different products. People can pay extra money for the website and gloss catalogue. If the company pays more money, they can be in the no.1 in the searching engine list all the time. But you will get no other inform of their background which is more important.
One customer got a sauna from the Internet, and after 4 weeks, the entire family member got noticeable skin tanning. Another customer got a product which parts missing or faulty, but cannot get any help from the supplier. Finally the supplier went missing as well.
22. What brand of CD/Radio does Health Mate Sauna use built-in?
Health mate sauna uses Panasonic or Blaupunkt CD/ Radio.
23. Does Health Mate sauna have colour therapy lighting?
Yes, it offers great start light (not the mood light). It is American optical light box with 4 different colors rotating. It is built-in the roof. It looks like stars in the sky at night. We call it start light. It is great color lighting. Most of the competitors are simply using colored lights.
24. What other people saying about Health mate Sauna?
Many professional magazines and professional people introduced Health Mate sauna. A lot of customers talk about our sauna. Please refer to the Sauna ABC and our website.
25. Can anyone use Health Mate Sauna?
Most of people can use Health mate sauna even aged people or younger ones.
26. Who is the manufacture of Health Mate Sauna?
PLH Products Group of Companies, USA. It is the first company to do mass production and marketing far infrared sauna in the world. It is the biggest supplier in the world with 100,000 square meters plant. It employs over 600 people. In USA, it has more than 300 dealers with biggest market share.
27. Does Health Mate Sauna service or repairing friendly?
Yes, it is designed as modular, easy for installation and replacing if any parts faulty. Even you are in the country, we can simply send you service parts with service manual, and you can do it yourself.
28. Who is the importer and agent selling Health Mate sauna in Australia?
New Era Imports Pty Ltd is the exclusive agent in Australia for Health Mate and Aurora sauna. We are responsible for the importing, marketing and servicing all Health Mate and Aurora FRI sauna in Australia. We have local agents in different states.
29. Should we have my sauna after the Spa or before the Spa?
Yes, we recommend you go the sauna after spa. When you have your spa, you could sit yourself into the water with chemicals. When you come to the sauna, it will help you to sweat off all the toxins.
30. How to shop around?
When you do your research, you are certainly not looking for the cheapest one. If you can find out why it is cheap, you will be smart.
Here are some important factors to consider when you are shopping for infrared saunas.
Who are you buying from?
Be aware whom you are buying your sauna from. Try to stay away from sellers that import their saunas from unknown sources, especially the ones that sell exclusively on Internet. Do not buy the sauna simply cheat or good marketing material.Who is the manufacturer?
If the seller is not able to provide you with the manufacturer’s information, you should pass and shop somewhere else. You never know when the seller changes the manufacturer, and you end up with nowhere to get the support from. One marketing company changed 3 different kind of sauna within one year already. How you can get your product serviced if you are the customer?Does the manufacturer carry PLI (Product Liability Insurance)?
Make sure that the company stands behind not only their products, but also their customers 100%.Ask if the company carries product liability insurance.Does the manufacturer carry Certifications issued by Australian Government?
If you buy a product that has no certification, you are putting yourself at risk with your local building inspectors or your home insurance company
And finally you should test one against the other, ask for a trail, and then you’ll see for your self, if the heaters work to your satisfaction, is the wood the style and odour you like. We believe you’ll notice a huge difference between a Health Mate sauna and other brands, a fact many clients tell us after testing ours.
Fact from Fiction
Is Cedar toxic?
No, Cedar wood has been used from 3000 -4000 years ago to prevent or cure illnesses. Not one case has been reported to any government agencies or research institutions worldwide regarding to the health problem related to using Cedar wood sauna. Just ask the Finns, most of them grew up in Cedar clad houses and know that it is the premium wood to use in building. Please note: Canadian Red Cedar is much more expensive than the spruce.
Is the size of the heater’s surface important?
Some of our opposition claim that their heaters are larger in size than anyone else, which is correct, but the size of the heater does not determine the volume of the infrared ray it can generate, or the area it covers. If you are in a room, the light bulb is on. It can generate light within the whole room or it only generates the light with the same size of its surface. That is common sense. We have a testing report can prove that someone’s heater just generate ray as half of our heater. The volume of the Far Infrared ray cannot be judged by the surface of the heaters.
The most important factors are
“the far infrared ray” and
“the reliability”, not the surface.
Does your Health Mate heater generate instant heat?
Yes, it does. It generates the far infrared ray when the temperature goes to 38 degree or above. (Even it is off for a few minutes.) It generates instant heat.
Does flat heaters have better wavelength?
No. industry-recognized scientific research has reported that the flat heater emits higher wavelengths than our heaters. On the other hand, think about the material it uses for the flat heater, it can not be reliable as Health Mate heaters.
Others claim that their heaters emit 9 to 14 microns. Are they better than Health Mate?
No, no scientific research has proven that far infrared ray effects human body differently depending on a wavelength. If the wavelength is higher than 5.6 microns, it is considered far infrared, it is of benefit to you and there's little difference between 6 or 15 microns. That's what science has discovered so far. Don't be misleading by aggressive and many times fraudulent marketing by emerging sauna companies. Some sellers claim that their infrared heaters emit 9 to 14 microns with false or no scientific evidence. In order to emit 9 microns, the heater surface temperature should be 100 º F or less. That's slightly higher than our skin temperature! It is obvious that you can't sweat with those heaters. Either their claim about wavelenghts is fraudulent or you can't sweat enough in their saunas. At Health mate, we don't make such fraudulent claims just to sell the units. That's one of the reasons why Health Mate has been trusted and loved by customers for nearly 30years.
Any General rules for the FIR sauna?
- To start using the sauna at 40 to 50 degrees, in short 20 minutes at first, building up a feel for your body's tolerance. Use less heat if you feel discomfort initially.
- If you weigh less after a sauna, you did not drink enough water to compensate for the loss. Be sure you can drink an equal amount of weight in water. Drink water before and during the sauna. Take water with you. Eat more fresh vegetables before or after sauna, (we can give you more information on what kind of water if you required).
- Remember to keep drying off the sweat with a towel. Bring towels for the floor and to sit on to absorb the sweat. You do not want to contaminate your sauna wood. When you finish the sauna, leave the door open and let it dry.
- You must stop at any time that you experience headache, nausea, fast heart rate, weakness, irregular heart rate (if this is not a symptom you normally have), and shortness of breath, dizziness, disorientation, muscle cramps, muscle spasms or twitching or any adverse symptom.
- You can do whatever you need to entertain yourself, CD, radio, watching TV or read your books. The time is never wasted.
There are many saunas around, but none quiet like Health Mate.
Think about your health, think about far infrared sauna.
Think about quality; think about Health Mate and Aurora Brands.
