Infrared Therapy and Metabolism: What Actually Happens in Your Body
For many people, infrared is simply easier to start with than a traditional Finnish sauna.
The air feels lighter. The temperature feels more tolerable. You don’t get that same immediate intensity when you walk in.
And that matters.
Because if something feels too uncomfortable, most people won’t stick with it long enough to get any real effect.
But this is also where confusion begins.
Infrared is often positioned as a “gentler sauna.”
And physiologically, that’s not quite accurate.
It’s not just a softer version of the same thing.
It’s a different stimulus.
So instead of asking whether it’s “as good,” I think a better question is:
What does it actually do in the body—and when does it make sense to use it?
What Infrared Is Actually Doing (Beyond the Surface)
When you sit in an infrared sauna or use an infrared blanket, you’re not primarily heating the air around you.
You’re exposing your body to light.
And that light—especially near-infrared—interacts directly with tissue.
This is why the experience feels different.
The heat is not only external. It’s also internal.
But the important part is not the sensation.
It’s what happens at the cellular level.
Your Cells and Energy Production
Inside your cells, you have mitochondria.
This is where energy is produced.
And one of the most interesting findings in this space is that infrared light can interact with a specific part of the mitochondria—an enzyme called cytochrome c oxidase.
You don’t need to remember the name.
What matters is the effect.
