Robbie Besner's argument is straightforward: different infrared wavelengths penetrate the body differently, and using all three together creates a more complete healing stimulus than any single wavelength alone. Near infrared works at the skin surface, stimulating nitric oxide and improving blood oxygenation. Far infrared reaches deeper — up to three inches — and that depth is where the detoxification and metabolic claims live.
It's a compelling framework. But it's worth separating what the evidence strongly supports from what's more speculative.
The cardiovascular and metabolic benefits of heat exposure are well-established — and infrared saunas deliver them even at lower temperatures than traditional Finnish-style saunas. You don't need 200°F to elevate your core temperature, increase plasma volume, or trigger heat shock proteins. Infrared does this at 120-150°F, which many people tolerate better and sustain longer.
The calorie burn figures — 400 to 500 calories per half-hour session — align with what we'd expect from the heart rate elevation. When your heart rate climbs to 120-150 beats per minute responding to heat, you're doing cardiovascular work without mechanical load on joints. That's the same mechanism Rhonda Patrick's research highlights: you're training your circulatory system to be more flexible, more responsive, without the cortisol spike of running.
The detoxification framing is where I'd pump the brakes. The liver and kidneys process the overwhelming majority of environmental toxins — heavy metals, pesticides, synthetic compounds. Sweat does carry some of these, but the quantities are modest compared to what your hepatic system handles daily. The word "detox" gets attached to sauna because sweating feels cleansing, and because there are trace studies showing some toxin excretion through sweat. But it's not the primary mechanism, and Besner's framing leans harder on it than the evidence warrants.
The ozone therapy integration is even more contested. The claim that transdermal ozone absorption meaningfully improves oxygen delivery or combats pathogens lacks the clinical depth of the sauna research itself. It's an interesting hypothesis, but treat it as experimental rather than established.
Use infrared sauna for the things the evidence supports: cardiovascular adaptation, heat shock protein activation, metabolic rate elevation, and mood regulation. Three to four sessions per week, 20-30 minutes each. Give yourself time to warm up gradually — the first 10 minutes are establishing the thermal gradient, not wasted time.
The portable design keeping your head outside the chamber? That's genuinely smart engineering. Your brain is thermally sensitive in ways your muscles aren't. Keeping core body temperature elevated while maintaining cerebral comfort isn't a compromise — it's precision.
Near infrared's effect on nitric oxide is underappreciated. Nitric oxide drives vasodilation, improves blood oxygenation, and plays a role in cellular signaling throughout the body. There's emerging research connecting nitric oxide pathways to cognitive function and even immune modulation. This means your infrared sauna session isn't just a thermal event — it's a signaling event. You're essentially sending a message through the vascular network, and that message reaches places a steam room never touches.
The Lyme disease origin story behind this technology is worth noting too. Some of the most rigorous health innovations come from people who couldn't find conventional solutions and had to engineer their own. Besner's background — pre-medical and engineering — produced something designed for a specific, stubborn problem. That kind of necessity-driven engineering often produces tools more practical than what comes out of a university lab.