Why You Shouldn’t Drink Alcohol Before a Sauna Session

A problematic and potentially dangerous practice has emerged amid the rising trend of integrating saunas into social gatherings. Some sauna users are drinking alcohol before their sauna session. While sipping a drink might feel like a way to enhance relaxation, the truth is that alcohol and saunas are a risky combination. Understanding why alcohol should never precede a sauna session can improve the effectiveness of your sauna experience and also serve as a life-saving measure to protect your health. Read on to understand why you should avoid alcohol before and during your sauna session.

Understanding the Body’s Reaction to Sauna Exposure

When you enter an outdoor infrared sauna, your body undergoes different responses to regulate core temperature. Blood vessels dilate, heart rate increases, and sweat glands activate, working to cool your system through perspiration. This induces a cardiovascular effect similar to moderate exercise, with your heart pumping faster and more blood circulating to the skin. This process helps improve circulation, enhance skin tone, and relieve joint and muscle pain. But all of this comes at a cost.

Your body becomes dehydrated as it loses fluids through sweat, and the cardiovascular system is stressed. If you are healthy, this is usually safe and beneficial. However, when you add alcohol into the mix, the body's carefully balanced mechanisms are disrupted in ways that can have serious consequences.

Alcohol’s Impact on the Body

Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant. Its most immediate and noticeable effects are reduced inhibitions, a sense of euphoria, and relaxation. This might seem like a perfect precursor to a calming sauna session, but that perception is misleading. Alcohol impairs the body’s thermoregulation, the system the body relies on to cool itself during sauna exposure. It does this by affecting the hypothalamus, responsible for temperature control, and causing vasodilation, leading to rapid heat loss. Surprisingly, this makes it harder for your body to maintain a safe internal temperature.

Further, alcohol is a diuretic, which means it increases urine production while accelerating fluid loss. When you pair that with the profuse sweating from a sauna, you can quickly experience severe dehydration. This reduces the relaxing and restorative effects of your sauna session and can minimize muscle coordination, disrupt your judgment, and dangerously lower blood pressure.

The risks of drinking alcohol before a sauna session include:

Dehydration and Heat Stroke

One of the most serious risks of drinking alcohol before sauna use is dehydration. Apart from making you thirsty and making your skin dry, dehydration can lead to dizziness, confusion, fainting, and even heat stroke. When your body is deprived of adequate fluids, it cannot sweat effectively, which is your primary cooling method in the sauna. Heat stroke is a medical emergency that occurs when the body's temperature rises too quickly and the cooling mechanisms fail. 

Early symptoms can be faint, especially when alcohol dulls your senses. But as core body temperature surges past safe levels, organs start to shut down, and the risk of brain damage, seizures, and death increases rapidly. It’s worth noting that many of the symptoms of heat stroke, dizziness, confusion, and nausea overlap with signs of alcohol intoxication. This can delay the detection of the problem, preventing timely intervention.

Cardiovascular Strain and Sudden Collapses

Another lesser-known yet alarming risk is the strain you place on your cardiovascular system when you use the sauna under the influence of alcohol. The best infrared saunas naturally increase your heart rate, which mimics the effects of light to moderate exercise for healthy individuals.

For someone who has consumed alcohol, this strain is compounded. Alcohol causes vasodilation and lowers blood pressure. While this might sound beneficial, it can lead to an insufficient blood supply to vital organs in a high-heat environment. The result is a sudden drop in blood pressure that may cause fainting or loss of consciousness. This becomes dangerous, especially if you're in a private sauna or unattended.

Passing out in a sauna can lead to prolonged heat exposure and, in the worst cases, death. Studies show that some individuals have suffered cardiac arrest or fatal hyperthermia after drinking and then using a sauna. A study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine examined the effects of alcohol consumption combined with sauna use on healthy male volunteers.

The findings revealed that while sauna use alone increased heart rate without significantly affecting blood pressure, the combination of alcohol and saunas led to a drop in systolic blood pressure. This substantial decline in blood pressure can result in fainting, dizziness, or sudden collapse, especially in individuals with underlying cardiovascular conditions.

Impaired Judgment

Alcohol consumption dulls your cognitive senses, making it harder to recognize when you're becoming dehydrated, overheating, or approaching your physical limits. It reduces your ability to make rational decisions, such as knowing when to seek help or exit the sauna.

The best sauna for home requires an awareness of your body’s signals, such as feeling lightheaded, overly fatigued, or dizzy, so you can take breaks or rehydrate. With alcohol clouding your mind, you may overlook these warning signs until it’s too late. It also increases the likelihood of accidents, like misusing sauna equipment or slipping on wet floors which can lead to injury.

The Social Pressure Factor and Normalization of Risk

Alcohol and saunas have been culturally linked, especially in countries like Finland, where both are integral to social life. In some settings, sharing beers or shots before or after a sauna session is not unusual. This normalization can mask the dangers, leading people to underestimate the risks involved. Peer pressure also plays a role. Individuals might feel compelled to follow the crowd in a group setting, even if they know the risks.

What starts as a relaxing evening can quickly become a medical emergency, especially if no one in the group recognizes the signs of heat exhaustion or dehydration. In these scenarios, prevention is easier than intervention. Making the personal decision to avoid alcohol before a sauna can influence others to do the same and prevent tragedy.

The Myth of Sweating the Alcohol Out

A persistent myth that contributes to this risky behavior is the belief that you can sweat out alcohol in the best outdoor sauna. While sweating does help eliminate some toxins through the skin, alcohol is mainly metabolized by the liver. The amount you can expel through sweat is insignificant compared to what remains in your bloodstream. Using a sauna to speed up sobering only adds physical stress to a system already dealing with the effects of alcohol. Instead of detoxifying faster, you increase your chances of disorientation, dehydration, and cardiac complications. The idea that a sauna session will somehow make you less drunk is false and dangerous. It can give a misleading sense of sobriety that leads to poor decisions, like driving under the influence or continuing to drink.

Alternatives for Sauna Wellness

If social connection and relaxation are what you are looking for, there are safer ways to enjoy a sauna. Hydrate well before your session with water or electrolyte drinks. Eat a light meal beforehand to stabilize blood sugar, and limit sauna sessions to 15–20 minutes at a time.

If you are in a social setting, save the alcohol for after the sauna session, and be sure to rehydrate thoroughly before consuming any. You will get more out of your sauna session if you are alert, hydrated, and able to fully experience the benefits without the complications alcohol introduces.

Many report clearer skin, better sleep, and improved mood after a sauna. However, these benefits are only maximized when the body is operating at peak condition and not compromised by the effects of alcohol.

Finally

Drinking alcohol before your sauna session is not a good idea, even though it might seem like an indulgent activity within a social setting. The risks far outweigh any momentary pleasure. From dehydration and heat stroke to impaired judgment and cardiovascular danger, the combination can quickly turn deadly. A sauna should be a sanctuary of health and renewal, not a venue for risky behavior. Prioritize your well-being by approaching sauna use with care. Educate yourself and those around you, and speak up if you see someone indulging in alcohol before or during their sauna session.