On the East Coast today it’s damp, cold, borderline wintry––the first day of sauna season. Though I’ll probably just slicker up and head to the Y, what I really wish I could access is an infrared sauna. The latest craze in body-warming technology, it’s said to heat you from the inside out with far infrared radiation (the safe kind), which emits invisible bands of light through special lightbulbs. The air actually stays relatively cool, but you sweat. As with regular steam saunas, you sweat out toxins, make your cells less hospitable to germs and viruses, improve circulation, and bring more oxygen to the tissues, according to alt-health guru Dr. Joseph Mercola. All without having to hit the actual exercise parts of the gym.

Infrared sauna proponents (a.k.a. manufacturers) go one step further, contending the lights penetrate deeper in the body than regular heat, increasing the speed and level of detoxification. They also make a slew of health claims––everything from weight loss to curing fibromyalgia. Even doctors who advocate hyperthermia therapy debunk such assertions, insisting that heat is heat. But still. I’m a sucker for a good detox theory and if you have the space, these take a lot less electricity than regular saunas, making them ideal at-home warming huts. To shop: brightonsauna.com and to do more research: altmed.creighton.edu/sauna/