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In people with type 2 diabetes, one infrared sauna session made blood sugar rise more after a glucose drink

This 2024 trial in Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology & Diabetes is the only sauna trial we found that measured blood sugar. Twelve people with type 2 diabetes spent 40 minutes in an infrared cabin at 60°C on one visit and in the same cabin at room temperature on another.

The paper

A Single Sauna Session Does Not Improve Postprandial Blood Glucose Handling in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Cross-Over, Randomized, Controlled Trial

Schenaarts L, Hendriks FK, Fuchs CJ, Sluijsmans WE, et al.. Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology & Diabetes, 2024;132(11):622-630.

Read the paper ↗PubMed 39209309 ↗Free full text ↗

See the study at a glance

Design
Randomized crossover trial
People
12 adults with type 2 diabetes
Who they were
Twelve people with type 2 diabetes. Ten were men, and the group averaged 69 years old with a BMI of 27.5.
What they did
Forty minutes in an infrared sauna at 60°C or in the same cabin at 21°C. A two-hour oral glucose tolerance test came next.
How long
Two separate sessions

These numbers came out of it

17.7 vs 14.8

Blood sugar rose more over the two-hour test after the sauna than after the unheated cabin. The figures measure the total rise as incremental area under the curve (mmol/L over 120 minutes).

38.0°C

Core temperature reached 38.0°C after the sauna and 36.6°C after the control session.

No change

The insulin response and a combined measure of insulin sensitivity came out the same on both visits.

The researchers did this

Twelve people with type 2 diabetes came in twice in random order. Ten were men, and their average age was 69. Each time they sat for 40 minutes in an infrared sauna cabin and then drank a sugar solution, and researchers tracked their blood sugar for the next two hours. The cabin was heated to 60°C on one visit and left at 21°C on the other.Source 1 · Crossover trialA Single Sauna Session Does Not Improve Postprandial Blood Glucose Handling in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Cross-Over, Randomized, Controlled TrialSchenaarts L, Hendriks FK, Fuchs CJ, et al.. Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology & Diabetes, 2024.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗

The sauna warmed them up. Core temperature reached 38.0°C after the heat and 36.6°C after the control visit. Their leg skin reached 39.4°C after the sauna, compared with 31.3°C after the unheated visit.

Blood sugar rose more after the sauna. Over the two-hour test the total rise, measured as incremental area under the curve, came to 17.7 after heat and 14.8 after control (mmol/L over 120 minutes). Insulin and a combined measure of insulin sensitivity didn't differ.

A hot-water study found the same pattern. Healthy men who took a glucose test while sitting in 40.3°C water had higher glucose in blood drawn from a vein than they did in 35.9°C water. The authors read that as muscle taking up less glucose while the body was heating.Source 2 · Crossover trialHot water immersion acutely reduces peripheral glucose uptake in young healthy males: An exploratory crossover randomized controlled trialMaley MJ, Hunt AP, Stewart IB, et al.. Temperature, 2023.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗

The study can't tell you these things

  • It tested one session, and we found no trial that measured blood sugar after repeated sauna use.
  • Only people with type 2 diabetes took part.
  • The glucose test started right after the heat. The study can't say how blood sugar behaves hours later or the next day.
  • The cabin was infrared. When researchers tested the two side by side, an infrared cabin and a traditional sauna heated the body differently.Source 3 · Crossover trialComparison of thermoregulatory, cardiovascular, and immune responses to different passive heat therapy modalitiesAtencio JK, Reed EL, Wiedenfeld Needham K, et al.. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 2025.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗

From our sister magazine

Sauna Monthly compares infrared cabins like the one in this trial

Sauna Monthly · Shop

Sauna Monthly compares infrared cabins on price and build

Some plug into a wall outlet and others need a hardwired circuit.

Read it on Sauna Monthly

We cited these sources

  1. 01Schenaarts L, Hendriks FK, Fuchs CJ, Sluijsmans WE, Snijders T, van Loon LJ. A Single Sauna Session Does Not Improve Postprandial Blood Glucose Handling in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Cross-Over, Randomized, Controlled Trial. Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology & Diabetes. 2024;132(11):622-630. doi:10.1055/a-2406-4491 PMID 39209309
  2. 02Maley MJ, Hunt AP, Stewart IB, Weier S, Holland J, Leicht CA, et al.. Hot water immersion acutely reduces peripheral glucose uptake in young healthy males: An exploratory crossover randomized controlled trial. Temperature. 2023;10(4):434-443. doi:10.1080/23328940.2022.2161242 PMID 38130658
  3. 03Atencio JK, Reed EL, Wiedenfeld Needham K, Lucernoni KM, Comrada LN, Halliwill JR, et al.. Comparison of thermoregulatory, cardiovascular, and immune responses to different passive heat therapy modalities. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. 2025;329(1):R20-R35. doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00012.2025 PMID 40332494