Why it matters in the German context: traditional German sauna culture is strong, with Aufguss rituals and sauna-club traditions running deep. IR is positioned as a different category — gentler, longer sessions, often promoted for cardiovascular adaptation, sleep and recovery rather than the social Aufguss experience.
The research worth knowing: Laukkanen et al.'s Finnish sauna cohort studies (2015, 2018) showed strong cardiovascular benefits at high heat exposure — but those data are from traditional 80–90 °C saunas, not IR. Direct IR studies (Beever 2009, Ohori 2012) are smaller and more limited. The 'detox via sweat' claims often pushed by IR marketing are not well supported in peer-reviewed literature; ask operators that lean heavily on those claims.
