This is The Guardian.

The Finns do it best,

taking off their clothes and getting hot and sweaty together.

In saunas, of course.

And when the warmth gets overwhelming,

time to plunge into a freezing fjord,

or an outdoor bath,

or maybe even a bucket of cold water splashed over you.

Ah!

Oh! cold water splashed over you.

And these days, it's not just the fins hitting the saunas and cold plunge.

In the UK and plenty of other countries, people are increasingly taking up the habit and getting a shot of relaxation and adrenaline.

If you talk to any of those people, you'll no doubt be told why it's unbelievably good for the body and the mind.

So we just had to ask, is it? What's the scientific evidence that hot and cold immersion can improve your health and well-being?

From The Guardian, I'm Madeleine Finley, and this is Science Weekly.

Ian, we wouldn't be a guardian podcast if we didn't talk about saunas and getting into cold water, plunging, swimming at some point. And to be honest, I'm shocked and surprised that

it's taken us this long. Before we talk about what these things can do for us,

what kind of temperatures are we actually talking about? The temperatures can vary a lot for both,

but let's start with saunas. I mean, for your traditional finish saunas, you know,

those classic wood-lined room with a burner in the corner or a heater, you're looking at 70 to 100 degrees Celsius. So it's obviously pretty toasty.

As for cold water immersion, again, huge variability as to what people class as cold water here. But we're going to focus on temperatures between 10 and 15 Celsius. I mean, ice baths,

plunge pools, it can be as cold as a few degrees as can rivers or Lido's in the winter.

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