It took me a week to set up the CurrentBody Infrared Blanket—which requires no more effort than removing it from the box, unfurling it, and plugging it in. It took me mere minutes to fall in love. Like a teenage romance, it’s hot and heavy. Like Invisalign and pregnancy, it makes me feel productive even when I’m just lying around watching Below Deck. Also like Invisalign and pregnancy—and, I suppose, a teen romance, though who can remember?—once the time’s up, I’m scratching to get out.
Imagine a sleeping bag filled with red-hot coals instead of goose down. The CurrentBody Skin Infrared Sauna Blanket works like a personal sauna, heating up to 167 degrees Fahrenheit. If you’re a student of the various wellness podcasts, you’ve heard that manipulating the body’s temperature with saunas and cold plunges has all sorts of benefits. If you were a wellness podcaster, you might call this blanket a longevity hack.
For people suffering from depression, small studies suggest that sauna therapy provides significant relief. Among men who indulge in regular Finnish saunas, research shows a connection with a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease and inflammation. Scientists have also found that getting in a sauna after a workout extends the cardiovascular benefits and enhances the decrease in body fat. The medical world has made even more dramatic hints about the potential of infrared saunas to protect against dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, type 2 diabetes, and arthritis. Many more studies need to be conducted, but considering the safety of saunas for most people, these possibilities are quite seductive.
You may also find yourself love-bombed by CurrentBody’s own claims, including that a one-hour session can burn up to 600 calories. No independent study proves this, though. And as for its assertion that the CurrentBody blanket eliminates toxins? No such luck. Sweat doesn’t draw toxins out of your body; that’s the job of the liver and kidneys. My apologies to your hangover.
But boy does the CurrentBody blanket feel good. My usual routine is to slip inside the included terry-cloth cocoon (it makes cleanup easier) and then zip myself into the bag. I adjust the temperature to the highest setting—75 degrees Celsius—and the time to 45 minutes, and I rest my head on the small foam pillow that comes with the blanket. Then I’ll put on a podcast, an audiobook, or Bravo and simmer away happily, sometimes drifting off to sleep. Occasionally, I’ll top off my 45-minute session with an extra 15. When time’s up and the blanket turns off, I’m dripping with sweat and feel exceptionally calm.
Since I’ve added the hot pocket to my life, my sleep has improved remarkably and I feel like a nicer person, but that could be delusional.
Linda Wells is the Editor at Air Mail Look
