Dynorphins, Heat Shock Proteins & The Healthiest, Hottest Sauna On The Planet, with Luke Chapman & Owen Buchanan

**Ben Greenfield** (0:00)
My name is Ben Greenfield, and on this episode of the Boundless Life podcast.

**Luke Chapman** (0:04)
The last year I was there, I got exposed to mold. Am I gonna die? Like, what's happening? That's what led me to get in the sauna every day and just start getting that stuff out of me.

**Owen Buchanan** (0:14)
That's actually one of my favorite parts about the sauna is the...

**Ben Greenfield** (0:18)
There's very great detox potential for a sauna.

**Luke Chapman** (0:21)
It's the best reset.

**Ben Greenfield** (0:23)
Welcome to the Boundless Life with me, your host, Ben Greenfield. I'm a personal trainer, exercise physiologist and nutritionist, and I'm passionate about helping you discover unparalleled levels of health, fitness, longevity and beyond.
So I don't think it's any secret that I'm a huge fan of thermal stress. The hot cold contrast, sauna, cold plunging and the like have been an integral part of my own wellness and sanity protocol for years. I recently invested in a new sauna. It is a custom built dry sauna that is tricked out to the max. Low VOC, air that circulates throughout, the floors are grounded, Himalayan salts, you can see the lining underneath the benches, the works. And the guys who built it are based out of Idaho. They have a very unique approach to saunas. And I thought it would be fun to talk about all things sauna from custom saunas to prefab saunas to what to look for in a sauna to things you can do from the grounding to the salt to the tricked out heaters. So it's all in this show. And as a part of this show, I'm also gonna put in the show notes, my YouTube video with my personal sauna mobility protocol, which I do in this sauna that we're talking about on the show, as well as the Western Sol website. Western Sol is the name of the company built this sauna, owned by Luke and Owen, who I'm about to interview. So all the show notes are gonna be at bengreenfieldlife.com/saunapodcast.
That's bengreenfieldlife.com/saunapodcast. Let's go talk to Luke and Owen. All right guys, so first of all, welcome to the show. And second, when we were visiting, after you built the sauna in my backyard, Luke, I think it was you who was telling me that you actually got into this whole thing in the first place because you were sick.

**Luke Chapman** (2:28)
Totally, yeah. Yeah, it was not like a planned out thing.
I grew up in Idaho, but I was living in Hawaii.

**Ben Greenfield** (2:36)
Wait, did you grow up in the good or the bad part of Idaho?

**Luke Chapman** (2:39)
That's debatable, I don't know. I would say it was pretty good, very well rounded place.

**Ben Greenfield** (2:44)
For those not familiar with the Idaho debate, I think Luke's south, I'm north, but I forgive you.

**Luke Chapman** (2:50)
But yeah, Idaho's home. I love all of Idaho, but Boise is a good area. And then I actually graduated high school in 2020, had like no clue what I was gonna do, ended up traveling, going to Hawaii. I did this like mission school with YOM and that's kind of what brought me to Hawaii. Met a bunch of cool people, ended up staying out there. And then, you know, was on pen and paper, living the dream for a while, surfing, working.
But the last year I was there, I got exposed to mold and didn't figure it out for a while, but just like was not getting better.
Owen and I both have like a background in construction. So in between like construction jobs, I was like, all right, let's build one. The doctor said I should be in the sauna every day.

**Ben Greenfield** (3:35)
And then by the way, just backpedaling just a second, that's like common in Florida also. Is it the humidity you think that contributes to the mold issues?

**Luke Chapman** (3:45)
Yeah. I mean, all of Idaho, pretty dry, right? So like growing up here, I haven't really heard of that, you know, like, if anything, it's super rare, but like had no clue it could affect your health. I just thought like, oh, you had to fix your hump. But yeah, I think it's the humidity. I was living in like the jungle too in Hawaii, so super rainy out there.

**Ben Greenfield** (4:03)
And so what were you feeling when you went to the doctor, as far as like symptoms?

**Luke Chapman** (4:07)
It was like anything and everything, honestly.
It was kind of a perfect storm too. I think like, I don't know if I had COVID or what, but my immune system was down, I was kind of sick. I flew back home for Christmas and was snowboarding. Ended up like slamming pretty hard. I don't know if I got a concussion or not, but like took a spill, had to rest for a few days, was also run down and sick. And then when I flew straight back to Hawaii, I was already run down and then went into that same like moldy space, which I didn't know it yet. But then like for months, I was not getting better. And then eventually found the mold, got the air tested, got my blood and urine tested, and like started to catch on to it. And I was like, oh, what am I getting into here? Like, this is kind of scary. That's what led me to like get in the sauna every day and just start, you know, getting that stuff out of me.