Years ago I read, that taking a cool sauna, like around 140 instead of 180 and staying in for hours, was one of the few ways of ridding your body of heavy metals such as lead and mercury. Any confirmation on this?
A sauna will definitely get rid of excess sodium and water bloat, but one needs to modify one's diet at the same time; i.e. salt reduction; otherwise the results are very temporary.
I enjoy saunas for the cleansing and relaxing effect.