We all know that exercise is a good way to fight fat, but what if you actually don't need to be hot and sweaty to burn calories? Turns out, being hot (by soaking in a hot bath) is all you need to do to reap benefits similar to those of exercising.
Steve Faulkner of Loughborough University wrote this article for The Conversation:
At Loughborough University we investigated the effect of a hot bath on blood sugar control (an important measure of metabolic fitness) and on energy expended (number of calories burned). We recruited 14 men to take part in the study. They were assigned to an hour-long soak in a hot bath (40˚C) or an hour of cycling. The activities were designed to cause a 1˚C rise in core body temperature over the course of one hour.
We measured how many calories the men burned in each session. We also measured their blood sugar for 24 hours after each trial.
Cycling resulted in more calories being burned compared with a hot bath, but bathing resulted in about as many calories being burned as a half-hour walk (around 140 calories). The overall blood sugar response to both conditions was similar, but peak blood sugar after eating was about 10% lower when participants took a hot bath compared with when they exercised.
We also showed changes to the inflammatory response similar to that following exercise.
(Image: Robson Hatsukami Morgan/Unsplash)
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this is actually interesting and good to know
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Hmmm. I tried for years to get my Doctors to prescribe me a hot tub. Didn't work so I finally broke down and just got one. The positive effects go well beyond those mentioned in the article, but weight loss? Dunno about that one, though it might have something to do with me being unable to enter the thing without a double bourbon.
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