Burning Calories The Easy Way - Forget The Walk, Relax In A Hot Bath Instead

Jun 05, 2018 by apost team

You probably never thought about taking a hot bath as a way to burn calories, have you? You likely only thought of it as a relaxing way to get clean, surrounded by candles and bubbles. 

But there is more to a hot bath than just relaxation! What happens when you get in the bath? 

Sure, a hot bath will help calm your nerves and relax your muscles. But believe it or not, you can even lose weight while soaking up the water! Yes, you read that right! Lying in a hot bath can actually burn up to 130 calories at a time. It can even help you lower your sugar level! 

According to the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine, taking a hot bath will burn at least 130 calories when the water is set at 40 degrees Celsius. This is as many calories as you would burn if you took a thirty-minute walk around the neighborhood or track!

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Why does lying in a hot bath work? It’s because the hot water raises the body temperature after the individual is in it for even half an hour. A hot bath actually targets the core temperature of a person and raises their energy expenditure by 80%, causing them to burn calories. 

A hot bath even has the means to control the blood sugar levels in your body. Blood sugar actually plays a very significant role in the metabolism process, so researchers were eager to look at a participant’s levels after each experiment was concluded. 

Participants who only cycled and participants who cycled and bathed in hot water had a very low blood sugar response. The men who enjoyed their hot bath showed a 10% decrease in peak blood sugar when tested. 

The lead researcher, Dr. Steve Faulkner, stated that our bodies discharge heat shock proteins when we are submerged in hot water. This shows us that our body temperature is what regulates our blood sugar, and not the exercise itself. 

A different study was done in which men and women took a hot bath for 30 minutes at a time, six days a week, for one month. After the month was over, participants were weighed. They showed a weight loss of two kilos.

Taking a hot bath is also shown to lower your blood pressure and reduce inflammation. A study done in 2015 in Finland concluded that men who spent a lot of time enjoying saunas had a reduced risk of having a stroke or heart attack. 

If this isn’t a reason to take a nice, relaxing bath, what is? So light some candles, play some soothing music, and slip into a hot bath! You can relax and lose weight all at the same time! 

If you loved this idea as much as we did, don’t be shy! Spread the news among your friends! Do you have anything to add? Let us know in the comment section below!