Thursday, February 18, 2010

Do Saunas Help You Lose Weight?

A sauna is nothing but a room designed to make you sweat. This helps in repelling the toxins in your body that have accumulated. The mechanism of the sauna has been around for ages. Even the Romans have emphasized on the benefits of a good sweat.

The basic idea of the sauna is to make you sweat as much as possible to "purify" your body, or something like that. Now, do saunas help you lose weight? Well, the saunas help you lose weight by making you lose water weight, which is only temporary. Therefore, the weight loss you experience is not because of calories that your body has burnt but the amount of water your body has lost. The loss of water is replenished once you hydrate yourself, which will generally happen after you drink water or fluids.

Most athletes use the sauna after a workout as a method of relaxation. Although a 30-minute sauna will have the same effect as a 10 km run in terms of the amount of sweat your body releases, you must realize that your body is not getting any movement or exercise while you're in the sauna - so do saunas help you lose weight? Well they do, to a certain extent. Saunas help you lose weight as the heart is pumping faster than normal, which is a reaction to the increase in the temperature of the body. However, it is only the water-soluble fats that will be burned.

Remember, you shouldn't be trying to burn the good fats in your body (which is what a sauna does), but you are trying to burn the bad fats, which can only be achieved through a balanced diet and constant exercise. (Even though some weight loss tips say otherwise.)

Though a sauna will help you lose weight, you must understand that the results are only temporary. If you want permanent results, you can combine the sauna with an aerobic fitness regime, which will ensure that the weight loss is not temporary. Though if you wish to use saunas alone to lose weight, then be prepared to wait for a while. Saunas help you lose weight over a long period of time only. The weight loss is very gradual as the body replenishes the water lost in the process and you gain the lost weight, but if the sauna is combined with a work out the weight loss is easier to make out.

So how do saunas help you lose weight? The simple answer to this is that they reduce the toxins in the body, hence making it easier to burn the fat accumulated in the body.

A sauna has many benefits; it helps in clearing congestion in the respiratory organs, relieves asthma, helps relieve throat irritation and relaxes the muscles. A sauna also lowers the blood pressure and increases blood circulation. When combined with a good exercise regime and a balanced diet, it is a sure shot weight loss technique. Remember to hydrate yourself with lots of fluids and water after a sauna to avoid dehydration. Also, have drinks that contain electrolytes to balance the water composition in the body while replacing the lost fluids.

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