Infrared saunas have become one of the latest and greatest trends for people looking to lose weight. Because of injuries, health issues, or just personal preference, many people struggle with physical exercise and have a difficult time losing weight as a result (or if you’re like us, you just really hate doing burpees - ugh). However, infrared saunas seem to be the ideal solution to this.
Studies suggest that you can burn 600 calories in a single infrared sauna session on average. Dr. Masakazu Imamura, MD, even published a study saying, "If a 150 LB person burns 300 calories jogging for 30 minutes, the infrared sauna promises to burn twice that, around 400-600 calories in one 30 minute session" (hummingbirdhmp.com). But it's speedy calorie burn is just one of its many benefits. Today, we're going to go over infrared saunas and all of its benefits for weight loss.
1. Boost metabolism
To start, one of the biggest benefits of infrared saunas is their ability to naturally boost your metabolism. The way this works is that the sauna works to heat your body from the inside out. As your body heats up, it works to keep its core temperature down, which as a result, speeds up your heart rate, causing you to sweat, and ultimately making your body work much harder. As a result, it boosts metabolism. Cool, right? This puts your body into a cardiovascular state, just as if you were jogging or jumping rope, without actually having to do the physical work of it (and thank goodness for that). And at a temperature of 140, it is believed that the body can burn up to 250 calories per hour. Which, to us, sounds so much better than running for an hour to burn the same amount of calories. For real.
2. Detox the body
Another way that infrared saunas help with weight loss is by detoxing the body. Each day the body builds up toxins in day-to-day life from many things. From environmental pollution to harmful EMFs, your body holds onto these toxins, which can cause the organs to undergo stress and cause your body to struggle with regulation and circulation (and honestly, it’s 2021 - ain’t nobody got time for that). Therefore, the only way to get rid of them is to sweat it out (yeah, it’s pretty gross), and the quickest way to do that is with an infrared sauna. Detoxing your body like this up to three times per week is an excellent way to keep your internal organs working properly, which will ultimately regulate your body's circulation for better weight loss control and healthier organs. Not to mention, it gives your skin a beautiful, goddess-like glow, and we’re all for it.
3. Combat stress
And lastly, another big way that infrared saunas assist in weight loss is believed to be from their ability to relax the body. As adults, we all experience stress as a normal part of our life. From going to work to having kids, stress takes a huge toll on our health, mentally and physically regularly. And believe it or not, just by having stress, you can actually mess up your body's normal functions internally and be unknowingly putting on weight (just another fantastic perk of being an adult, right?).
This is because, when we are stressed, our body's normal functions begin to shut down, which, among other things, can cause us to hold onto excess weight (weightandwellness.com). To put it simply, our stress hormone, also known as cortisol, is released during times of high stress, which can slow down our metabolism and mess with our blood sugar levels. This can confuse our body’s normal functions and tell our body to release more fat deposits in the abdominal region, and ultimately cause us to put on weight faster. However, when we are in a relaxed state, such as in a sauna, our normal cellular functions level out and allow our body to regulate blood sugar, metabolic rate, and energy levels again, allowing for a healthy and balanced regulation.
