Do you lose weight in a sauna

NNE16
NNE16 Posts: 21
edited September 21 in Fitness and Exercise
I am sure I heard somewhere that if you spend time in a sauna you lose weight, is this true? If so, does anyone know how it works, do you burn calories or is it due to the sweating?

Does anyone have any idea how many calories you would burn being in a sauna

Replies

  • hamiltonba
    hamiltonba Posts: 474 Member
    Sorry to burst your bubble - Exercise and healthy eating is the only way to lose fat
  • DanOhh
    DanOhh Posts: 1,806 Member
    You lose water weight but gain it right back when you drink water later and your body sponge's it right back.
  • vicidoesstuff
    vicidoesstuff Posts: 214 Member
    http://www.diethealthclub.com/calories-burned/calories-burnt-in-sauna.html

    On an average a person weighing 160 pounds will burn around 300 calories in 30 minutes of sauna. An infrared sauna claims to burn up to 1000 calories in just 30 minutes, but is this just a sale gimmick or a truth we shall find out. Besides burning calories sauna offers many other health benefits –

    * Detoxification – reduces the toxin levels in the body
    * Deep cleansing effect – makes the skin healthier, radiant and youthful
    * Weight loss
    * Pain relief
    * Deep relaxation
    * General feeling of well-being
    * Improved cardio-respiratory capacity
    * Stress relief, insomnia relief
    * Reduction of health threatening bacteria and viruses
    * Strengthening the immune system

    Sauna is definitely an easier way to burn calories but definitely it is not an effective way. There are many other aerobic activities which will help you burn 300-1000 calories in an hour and lose weight. Sauna will not help to change your body composition and it will not burn your body fat or increase your muscle mass.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    well, yes, you can lose water weight, but it doesn't "melt fat" or not in any significant way at least. The body does use a minimal amount of energy producing sweat from the sweat glands in the skin, but that's not a heck of a lot of calories. For burning extra calories, I'd rank a sauna on the bottom of the efficiency scale. That isn't to say sauna's don't have other positive aspects, but calorie burn isn't really one of them.
  • Thaedra
    Thaedra Posts: 52
    Losing weight in a sauna would be water weight from the sweating, and therefore temporary. You will need to drink more water afterward or you will risk dehydration. However, sweating it out in a sauna is a good way to get your body to expel some toxins, just be sure you do drink PLENTY of water to help flush out your system, and recover from the fluid loss. If you don't stay hydrated your sweat glands can actually get kind of "backed up" which means the toxins your body needs to get rid of won't come out as easily and can result in other problems, like acne :P
  • Barneystinson
    Barneystinson Posts: 1,357 Member
    One thing regarding saunas --- if you go into one after a hard workout, it may assist in keeping the temperature of the body elevated maximizing your "after burn" after the workout. That'd be the only way it would actually be burning calories, but it's not in the sauna itself, it's the after effect of a workout mainly.

    Sauna is really good for the skin and circulatory system, though.
  • amelia_atlantic
    amelia_atlantic Posts: 926 Member
    You're technically not losing calories.

    The weight you're losing is only water weight because you're sweating so much.

    It's a great way to detoxify every now and again but not a legit method of long term weight loss.
  • NNE16
    NNE16 Posts: 21
    Ok, but if the information on that website is true, being in a sauna is said to 'boost your metabolism by approximately 20%'.

    I am new to this.. from what I understand it is important to consume a certain amount of calories each day and if you burn a massive amount through excercising you have to consume close to that amount in order to keep from consuming less than is sufficient for your metabolic rate. Am I on the right track?

    Following that, am I right in thinking boosting your metabolism by using a sauna would mean you would have to consume more calories due to the higher metabolic rate?
  • iplayoutside19
    iplayoutside19 Posts: 2,304 Member
    However, sweating it out in a sauna is a good way to get your body to expel some toxins

    You also sweat and "expel toxins" by doing actual excersise. Which DOES burn a significant amount of calories.
  • chgudnitz
    chgudnitz Posts: 4,079
    I just told myself that I wasn't going to rant or anything. But. A large part of the reason that the world is so freaking overweight is that there are too many people that want to do NOTHING and be healthy. Seriously. If it were as easy as sitting in a sauna and losing fat then more people would do it. We need to get up, get moving and eat properly.

    I was watching some show last night about this 900 pound woman who was begging hospitals for gastric bypass. She said it was her only hope. I was so angry by the end of the show that I could not fall asleep. Stop eating so much crap, try that out.

    Seriously though, who cares if you lose weight in a sauna. You will be dehydrated and nothing else. Go exercise.
  • chgudnitz
    chgudnitz Posts: 4,079
    I apologize in advance if I offended anyone.
  • NNE16
    NNE16 Posts: 21
    I was asking because I like going to the sauna and I wanted to know if it was something I had to incorporate into my daily calorie-intake plan or if I did not need to worry about it. It was not an attempt to get out of doing excercise or because I wanted to find an easy way to do nothing, as you put it.

    In fact I have been taking this quite seriously and I am trying to find all the factors I need to keep track of.

    I appreciate your passion on the subject, but perhaps if you cannot destinguish between someone starting out on this site who is trying to learn what to do and a 900 pound woman begging hospitals for a gastric bypass you should reign it in a bit
  • chgudnitz
    chgudnitz Posts: 4,079
    I was asking because I like going to the sauna and I wanted to know if it was something I had to incorporate into my daily calorie-intake plan or if I did not need to worry about it. It was not an attempt to get out of doing excercise or because I wanted to find an easy way to do nothing, as you put it.

    In fact I have been taking this quite seriously and I am trying to find all the factors I need to keep track of.

    I appreciate your passion on the subject, but perhaps if you cannot destinguish between someone starting out on this site who is trying to learn what to do and a 900 pound woman begging hospitals for a gastric bypass you should reign it in a bit
    And I thought about putting in there that it wasn't completely directed towards you but to the mindset in general. There are a lot of people that want to do nothing and lose weight. Just look at the number of times the "diet pill" topic comes up. I applaud the fact that you are doing the research and taking it seriously. I probably wouldn't even have said anything if it weren't for the show last night.

    I can distinguish between the two, trust me. I was in your shoes (in a way) at this point last year. The longer you are on here you will see what I'm talking about though and it will stand out to you since you want to do it the right way. I wish you the best and please let me know if there is anything I can do for you.
  • NNE16
    NNE16 Posts: 21
    As I said I appreciate your passion, clearly and for a good reason it is something you have strong feelings about. There certainly are a lot of people in the world wanting to lose weight doing nothing, but simultaneously there are a lot of people who are willing to work hard, as you have demonstrated yourself. While your views may be vaild for a lot of people and even come from your best of intentions, we both agree they were not directed at everyone. I think encouragement is an important thing and that perhaps with something which could be misread as discouragement to those it is not directed at it could be best to express it in a way that is not so open to misinterpretation.

    I accept your apology and that what you were saying was not directed at me. Thank you for the encouragement and support
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