There’s so much food to eat but everyone is just going on about how eating too much makes us gain all those pounds.
Of course, they do have a point. After all, people who suffer from obesity are at greater risk of heart disease and diabetes. Plus, all that flab doesn’t necessarily make us front-page photo material.
But exercise is just so much hard work! Just the thought of getting into one’s gym clothes and driving to the gym when there’s a nice and comfy bed beside you can be sheer torture. You could always exercise at home but there are so many distractions like that next Game of Thrones episode that’s coming up.
If you could burn calories by relaxing, that would be the best. But that’s just wishful thinking, right?
A group of researchers at Loughborough University seem to think otherwise. According to them, just soaking up in a hot bath gives you the same benefits as a 30-minute walk.
The research team observed 14 men as they were put through two tests: one was a one-hour bicycle ride while the other was a one-hour bath in 104-degree-Fahrenheit water. The end goal for either test was to raise the body’s core temperature by one degree.
As expected, cycling burned much more calories but the researchers also came upon some surprising results for the hot bath. It turned out that the hot bath burned 130 calories, roughly the same amount you would burn on a half-hour walk.
But there’s even more. The Conversation reported that the blood sugar of all the participants was monitored for 24 hours following the tests. It turned out that peak blood sugar was roughly 10 percent lower when a bath was taken instead of the bike ride. And when it comes to the anti-inflammatory response post-activity for each of the participants, the bath produced the same effect as exercise.
The study’s results suggest that passive heating can help reduce inflammation.point 189 | While passive heating as a medical treatment is still a relatively new idea, another country has been benefiting from that practice for centuries: Finland.point 321 |
A study published in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal in 2015 suggested that taking sauna baths, which is another form of passive heating, could help prevent cardiovascular diseases.point 212 | 1
Of course, this was just one study and all the participants were men. So there may be different results should women practice this, though there’s probably no need to convince women of the pleasures of a hot bath.
While a hot bath may not completely replace exercise, at least you won’t feel guilty for just soaking in a tub of hot water when you’re too lazy to go to the gym.
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