Does Sitting In A Sauna Help You Lose Weight?

Relaxing in the sauna is an age-old tradition. The Finns of old enjoyed sweating in the steamy heat, then rolling in the snow. In modern culture, health clubs and gyms often feature saunas in locker rooms or spa areas. Wrestlers and other athletes descend upon saunas the night before weigh-in, hoping to shed a few pounds to remain in their weight class. But whether or not sitting in a sauna will actually help you lose weight is a subject for debate.

Traditional Uses

Used in Nordic cultures, especially in Finland, evidence of the earliest saunas dates back centuries. Believed to have been used initially as a means of keeping warm, the sauna evolved into a bath house where impurities were expunged from the epidermis and pores. The traditional sauna was also used for childbirth, blood-lettings and surgeries, because the tannic acid from the fire smoke created a sterile environment. Some centuries later, Native Americans developed the sweat lodge as a place of physical and spiritual purification after the European culture began to adversely influence Native American life. The concept of the sauna as a weight-loss aid did not appear until the mid-20th century with the advent of the health spa.

Phsyiological Responses

The primary physiological changes that occur while sitting in a sauna involve the body's temperature regulation system. Because sweating is the body's way of lowering the core temperature, deliberately sitting in a hot environment will induce profuse sweating. The effect is even more profound in a steam sauna, where evaporation of sweat cannot take place. In this environment, a great deal of water is lost from the body and can result in rapid weight loss of several pounds. However, once the body is rehydrated, the weight will also return.Contrary to popular belief, the heat does not melt body fat.

Athletes and Sauna Use for Weight Loss

It is common practice for athletes to use various water-loss methods to quickly shed extra pounds. Besides the sauna, the use of diuretics and long-duration cardiovascular exercise that induces sweating are popular methods of hypohydration. The question is whether these methods hinder athletic performance. To examine that question, J. E. Caldwell, E. Ahonen and U. Nousiainen studied the effects of the three methods. They used measurements of O2 consumption, O2 pulse, blood lactate concentration and work load Of the three methods, the scientists found the effects of sauna and diuretic use were more detrimental to athletic performance. "We conclude that not only the quantity of weight loss but also the method itself may limit physical performance," they reported in the "Journal of Applied Physiology" in 1984.

Saunas, Stress and Weight Loss

While the direct impact of saunas on weight loss seems to be associated with loss of water, few will deny that a session in the sauna is relaxing. From that perspective the argument can be made that reduction in stress as a result of sitting in the sauna might be helpful in countering the negative effects of stress-induced hormones that have been identified as culprits in weight gain.

Sauna Safety

A few safety tips for sauna use include cooling down after your workout and before entering the sauna. Not doing so can cause overheating and an acute drop in blood pressure. Eating a large meal or drinking alcohol before using the sauna is not recommended for the same reasons. If you are pregnant or being treated for a heart condition or a risk factor for cardiovascular disease such as high blood pressure, consult your health care provider before using a sauna.