Sweat Suits For Weight Loss

"SmartMoney" magazine reports that Americans spent $58 billion on weight loss programs and products in 2007. Nutritionists, doctors and other health professionals agree that exercise and adopting a healthy diet is the safest way to lose weight. Sweat, or sauna, suits promote weight loss by increasing the body's temperature and forcing it to perspire.

Function

Sweat suits work much in the same way as a sauna. According to the website Diet Spotlight, the sweat suit uses the heat escaping from the body against it. The suit, made from nylon or rubber, traps the heat and causes your body's temperature to rise. This triggers the body's natural cooling system, which forces you to sweat. Diet Spotlight reports that increased heat can also raise the body's metabolism to burn calories quicker.

Water Weight

In their book "Sport Nutrition: An Introduction to Energy Production and Performance," Asker Jeukendrup and Michael Gleeson write that 60 percent of the body's weight is water. Its highest concentrations are in your blood, 90 percent, and muscle tissue, 75 percent. The book also estimates that a sedentary adult will lose 27 percent of his daily water intake by sweating.

Sweating and Weight Loss

Swedish author Mikkel Aaland writes that the body loses the most sweat through its eccrine glands. In "Sweat," his 1997 book, Aaland reports that a 15-minute sauna extracts up to one liter of fluid through the skin. This loss represents more than 2 lbs. of weight loss. As the sweat suit replicates a sauna, similar results can be expected.

Dangers of Sauna Suits

While weight loss is achieved from a sauna suit, it is not considered a healthy option. The fitness center at Military.com reports that this practice is dangerous: "Sweating excessively has no useful purpose in health weight loss." The heat stress placed on the body simulates hot weather. According to the American Heart Association, extreme heat can cause heat exhaustion, heat stroke and dehydration. Additionally, extreme fluid loss can disrupt sodium and electrolyte levels, leading to brain damage and kidney failure, as well as cardiovascular distress.