Sweating to lose weight is something that many athletes choose to do when they need to lose weight quickly. They may lose several lbs. in a session but the weight lost is water weight, not fat, and is not permanent. There are also potential risks involved in sweating therapy, particularly dehydration and heatstroke. Consult your doctor before you do any form of sweating therapy.
Sweating
Sweating is your body's way of cooling down. When your internal core temperature gets hot enough, your sweat glands release fluid and electrolytes onto the skin. In a normal situation, the sweat evaporates on the surface of your skin, cooling the body. If you are in a sauna or wearing a sauna suit, or even if you are sweating in very humid weather, the sweat cannot evaporate. Your body will stay hot, or get hotter, and you will continue to sweat.
Water Weight
When you sweat profusely, you will lose weight in the form of electrolytes and fluids but you will gain the weight back when you start to eat or drink again. This is why athletes such as boxers lose weight the night before they are officially weighed for competition. They can drop the weight quickly to compete in a lower weight class but they really still have the strength and mass of a larger person.
Risks
There are potentially serious risks involved in sweating therapy. Sweating too much can easily cause dehydration, which can eventually lead to kidney failure, heat stroke or a heart attack. In severe cases, death can be the result. Two wrestlers died in 1997 as the result of wearing sauna suits while they were exercising. Both had severe dehydration. As a result, the National Collegiate Athletic Association banned the use of saunas and sauna suits for competitive wrestlers starting in 1998.
Considerations
Referring to saunas, one of the oldest forms of sweating therapy, Dr. Harvey Simon, editor-in-chief of Harvard Men's Health Watch had this say, "All in all, saunas appear safe for the body but there is little evidence that they have health benefits above and beyond relaxation and a feeling of well-being." While it may be nice to relax, to lose weight permanently, you need to expend more calories than you consume and the most effective way to do that is by exercising and watching your calorie consumption.
Sweating alone has not been shown to burn calories. If you do decide to use sweating therapy, consult your doctor first. If you have a heart condition or high blood pressure, using any form of sweating therapy is not recommended.
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