Do Infrared Sauna Blankets Help Your Metabolism Burn Calories?
Many people turn to infrared sauna blankets to help burn calories and increase their metabolism. But are there truths to these claims? More so, many manufacturers claim that these blankets can help burn calories and our metabolism. And more and more people are turning to infrared sauna blankets for sauna therapies.
Why The Sudden Popularity Of Infrared Sauna Blankets?
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While many of us break a sweat at the gym for hours to burn calories and lose weight, many believe you can use infrared sauna blankets instead. And you can do this in the comfort of your home. But the question remains: can we use them to burn calories and melt the fat away with one?
Furthermore, when they hit the market in 1979, their popularity seemed higher than ever before, and of course, the technology improved even more so. As a result, many enjoy the blanket’s benefits several times a week and insist it helps burn calories and increase fat burning as well.
Below, we will look at some of the statistics surrounding the popularity of infrared sauna blankets.
How Do Infrared Sauna Blankets Work?
Unlike traditional sauna houses, where the hot steam heats your body, sauna blankets warm up your body using infrared rays. Additionally, many manufacturers claim that their sauna blankets heat the user’s body just as staying in the sun would.
The infrared rays from saunas can penetrate up to 7.5 cm under the skin. And go into the fat cells and warm your body internally. And your body tries to cool down the increasing body temperature by sweating.
Infrared saunas also don’t go as high in temperature as a traditional sauna does. So, infrared sauna blankets make a great option for those who want to avail themselves of sauna benefits without suffering the unbearable heat. Many people enjoy the benefits of an outdoor sauna and claim they also aid in weight loss and other health benefits as well.
Do They Help Us Burn Calories?
Let us start by stating the fact that our body is losing calories all the time. Though the amount varies, estimates show that we burn around 50 calories per hour of sleep. Therefore, we need the energy to function and even blink to burn some calories during a sauna session. But the true question is how much?
For instance, a research article states that a 30-minute sauna session will help one lose around 400 – 600 calories every 30 minutes of the session. However, the huge range here is because each of our bodies has a different metabolic rate, which further differs depending on the setting of your sauna blanket and how your body reacts to it. On the other hand, many find this number too good to believe.
Also, a person typically burns off 1.5 times more calories when in a sauna than when simply sitting. Moreover, Infrared sauna blankets can increase the heart rate and metabolic rate of the users. The increase is not only during a sauna session, but A 2017 study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology found elevated heart rates in users for up to 30 minutes following the session.
So, saunas are also often termed as ‘passive cardio.’ And, since it is difficult to predict exactly how many calories you burn per sauna session, you can consider it as effective as a light jogging session.
Watch the informative video below for more information.
Do Infrared Sauna Blankets Help You Lose Weight?
We finally know that sauna blankets burn off calories. However, many users have another main query regarding this topic, ‘Do sauna blankets help you lose weight?’ However, many claims support the hypothesis that sauna blankets help in losing weight. On the other hand, many argue that sauna blankets were of no help during their weight loss journey.
So, what is the right answer to this debate? Unfortunately, the answer isn’t crystal clear. There is no solid evidence that authenticates the claims regarding the weight loss benefit of saunas.
However, an interesting observation was shown in a study performed at Binghamton University, New York. In this study, the volunteers were exposed to an infrared sauna five times a week, and each sauna session was forty-five minutes.
After four months, the volunteers’ body fat percentage showed a 4% decrease in their total body fat percentage compared to the control group.
On the downside, diet, physical activity, and other factors might have directly or indirectly played a role in the results of this study. Many find this research not to be strong enough to support infrared saunas in their weight loss properties.
Now, you might say that you’ve noticed a change in your body weight when weighed before and after a sauna session. Indeed, you’ll probably see that you’ve lost a few numbers. However, the loss is mostly water weight that you lose via sweat. And, once you rehydrate yourself, you’ll come back to your original body weight.
Experts Agree
Also, while experts agree that sauna help burn off calories and is a form of passive workout, they believe that scientific facts do not strongly support the role of sauna blankets in weight loss.
By now, we know that sauna sessions alone will not result in drastic changes in your body weight. So, if your only intention to invest in a sauna blanket is to lose weight, that might probably not be the best idea.
However, saunas can help lighten your mood and attitude and make you more active, which will help you to be more positive and encouraged in your weight loss journey. So, even if it is indirect, a few sauna blanket sessions per week can benefit weight loss.
Also, saunas have many other health benefits, such as improving skin health, stronger cardiovascular health, and reducing pain. And the best part is that these health benefits do show scientific evidence. So, there is much more sauna blankets have to offer than simply weight loss.
In Summary
Figuring out your metabolic rate or finding out how many calories you will burn in with infrared sauna blankets is not something a formula on the internet can do precisely. You might get a rough idea, but the exact numbers are far from achievable.
So, instead of relying on a sauna blanket to do all the hard work for you in your weight loss journey, you should instead make it a part of it. But it’s always interesting to find out you could burn off more calories in the warmth of a sauna blanket than while at rest at room temperature.
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