Do Saunas Help You Lose Weight?

Struggling to shed those extra pounds? Frustrated with ineffective diets and workouts? Nearly 1 in 3 adults are overweight, and over 2 in 5 have obesity in the United States. Discover how saunas can help you lose weight, providing a relaxing and effective solution. Dive into our guide to learn useful tips and find out how much weight you can lose.

Key Takeaways

• Short-term Weight Loss: Sauna sessions can cause temporary weight loss through dehydration.
• Metabolism Boost: Saunas increase metabolic rate, helping burn more calories.
• Calorie Burn: Regular sauna use enhances calorie burn and improves body composition.
• Stress Reduction: Saunas reduce stress, improve sleep, and balance hormones, aiding weight management.
• Usage Tips: Stay hydrated, combine with exercise and a healthy diet, avoid alcohol, and have regular sessions for safe weight loss. 

Do Saunas Help You Lose Weight?

Sauna sessions can result in significant short-term weight loss due to dehydration. A study in the International Journal of Sports Medicine found that three 20-minute sessions at 70°C led to an average weight loss of 1.8% in men and 1.4% in women. However, rehydration can reverse some of this loss.

How do saunas help you lose weight?

Increase metabolism

Saunas can aid in weight loss by boosting metabolism. Exposure to sauna heat can increase your metabolic rate by 25–33%, allowing you to burn more calories at rest.

Regular sauna sessions help your body adapt to the heat while maintaining this elevated metabolic rate, which contributes to weight loss.

Water Weight Loss

A study examined the impact of body mass index (BMI) on weight loss in a dry sauna among young sedentary men and women.

Overweight and obese individuals experienced the most significant weight loss, primarily due to sweating, leading to water weight loss. This highlights their higher dehydration risk.

To stay safe, everyone, especially those with higher BMI, should drink plenty of fluids before, during, and after sauna use. Staying hydrated prevents dehydration and ensures a safer, more enjoyable sauna experience.

Increased Calorie Burn

Sauna sessions promote weight loss by increasing calorie burn. In a study involving overweight, sedentary men, four 10-minute sauna sessions led to significant rises in heart rate, energy expenditure, and body mass loss.

These changes correlated with body composition metrics like BMI and body fat percentage. The heat exposure in saunas boosts metabolic activity, enhancing calorie expenditure and potentially aiding in weight management.

Sauna bathing is thus seen as a passive yet effective method to support weight loss goals through increased metabolic rate and calorie burn.

Stress Reduction

Sauna bathing can be an effective tool for weight loss by reducing stress. A study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that chronic stress, especially in high-stress occupations like firefighting and police work, leads to cardiometabolic diseases (CMD).

Sauna use helps mitigate CMD by improving markers such as hypertension and obesity. Additionally, an article from Penn Medicine on stress and weight loss explains that stress disrupts sleep and hormonal balance, increasing appetite and promoting fat storage.

By incorporating regular sauna sessions, individuals can reduce stress, improve sleep quality, and balance hormones like ghrelin and leptin, thereby supporting weight loss efforts 

Appetite Suppression

Saunas can aid in weight loss by suppressing appetite. The heat exposure from saunas stimulates the release of certain hormones, like ghrelin, which plays a role in regulating appetite.

Ghrelin is known to increase before meals and decrease after eating, signaling hunger to the brain. However, prolonged heat exposure can alter this pattern, potentially reducing the sensation of hunger. 

Useful Tips for Using a sauna for Weight Loss

Saunas can aid in weight loss, but it’s crucial to take precautions and start slowly. Here are some tips for using saunas effectively for weight loss:

• Drink Plenty of water
• Combine with Exercise
• Healthy Diet
• Avoid Alcohol
• Regular sauna sessions 

How much weight loss in sauna?

One study published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine found that sauna-induced dehydration can significantly reduce body weight.

In the study, 12 athletes (six men and six women) underwent three 20-minute sauna sessions at 70°C. Men lost an average of 1.8% of their body weight, while women lost 1.4%.

Rehydration afterward did not quickly reverse this weight loss. While strength and jump capacity remained stable in men, women experienced a decrease in squat jump performance after rehydration.

This indicates that sauna sessions can effectively reduce body weight, but the impact on women’s jump performance should be noted.