Can Hydrotherapy Help With Weight Loss?
Can Hydrotherapy Help with Weight Loss?
You may have heard about the many benefits of hydrotherapy and how hot tubs can help with weight loss. While taking a soak in a hot tub a few times a week isn't going to melt away multiple pounds, hydrotherapy can play an important factor in helping you reach your weight loss goals. In the article below, we will discuss how regular hot tubusage has a number of benefits that can assist with weight loss.
Calories Burned
Be wary of any claim that just simply soaking in your hot tub will shed away the pounds that you need to lose to fit into your favourite pair of jeans again. Just soaking alone in your hot tub burns just a fraction more calories than sitting on your couch does, which we all know isn't much. But, taking that 15-minute soak does help promote some lifestyle changes that in turn can help with weight loss. For example, having a large glass of water and taking a soak before eating dinner will help your body feel full, helping you eat less. Having a soak an hour or so before bed helps people sleep deeper and longer, which is helpful because lack of sleep (less than 7 hours per night) has been shown to contribute to weight gain in many individuals.
Stress Reduction
Stress can be your worst enemy when trying to lose weight. A hormone in our body, called cortisol is produced when we are stressed and can cause a number of our hormones to become unbalanced. Since cortisol is associated with our body’s ‘fight or flight’ response to stress, it affects our ability to lose weight in these ways:
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- Triggers cravings for high sodium, high-fat foods, which when consumed often are a major cause for weight gain.
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- High levels of cortisol are shown to increase the amount of body fat we have, especially in the abdominal area.
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- Cortisol can also prevent your body from building new muscle, which is a faster way to burn calories.
How does hydrotherapy help with cortisol? When you soak in hot water, the muscles in your body relax, which causes your breathing to slow down. This helps us to relax and decreases our cortisol levels, which in turn help us lose weight.
Fight Insomnia
Lack of sleep has a major impact on our hormone levels and weight. Research has shown that many sleep-deprived individuals consume approximately 300 more calories each day. Suffering from insomnia and other sleep-related disorders can contribute to weight gain by:
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- Increasing your level of ghrelin, which is the hormone that makes you feel hungry. The more sleep deprived you are and the higher your level of ghrelin is, the harder you will have to control and maintain a healthy diet.
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- Decreasing the leptin hormone, which is responsible for making you feel full and satisfied after you eat. When individuals have low leptin levels, they are far more prone to overeat.
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- Lowering your metabolism from your body shifting into ‘survival mode’, trying to conserve resources.
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- Increases serotonin levels which can cause some individuals to eat more, especially foods high in fat and carbs.
Hydrotherapy is a very effective way to fight insomnia and sleep problems. In fact, many people have reported that they have had more relief using hydrotherapy for their sleep problems that medication. The water raises our body temperature, which then begins to lower as we get out of the hot tub and cool off, which send a signal to the brain that it is time to go to sleep.
While hopping in your hot tub alone won’t cause you to lose any significant amount of weight, the benefits of hydrotherapy on your lifestyle can. With less stress and improved sleep, eating healthy and having the energy to workout are more likely to be a part of your daily routine, helping you to lose weight.
Now that you know what role hydrotherapy can play in weight loss, download a hot tub buyer’s guideto learn more about the amazing benefits of becoming a hot tub owner.
