Fitness Mantra: A hot bath may be as healthy as exercise

The good news comes from a recent study out of the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine at the University of Loughborough in the UK. 

For the study, the researchers recruited 14 men and assigned them to either an hour of moderate cycling or an hour-long soak in a 104-degree bath. (Because the group was small and all-male, the results still need to be validated with larger studies involving both men and women, but this is a starting point.) 

Unsurprisingly, the cyclists burned more calories, but bathers still burned about 140 calories on average - about what they would have used on a half-hour walk. More interestingly, the researchers measured blood sugar for the study participants for the next 24 hours and found the two groups both had improved ability to control blood sugar, an important measure of metabolic health.

In fact, the bathers’ peak blood sugar levels after eating were about 10% lower than the peak blood sugar for the cyclists, which shows promise for using “passive heating” as a means of helping control metabolic disorders like type 2 diabetes. 

The bathers also experienced an anti-inflammatory response like the effect seen in people after they exercise, which is also promising, since people with chronic disease tend to have chronic inflammation. 

Steve Faulkner, lead author of the study, writes that the research backs up previous findings that suggest frequent saunas can reduce risks for strokes and heart attacks and that regular hot baths can help improve blood pressure. 

This is still early stage research, but the authors write that soaking in hot water might be helpful for people who could use the health benefits of exercise but struggle to follow a fitness regimen. 

Of course, the results should not be a reason to stop exercising and just take a bath instead. But if you’re looking for an excuse to take a soak, go ahead and do it for your health.