How Can a Hot Bath Help you Lose Weight ?
- Nature Source Chaude
- Published on
- Updated on 22 April 2025
Can a bath really help you lose weight? When hot, a bath is pleasant and not painful. So how can this moment of relaxation help you lose weight in such a simple way? After introducing you to the health benefits of a hot bath and the advantages they bring when you want to lose weight, we’ll have a look at the most effective way to take a hot bath.
IN SUMMARY :
What are the health benefits of a hot bath?
During a hot bath, the body is simultaneously affected by three physical effects associated with water: heat, water pressure and buoyancy. The bath therefore allows you to :
- improve blood circulation ;
- influence breathing and relieve the airways ;
- improve glucose metabolism and reduce inflammation ;
- improve cardiovascular health ;
- relieve tired muscles and reduce pain ;
- provide deep relaxation ;
- fight depression ;
- improve sleep ;
- boost immunity ;
- support skin immunity, etc.
All these benefits are explained in more detail in our article: The Amazing Health Benefits of a Hot Bath. However, we will return to some key points that will help us better understand the relationship between a hot bath and weight loss.
A hot bath, an ally in losing weight ?
Hot baths are recommended for people who want to lose weight because they help :
- activate the metabolism ;
- eliminate water retention in a natural way ;
- reduce the appetite.
When you soak in a hot bath, the heat and pressure of the water causes your body temperature to rise, improving your circulation and activating your metabolism.
As your body temperature rises, so does your metabolism. If your basal metabolic rate (the amount of energy you burn at rest) is low, your body will burn fewer calories per day, making it harder to burn fat.
In a hot bath, the heat and pressure of the water acts on the blood and lymph vessels throughout your body, allowing your blood and lymph to circulate more freely. Circulation is improved down to the extremities (hands and feet), helping to remove waste products and excess water that have accumulated in the tissues and are responsible for swelling or oedema. The hydrostatic pressure of the water during the bath also helps to prevent cellulite.
A hot bath is also associated with appetite control. It makes you forget that you are hungry.
When people are under a lot of stress from the demands of daily life or dieting, the autonomic nervous system is disrupted, sleep quality is reduced with an impact of the circadian rhythm on hormones and metabolism. As a result, the secretion of leptin, a hormone that suppresses appetite, and the secretion of ghrelin, a hormone that increases appetite, may be affected.
When soaking in a hot bath, the buoyancy effect helps to regulate the autonomic nervous system and stabilise the secretion of appetite hormones. What’s more, as the body is compressed by the pressure of the water, appetite is reduced. Soaking also improves digestion.
So, for all these reasons, hot baths help to build a body that is less prone to weight gain and also strengthen the immune system.
Key points to consider when taking a hot bath for weight loss
Soaking is an effective way to lose weight, but you need to be careful about how you do it. To achieve the above benefits, it’s best to keep the following points in mind:
- The temperature of the bath should be between 38°C and 40°C.
- Take a full bath, up to the neck, for 10-30 minutes.
However, remember that small changes in temperature can actually cause the body to react in the opposite way. The effects of a bath are described here in general terms. However, you can adjust the temperature and duration to suit your current physical condition and your goals.
To avoid bathing accidents (dizziness, vertigo, etc.), it is essential that the water temperature is kept below 40°C and that the bath does not last longer than 30 minutes. Baths between 40°C and 42°C require greater care and are not recommended for people with cardiovascular problems. People with chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and the elderly should be cautious as a hot bath can put a strain on the heart! Always check the water temperature with a thermometer 🌡️.
One of the aims is to raise your body temperature slightly (by a few tenths of a degree) to induce perspiration (and therefore sweating), which will also increase your metabolism and help you lose weight.
It is therefore best to avoid soaking at 37°C, where it is more difficult to achieve a warming effect with water close to body temperature.
To raise your body temperature by 1°C (hyperthermic bathing), the recommended bathing times are 20 to 30 minutes for water at 39°C, 15 minutes for water at 40°C and 10 minutes for water at 41°C. Ideally, you should bathe until you start to sweat.
It’s also better to take a full bath than a three-quarter bath. The latter has the greatest effect on weight loss as it burns almost twice as many calories. Because more of your body is immersed, your body temperature rises faster and you are more sensitive to the effects of water pressure and buoyancy.
If you bathe up to your shoulders, the pressure of the water on your whole body will be around 520 kg. This pressure, evenly distributed in all directions, has a considerable massaging effect, even if you don’t feel anything in particular. What’s more, there are important lymph nodes around the collarbone and the bath allows a more intensive lymphatic drainage of the upper body (shoulders, chest, neck and arms).
Some precautions for bathing :
- Wait at least an hour after eating before bathing.
- Stay hydrated before and after bathing.
- Avoid long baths
If you take a hot bath immediately after eating, the blood concentrated in the digestive tract will be distributed throughout the body, causing indigestion.
Of course, you can drink during the bath to avoid getting too hot. Ideally, you should hydrate with a lukewarm (at least room temperature) or hot drink to prevent your body from cooling down.
Long baths (depending on water hardness) are not recommended as they can dry out the skin. It is best not to exceed 30 minutes.
💡How can I improve the effectiveness of the bath and the quality of the water?
It can be a good idea to use products that enhance the effects of bathing. Bath additives allow you to bathe in carbogeneous water (CO₂), which improves skin microcirculation and stimulates perspiration.
To obtain carbogeneous water, a mixture of bicarbonate of soda (base) and citric acid (acid) is poured into the bath water. The chemical reaction between these two ingredients and the water produces not only carbon dioxide, as in a hot spring, but also sodium citrate, an unnatural compound. It is important to respect the 2:1 ratio between these two ingredients.
🛁 For an effervescent bath (approximate quantities)
– 60 g of baking soda ;
– 30 g of citric acid.
