Does taking a hot bath burn as many calories as a 30-minute walk?

Between sweating out under the sweltering sun and a warm relaxing bath, the latter definitely takes the cake. It would be a dream if we could lose an extra few pounds lounging around in our bathtubs. Well, guess what? It’s a dream come true.

In a study carried out by Loughborough University, 14 men were soaked in a warm bath of 40 degrees Celsius. By the end of an hour, they burned a jaw-dropping 130 calories —as much as a 30-minute walk!

This new discovery is called “passive heating”, which is when our bodies produce heat shock proteins as a response to stressful conditions. The raised levels of this protein help with insulin and improve blood sugar control, thus burning calories.

However, don’t get too excited just yet. Taking a hot bath may burn some calories but it still wouldn’t give you the health benefits a proper work out would. At the end of the day, an hour at the gym would definitely burn more calories than a 60-minute hot bath while also improving your overall health and well being.

But who says you can’t take a dip in the tub after a workout to burn off a few extra calories?

Shona Menon 

Photo: Getty Images

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