Does Sweating Help to Burn Fat?

There are many "fad" strategies to lose weight. Recent trends have suggested that heating up the body to the point of perspiration may cause weight loss. Purposeful sweating devices are available from saunas, steam rooms, sauna belts, and even waist belts that cause the body to sweat excessively. Though some weight loss may occur with the use of these products, the body is not burning body fat.

The Purpose of Perspiration

• We perspire through sweat glands, and our bodies do this naturally for two main reasons. First of all, sweating is our bodies' cooling mechanism. When we get hot, the body sees this as a fever, and it automatically tries to break the fever, cooling the body. We also eliminate toxins and waste through perspiration. For these reasons, sweating is an important, vital process.

Sweating and Weight Loss

• You may actually lose weight if you sweat a lot. For that reason, saunas are very popular. In fact, the idea of purposeful perspiration is not a new concept. For centuries, people have generated hot environments in order to cleanse the body of toxins. However, when you sweat, you are not necessarily losing body fat. Instead, you are shedding water weight. Some people's bodies retain more water than others, so some people may lose more weight than others after excessive sweating.

Sweating and Calories

• Even though you are only shedding excessive water when you sweat, your body may actually burn more calories during a sweat session. Because your body is trying to cool itself off, you may burn more calories than you would if you weren't sweating.

Sweating and Exercise

• The best way to lose weight through sweating is by exercising. When you sweat while you are exercising, you are losing water weight, and you are using consumed calories and stored body fat. We sweat when we exercise because we expend so much of our body energy in a short time. This forces the body to begin the cooling process.

Perspiration Tools

• Perspiration tools like sauna suits and waist trimmers are very helpful for people who store a lot of water weight. Women tend to store more water weight than men. In addition, women store a lot of water in their abdomen, so sweating in that area can eliminate some of that stored water. If you tend to feel bloated and swollen, you may benefit from these tools.