The straight answer is, yes, but not directly.
Infrared sauna stimulates the metabolism and raises the heart rate, similar to exercise. This demand for more energy eats calories at a faster rate, helping you maintain a healthy body-mass index.
Remember, a calorie is not an actual thing but a unit of heat energy. It is the same amount of energy that would be needed to raise one gram of water by one degree Celsius.
If you’re curious about how many calories you’re burning in a typical day, check out our Daily Calorie Burn Calculator.
The most common way used to calculate the number of calories burned each day is something called the Harris-Benedict Formula. This method dates back to the early 20th century, but it is occasionally revised in keeping with the latest scientific standards to ensure maximum accuracy.
To use the Harris-Benedict formula, you multiply your basal metabolic rate (BMR) by your average daily activity level. If you are alive, your BMR determines how many calories you burn just sitting around inactive.
BMR Calculator:
• For men: 66 + (6.2 x weight) + (12.7 x height) – (6.76 x age)
• For women: 655.1 + (4.35 x weight) + (4.7 x height) – (4.7 x age)
Divide that by 24 and that will give you your rough average calories burned per hour for doing absolutely nothing.
Activity level then plays a big part in your caloric burn rate. When you exercise lightly, you might burn 20% more calories than normal. Heavy exercisers might burn 50-100% more calories.
For infrared sauna, a typical estimate would be about 50% more calories burned than usual during the time you are sitting in the sauna. In an hour, that could easily burn up 100-250 calories alone!
The big benefit is to your overall metabolism during everyday life. Using an infrared sauna 3-4 times a week can help keep your metabolism stoked all the time. Your engine running hotter means you could be burning an extra 200-400 calories a day just leading a normal active life, in between spa sessions.
Listen to your body and make sure to eat a balanced diet, get plenty of water in your system, get your sleep, moderate exercise and you will be living like the best!
