Research suggests that taking a daily sauna or soak in a hot tub may help reduce weight gain during menopause.
Spending half an hour a day in a hot environment has been found to activate a protein that helps the body use energy and burn fat.
It also improved the use of insulin, necessary to control the body’s blood sugar levels.
Scientists believe it suggests that heat therapy, such as saunas or hot tubs, could be an effective way to control the weight gain that many women experience during menopause.
Changes in hormone levels are thought to alter the way the body stores fat, and healthy women typically gain 1 to 1.5 pounds a year during menopause.
Spending half an hour a day in a hot environment has been found to activate a protein that helps the body use energy and burn fat.
Combined with a natural reduction in muscle mass that slows the rate at which the body uses calories, it can make it especially difficult for women to maintain a healthy weight as they age.
Researchers from the nutrition department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst wanted to test whether heat exposure could alter the body’s response to fat.
They used older mice that had their ovaries removed to simulate menopause and fed them a “Western diet,” which contained 45 percent of calories from fat.
Half of the mice then received 30 minutes of daily heat therapy in a heat chamber at 40℃ (104°F) for 12 weeks.
Those in the sauna group suffered no tissue damage and showed significantly reduced levels of lactate dehydrogenase, indicating less age-related tissue damage.
The therapy also effectively mitigated weight gain induced by a high-fat diet, according to findings presented at the Nutrition conference in Chicago.
This could be partly due to the fact that they showed significant improvements in insulin sensitivity, as well as less fat accumulation in key areas such as the liver.
They had better levels of brown fat, a type of fat that helps the body burn more energy but which people tend to lose as they age, leading to weight gain.
Heat therapy appeared to trigger several molecular processes that help the body use energy more efficiently and burn fat, including a protein known as TRPV1.
“Whole-body heat therapy” effectively mitigated high-fat diet-induced weight gain, according to Rong Fan (left) and Professor Soonkyu Chung, who presented their findings at the Nutrition conference in Chicago.
Associate Professor Soonkyu Chung said: “Our study suggests that whole-body heat therapy could serve as an effective, non-invasive solution to manage weight gain and insulin resistance associated with menopause.”
More research is needed to determine the optimal duration and intensity of heat exposure in people, they said.
Rong Fan, co-author of the study, said the treatment could be expanded to other heat therapies, adding: “Heat therapy could be a practical option for those who have increased abdominal fat and a higher risk of metabolic diseases caused by the changes hormones of menopause. .
“It could be easily integrated into regular healthcare practices through regular sessions in saunas, hot baths or specialized thermal wraps.”