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A good soak in a hot tub might beat a sauna for health benefits
Medical Xpress / Univ of Oregon / Am Jrnl of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and…Physiology ^ | June 26, 2025 | Jessica K. Atencio et al

Posted on 07/02/2025 3:54:48 PM PDT by ConservativeMind

Hot tubs and saunas can both soothe aching muscles and provide welcome warmth, but hot tubs might offer greater health benefits.

That's the takeaway from a new study done by researchers which compared the physiological effects of soaking in a hot tub to sitting in a traditional dry heat sauna or a more modern far-infrared sauna.

By raising core body temperatures, soaking in hot water can help lower blood pressure, stimulate the immune system and, over time, improve the body's response to heat stress. Moreover, those effects can last beyond the minutes spent directly in heat treatment.

Researchers monitored body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, cardiac output (the amount of blood the heart pumps per minute) and immune cell populations and blood biomarkers of inflammation. Data were collected before, during and after subjects soaked in a hot tub and sat in traditional dry heat and far-infrared saunas.

The study looked at 10 men and 10 women who exercised regularly and ranged in age from 20 to 28 years old. The goal was to isolate the physiological responses to each heating method in a young, healthy population.

"We saw that hot water immersion was the most impactful in increasing core body temperature, which is the main stimulus for these subsequent responses," Atencio said.

"Increasing body temperature causes an increase in blood flow, and just the force of blood moving across your vessels is beneficial for your vascular health."

While the research team took blood samples from subjects after each kind of heat therapy, only hot-water immersion produced an inflammatory response as measured by the levels of inflammatory cytokines, a kind of immune signaling molecule, and immune cell populations.

Regular exercise can provide benefits similar to and even better in some respects than those from heat therapy, he added.

(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: germs

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Do your hot water soaks.
1 posted on 07/02/2025 3:54:48 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
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To: Mazey; ckilmer; goodnesswins; Jane Long; jy8z; ProtectOurFreedom; matthew fuller; telescope115; ...

The “Take Charge Of Your Health” Ping List

This high volume ping list is for health articles and studies which describe something you or your doctor, when informed, may be able to immediately implement for your benefit.

Email me to get on either the “Common/Top Issues” (20 - 25% fewer pings) or “Everything” list.

2 posted on 07/02/2025 3:55:14 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: ConservativeMind

If any of you homos make homo-erotic jokes about this, I’ll kill you!


3 posted on 07/02/2025 3:57:30 PM PDT by Texas Eagle ("Throw me to the wolves and I'll return leading the pack"- Donald J. Trump)
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To: ConservativeMind

Word to the wise: probably shouldn’t use the words “beat” and “sauna” in the same sentence.


4 posted on 07/02/2025 3:59:19 PM PDT by Texas Eagle ("Throw me to the wolves and I'll return leading the pack"- Donald J. Trump)
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To: ConservativeMind

The study took 10 random men age 20 to 28 years old and paired them with 10 random women age 20 to 28 years old and plunked them down in a hot tub with Brie and Chardonnay. The researchers measured blood pressure and other physiological responses to the soothing hot tub water.


5 posted on 07/02/2025 4:00:36 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (“Diversity is our Strength” just doesn’t carry the same message as “Death from Above”)
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To: ConservativeMind

It is almost like water is a better conductor of heat than air. This needs to be published in the journal of thermodynamics.


6 posted on 07/02/2025 4:04:42 PM PDT by LukeL
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To: ConservativeMind

Private hot tub, OK.

Public hot tub, no way Ho Zay.


7 posted on 07/02/2025 4:05:57 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Democrats are the Party of anger, hate and violence.)
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To: Texas Eagle

>If you homos grrrrrr
What’s the difference between the new pope at prayer and Barack Obama in a hot tub?
The pope has hope in his soul, Barack has soap in his hole.


8 posted on 07/02/2025 4:06:07 PM PDT by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives)
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To: ConservativeMind
Who the He!! would spend money on a study like this,
and what difference does it make in the real world?
9 posted on 07/02/2025 4:12:32 PM PDT by Falcon4.0
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To: ConservativeMind
The study looked at 10 men and 10 women who exercised regularly and ranged in age from 20 to 28 years old. The goal was to isolate the physiological responses to each heating method in a young, healthy population.

,,, very limited number of people in a very specific age range. I thought hot water soaking would pump the blood pressure up. Get back to us when the survey includes people in their sixties. In the next three weeks I'll be buying a sauna [infra red]. It takes up less space than a hot tub and the running costs are confined to time of use, rather than a spa pool staying heated. Also the maintenance factor is worth consideration.

10 posted on 07/02/2025 4:13:13 PM PDT by shaggy eel (A long way south of the border.)
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To: tumblindice

That’s DISGUSTING!


11 posted on 07/02/2025 4:14:12 PM PDT by Texas Eagle ("Throw me to the wolves and I'll return leading the pack"- Donald J. Trump)
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To: tumblindice

,,, I’m not smiling; it’s muscular cramp in my face.


12 posted on 07/02/2025 4:16:26 PM PDT by shaggy eel (A long way south of the border.)
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To: shaggy eel

You likely have a bathtub already.

That is a hot tub, for this purpose.


13 posted on 07/02/2025 4:20:29 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: shaggy eel

“I thought hot water soaking would pump the blood pressure up.”

Since you think wrong, maybe you need to rethink your options.


14 posted on 07/02/2025 4:24:44 PM PDT by TexasGator (i.. logo About Issues Projects Products Connect Subscribe Invest June 19, 2025 | Insight '1-1111 -)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

You got that right…


15 posted on 07/02/2025 4:26:42 PM PDT by GSWarrior
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To: TexasGator

,,, thanks for your consultancy expertise.


16 posted on 07/02/2025 4:29:01 PM PDT by shaggy eel (A long way south of the border.)
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To: tumblindice

That joke has been around forever.

Get some new material, preferably some that isn’t obsessed with Obama digestive tract.


17 posted on 07/02/2025 4:29:39 PM PDT by GSWarrior
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

The only hot tub I have access to is at the YMCA.

An employee told me they were always having trouble in the men’s locker room, and it’s not about leaky plumbing or malfunctioning equipment.


18 posted on 07/02/2025 4:33:36 PM PDT by packagingguy
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To: ConservativeMind

At the risk of introducing the ick factor, sometimes (often) soaking in a tub can trigger a UTI. I’m sure it depends on a person’s particular system.

I would choose a sauna if I had to pick just one


19 posted on 07/02/2025 4:33:50 PM PDT by MayflowerMadam (It's hard not to celebrate the fall of bad people. - Bongino)
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To: ConservativeMind

Thought cold plunge had benefits too.
Newer spa pool heaters can also chill the water.


20 posted on 07/02/2025 4:34:20 PM PDT by reviled downesdad (Abortion is the genocide of people of color by Democrats.)
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