From burning calories to alleviating stress, here are surprising reasons you need a bath this week.
One of the best ways to have the ultimate wellness experience is simply taking a bath. Celebrities like Goop Founder Gwyneth Paltrow swear by warm baths, claiming that it is a valuable form of self-care.
Other bath-advocating celebrities have even adopted unique and fun ways to take their baths, substituting water for milk or chocolate – to name a few.
But baths go way back and have an elaborate history. They have been practised for personal hygiene, as a religious ritual, as a form of therapy and as a recreational activity – these reasons for bathing still continue today. Baths date back to as early 500 B.C., when Greeks and Romans would indulge in baths at expensive bathhouses all throughout Europe. Today, a third of people in the UK still take baths a few times a week.
The reasons below will outline why warm baths are beneficial for your health and general wellbeing. After reading, you’ll certainly want to carve some time out of your day to run a soothing and serene bath…
Burns calories
Though warm baths cannot replace the effectiveness of exercise, submerging in a 20-30 minute bath can burn calories. Warm baths are a form of heat therapy, so they increase blood flow and speed up metabolism. For those with heart conditions, they make the heart beat faster by giving it a healthy workout, ultimately leading to the burning of calories.
Immune-boosting
Warm baths increase the body’s ability to fight infections and viruses by killing bacteria and boosting oxygen flow throughout the respiratory system. This incentivises deep and slow breathing. In addition, immersing in water helps relieve nasal and chest congestion.
Better sleep
Having a cool body temperature at night promotes better sleep, which is why it is recommended to sleep in a cool room. When leaving a warm bath, the body temperature cools down rapidly. So, to secure a good night’s sleep and effortlessly wake up in the morning, jump into a bath right before bed. For further relaxation, try adding products – like a moisturiser or clay mask – into your bathing routine to replicate an at-home spa. This will most definitely guarantee an extra deep night of beauty sleep.
Stress-relief
The meditative process of setting up a bath and hopping in removes all of life’s distractions, such as screens and the everyday pressures of time. Baths create a peaceful and meditative environment and lower stress, anxiety and depression at the same time. Overall, baths improve general mental health. Health experts recommend 3 Epsom salt baths a week to reduce stress and flush out toxins.
Soothes muscles and joints
Warm baths stimulate blood circulation, which means that they provide the muscles with more oxygen and nutrients. This is why warm baths are effective for sore muscles – they help to release muscle tightness and relieve any pain.
Detoxification
Warm baths help cleanse the body, particularly when Epsom bath salts are added, as they help extract any unwanted and lingering toxins by opening up the body’s pores and generating sweat. After taking a bath, it is important to hydrate the body by drinking water and applying moisturiser, in order to restore the body’s minerals and hydration.
