We often see people on television who study and research the key to a long and happy life, and there seems to be no clear answer. Some say it’s about the diet, some say you should drink a particular thing, the list goes on.
What we know, for now, is that one way to stay healthy is regular exercise. This doesn’t mean running a marathon or being a professional athlete, it means going for a walk or a run a couple of times every week.
A new study, however, seems to have found a way to do that at home, without even having to get up. Researchers have discovered you burn as many calories during a warm bath, as during a half-hour walk, reports the BBC.
Put on your workout clothes and go for a walk or have a warm and relaxing bath and just relax – that’s the question. At least if you ask Steve Faulkner, a doctor at Loughborough University. His research centers on how to replace traditional exercise with something more relaxing.
Equals a 30 minutes walk
The study comprised ten men who had to undergo a test consisting of two parts.
In the first part, researchers asked the participants to take a 104-degree relaxing bath for 60 minutes, then eat a light meal.
The second part involved one hour on a bike followed also by a light meal.
Afterward, the participants’ values were measured. The cycling burned more calories than the bath, but the bath still burned 140 calories, which equates to a 30-minute quick walk.
A relaxing bath helps with diabetes
The same study also found that participants’ blood sugar levels dropped more in the bathtub than on the bicycle, a discovery that can be a major step forward when it comes to treating diabetics who have difficulty exercising.
“What we found, was that peak glucose was actually quite a bit lower after the bath, compared with exercise, which was completely unexpected,” Steve Faulkner told the BBC.
So it might not be time to throw your workout clothes in the trash can, yet, but you can probably treat yourself to a relaxing bath sometimes instead of risking getting sick in the rain trying to exercise!
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