The Immediate Effect of Steam Bath and Sauna Bath on Heart Rate Variability and Body Composition in Obese Individuals: A Comparative Study
Mayank Tripathi, K. J. Sujatha, Prashanth Shetty
Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medical Research · pp. 286–296 · Published 24 Dec 2021
10.9734/jocamr/2021/v16i430317Abstract
Aim: The present study was designed to evaluate and compare the immediate effects of steam bath and sauna bath on body composition and Heart Rate Variabilities in individuals with obesity. Study Design: Prospective randomised comparative trial. Materials and Methods: Participants visiting Shantivana Nature cure hospital with age ranging from 18 to 32, without any comorbidities and Body Mass Index (BMI) more than 31 kg/m2 were appraised about the study protocol and after getting informed consent were divided into Steam bath group (n = 50) and Sauna bath group (n = 50) and were administered one sitting of Steam bath and sauna bath for 15 minutes. The Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Body Fat Analyser data was recorded before and after one sitting of treatment. The data was analysed using JASP (version 0.14.1.0) software and parametric and non-parametric tests were employed based on the normal distribution. Results: Marked changes were observed in BMI (p= 0.022), Total Body Water (TBW; p<0.0001), Heart Rate (HR; p= 0.002), RR Interval (p< 0.001), NN50 (p=0.013), pNN50 (p=0.0001), variables in the Steam bath group after comparing with the baseline. In the Sauna bath group significant changes (in %) were seen in Body weight (BW; p<0.001), BMI (p<0.001), Free-Fat Mass (FFM; p= 0.004), Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR; p< 0.001), Systolic Blood Pressure SBP; p= 0.008), HR (p<0.001), Mean RR (p<0.0001), RMSSD (p=0.005), pNN50 (p<0.0001), Very low frequency (VLF; p<0.0001), Low Frequency (LF; p<0.001), High Frequency (HF; p<0.001), LF/HF (p<0.001). When comparing steam bath with sauna bath group, the variables Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP; p=0.002), HR (p= 0.021), RMSSD (p<0.001), RMSSD (p<0.001), NN50 (p<0.001), pNN50 (p<0.001), VLF (p<0.001) showed significant changes. Conclusion: The present study concludes that single dose of steam bath and sauna bath reduces the body weight by acting on the total body water percentage, reduces diastolic blood pressure, and causes vagal dominance. Sauna bath also increases basal metabolic rate which further helps in improving metabolism in the body and further helps in reducing body weight.
Cited by 1
Mohanakrishnan B, Anvesh Barakoti, Ananya S. Prasad · Cureus · 2026
Related research
- Metabolic Syndrome among Healthcare Workers in a Tertiary Hospital in South-South, Nigeria — shares topic coverage
- Dietary Pattern and Prevalence of High Blood Pressure among Adult Traders in Port Harcourt, Nigeria — shares topic coverage
- Impact of the Diet Profile and Alcohol Consumption on Cardiometabolic Risks in Dschang Health District-Cameroon — shares topic coverage
- Gender Specific Predictive Performance and Optimal Threshold of Anthropometric Indices for the Prediction of Hypertension among a Ghanaian Population in Kumasi — shares topic coverage
- Metabolic Syndrome and Kidney Damage: Prevalence and Assessment of Risk among Apparently Healthy Resident of Ado Ekiti, South West Nigeria — shares topic coverage
Article metrics
Real usage data collected on this platform.
0
Page views
0
PDF downloads
0
Outbound clicks
1
Citations
Views by country
Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".
No views recorded yet.
Traffic sources
Referring site, by host.
No traffic recorded yet.
Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.