For most of us, being fit, healthy and happy is an important factor in our lives. But, as we age, getting a good night’s sleep and keeping the weight off is harder than it once used to be. More often than not, this arduous task of staying healthy, refreshed and fit is blamed on our metabolism. Terms such as “fast metabolism” and “boost your metabolism” are common when we look for wellness solutions to sleep and weight loss. Luckily for us, we can “boost our metabolism” through a healthy diet, exercise and sauna use.
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So, what exactly is metabolism? Simply put, metabolism is all about converting the food you eat into energy. And, it continually happens throughout the day, regardless of your activity level.
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According to a 2018 article in Men’s Health magazine, metabolism is made up of three factors. The first is termed the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which accounts for the number of calories your body needs just to stay alive (keep organs functional, etc.) and accounts for 70% of your metabolism. The second factor is termed the Non-Exercise Adaptive Thermogenesis (NEAT). This accounts for things like standing, fidgeting, walking, etc. and is 20% of our metabolic activity. And finally, the most commonly known is exercise. Surprisingly, this only accounts for 10% of our total metabolism.
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Essentially, blaming your slow metabolism on weight gain is a vast overstatement, because it’s not a fixed entity. It will increase and decrease throughout the course of your life and, through healthy lifestyle activities and regular thermal POD or sauna use, you can absolutely increase your metabolism.
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The next time you feel like complaining about having a slow or fast metabolism, remember that you have power to change it!
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Even though exercise only makes up 10% of our metabolism, increasing the amount of exercise and/or hyperthermic conditioning exercise and regular sauna use can help increase the efficiency at which you metabolize your food. When you increase your heart rate (exercise or hyperthermic conditioning exercise), your body reacts by burning calories. Following exercise with a Cocoon Pod Sauna session keeps your heart rate up for longer periods of time, thus elevating your resting metabolic rate. This not only benefits you during your thermal POD or heated sauna session, but also continues to be effective after your sauna session.
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Infrared heat source is the optimal whole-body heating method.
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It’s also important to note that by building more muscle, through exercise and POD and/or sauna sessions, your body is able to burn more calories and increase metabolism speed. According to a study done by Goodpaster, et al. in 1999, exercise and heat shock through sauna use combined, promote mitochondrial biogenesis which promotes increased muscle mass. By increasing your muscle mass and replacing fat with muscle, you are efficiently increasing your metabolism. It’s an amazing, but new scientifically proven realization, that a thermal POD and/or heated sauna are key contributors to increasing muscle mass.
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Remember the BMR that we talked about that accounts for 70% of your metabolism? It also relates to the types of food you eat. So, foods higher in proteins and fibers will actually take more energy and more calories to burn. Adding a thermal POD or infrared sauna session can actually help you achieve this. A study done by Heinonen, et al., in 2014 determined that sauna use tripled the Brain Derived Neuropathic Feature (BDNF). Since BDNF helps control appetite and satiety, thermal stimulation and sauna use effectively helps control those unwanted cravings.
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So, next time you feel like complaining about having a slow or fast metabolism, remember that you have power to change it! Of course, diet and exercise will go a long way when boosting your metabolism. But, adding a thermal POD session or infrared sauna session to your healthy lifestyle activity will give your metabolism the extra boost – and all you have to do is sit back and relax!
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