

Water Weight and Infrared Heat

October 26, 2016 by Kara Willingham

If you feel you are struggling to lose weight and can’t seem to figure out why you may be retaining too much water. Retaining water means your body is holding onto extra water in the tissue between your cells. There are many reasons why your body may not be “letting go” of excess H20. Contributors to water retention include salt, carbohydrates, sugar, alcohol, and your diet. Does this mean you can’t have these items and you need to complete change your eating habits? Not necessarily.  It just means limiting your intake and focusing on healthy choices should assist you with your goals.

If you’re noticing a bit of water weight gain, consider this, the foods you eat, the activities you participate in and the liquids you consume all contribute to the amount of water your body will hold onto. When your body is retaining too much water you may notice a general feeling of “puffiness” or bloating. But, how do we get rid of it? Infrared is here to save the day!

We asked our Clinical Director, Dr. Aaron Flickstein for his input on water weight, how to get rid of it and how infrared heat helps.

“If you are unable to achieve weight loss with a healthy diet and regular exercise, your bodily fluids could be too acidic or your body may be keeping water it doesn’t need,” says Flickstein “This acidity or retention may stem from stress, your diet, a woman’s time of the month or underlying health conditions.” Therefore, we say weight loss and detoxification go hand-in-hand.

Loss of water weight is often looked at as a ‘quick-fix’ for weight loss, however it does not last. With infrared, more than just water weight is lost. Infrared weight loss happens through the process of perspiration. As your body works to break down fat cells, it turns them into energy and that fuels sweat production. “Sweat produced because of infrared immersion can help your body sweat out fat, cholesterol, heavy metals, acids and toxins that won’t be replaced when you rehydrate,” says Flickstein “These solids can constitute up to 20% of the volume of sweat produced, this is one of the reasons why the effects of an infrared session are so noticeable.”

The release of fats and toxins also allows for the rebalancing of both your digestion and metabolism and this triggers the conversion of carbs and fats directly to energy while increasing blood flow to the capillaries. This means that your body will use carbs and fats to assist itself with the process of detoxification and metabolism improvement. “Profuse sweating, during a FIT Bodywrap session will help clear fat and toxic debris from the body directly through the pores of our skin,” Flickstein says. “Participants experience a decrease in the overall toxic burden can then allow the body to rebalance its metabolism. Because of this and a handful of other reasons, weight lost with infrared is more than simply water.”

During an infrared body wrap session infrared heat is generated close to the body, this process induces a higher level of perspiration than we may experience regularly. “Infrared heat is unique because it can penetrate about 1.5 inches into the body, heating areas where fats and toxins have been stored without generating uncomfortable heat on the surface of the skin,” said Flickstein “Because many fats and toxins become soluble at temperatures of just over 100 degrees, these fats and toxins, including cholesterol, heavy metals and acids, can be dissolved and excreted through our sweat, kidneys and bodily functions.”

Fruit infused water can make your infrared session even sweeter!

Getting your sweat on is very energy intensive, increasing metabolic rates, blood flow, tissue oxygenation and burning calories while you sweat. “Clinical research indicates that approximately 15% - 20% of the sweat produced with infrared is composed of the undesirable fats and toxins, compared to 3-5% with normal exercise,” says Flickstein. 

Wow! What a huge difference. To review, you can reduce the amount of water weight and bloating by lowering your salt, carb, sugar intake and increasing the consumption on plain water. Sports drinks, juices, sodas and alcoholic beverages contain salts, sugars and often have dehydrating effects. Consuming plain (or fruit infused) water throughout the day can help you battle bloating and improve your overall health. Regular infrared sessions can get rid of water weight while also purging fats and toxins that will not be replaced as you hydrate. 

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