One of the most important models in health is the “calories in, calories out” model in health science. The model entails that if you burn more calories than you consume per day, you’ll lose weight. If the opposite is true, and you take in more calories than you burn, you’ll gain body weight (1; 2; 3; 4)

(For this blog post, I’ll assume that this model is the correct fat loss model. Other models such as that argue that blood sugar disbalances and disruptions in the hormone that manages blood sugar, called “insulin”, are incorrect. (5 ; 6; 7)

The naturally emerging question is whether spending time in an infrared sauna burns calories. The answer is a resounding “yes”. The next question, of course, is "how many?" I'll give you a detailed breakdown and answer of the science in this blog post:

Question 1: Do You Burn Calories In An Infrared Sauna?

Before considering the question of “does infrared sauna burn calories”, I’ll first explore the concept of “calories”. Every adult has heard about calories but if you ask them to explain the concept, they usually won’t know exactly what it means.

So start with the definition so that we’re all on the same page:

Calories 101

“Calories” are simply a definition within Chemistry, and signify the amount of energy needed to increase the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius (8)

Energy is primarily created in your cells (9; 10). Most of your cells contain hundreds to thousands of “mitochondria”. “Mitochondria” can be conceived as the energy-producing factories of your cells.

In your mitochondria, the food you ingest is finally converted into energy. Without going into too much detail, the calories you ingest from food are finally burned in your mitochondria. That energy-producing process allows you to survive and thrive.

The poorer that energy-creating process in your mitochondria becomes, the closer you’ll move to disease. And, the better that process becomes, conversely, the closer you’ll move towards health.

With that being said, you now understand the basics of calories and where they are burned. Let’s now turn the conversation to the topic of the calories infrared sauna connection:

Does Infrared Sauna Use Burn Calories? Yes - Here’s How

Different types of intermittent stress can increase the size and number of mitochondria in your cells (11; 12). Your body, therefore, becomes more efficient with the energy (calories) it takes in.

These types of intermittent stress include exercise, spending time in low-oxygen environments such as high mountains, and both low and high temperatures. The low temperature stressors such as cold showers and ice baths have become really popular in the last few years.

High-temperature stressors include hot baths, Finnish saunas, steam rooms, and infrared saunas, among others. During all of these activities, the body actively counters overheating. Energy needs to be spent to cool down your body, which then necessitates the burning of calories.

The magic question then becomes: “how many calories burned in an infrared sauna?” Here’s the answer:

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