Have you ever really wondered what happens to your body when you sit in a hot tub? Beyond the obvious relaxation that you sense, your blood vessels dilate, which essentially improves your blood flow, and reduces blood pressure.
However, experts explain that the blood pressure-lowering effects of hot water baths are only temporary. Your levels will return to their usual reading a few minutes after the soak. Even so, a 2019 study published in The Journal of Biological and Medical Rhythm Research found that having a hot bath before bed was associated with lower night and sleep-time blood pressure in elderly subjects.
Science has found that practices like Japanese tub bathing and Finnish sauna bathing can be good for your cardiovascular health in general. Lower risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and sudden cardiac death are some of the benefits associated with these traditional bathing habits. When a group of scientists attempted to see if regular hot water baths could reap the same benefits as saunas and hot tubs via a 2018 study published in Scientific Reports, they found habitual hot baths significantly reduced markers of atherosclerosis and cardiac loading. “Atherosclerosis” refers to plaque buildup on the artery walls. Some experts caution, however, against drawing cause-and-effect conclusions. It could be that people who take regular baths also have other positive lifestyle markers like lower stress and healthier diets, according to the associate medical director with the British Heart Foundation in the United Kingdom, Jeremy Pearson (via Medical News Today).
