Today, many people suffer from mental and physical stress caused by maintaining a high-speed lifestyle and tension. On the one hand, you have to work long, hard hours to keep up with deadlines. On the other hand, you’re expected to be a good family member and a social being. Commonly, people do not get enough sleep, or their diet needs improvement. As a result, they start losing track of their health and find themselves overweight, leading to several health risks. But fear not full-body massage helps you to weight loss.
Benefits of massage that aid weight loss
Full body massage is a treatment method for physical injuries and muscular pain. The main goal is to help relax the muscles and increase your flexibility.
Massage may reduce the stress hormones in your body.
Massage may reduce the stress hormones in your body. This includes cortisol, which is associated with increased appetite. Massage also helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system, responsible for rest and digest functions. When this part of your nervous system is engaged, it can help curb food cravings and reduce stress-related snacking. Massage may reduce the number of stress hormones in your body. Stress hormones can increase your appetite and lead to weight gain.
Massage therapy may provide a safe, complementary, and alternative treatment for many conditions such as:
- Insomnia related to stress
- Headaches
- Fibromyalgia
- Myofascial pain syndrome
- Soft tissue strains or injuries
Massage relaxes tense muscles.
Massage helps relax stiff muscles and loosens the tight muscles around joints. It also helps relieve tension from the neck and shoulder area, common among people who lead a stressful life or spend too much time sitting in front of their computers.
Massage can relax your muscles, improving circulation.
A good massage can stimulate blood circulation by bringing oxygen and other nutrients to body tissues. This helps relieve fatigue and promotes the healing of damaged tissue. Massage can restore mobility to injured muscle tissue and improve blood flow to that area of your body.
Massage helps you sleep better.
A study published in the Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine found that massage helped people relax and improve their sleep quality. Not only does a massage help you get to sleep, but it also helps you sleep more deeply. The researchers found that the individuals slept for longer periods after a massage, and had less movement during the night, which means they could enjoy a deeper sleep.
Massage aids relaxation
Massages help you relax because they activate the parasympathetic nervous system. This branch of the nervous system keeps your body in rest-and-digest mode. When your parasympathetic nervous system is active, your heart rate goes down, your blood pressure decreases, and stress hormones like cortisol drop.
Massage reduces cortisol levels.
When you’re tensed, your body produces an excess amount of cortisol — a hormone associated with weight gain. A study published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that anxiety levels decreased significantly after just one massage session while cortisol levels dropped by a whopping 31%. After multiple sessions, the decrease in cortisol levels was even more significant, dropping by up to 53%.
The best massage for weight loss
Swedish massage
The Swedish massage is a relaxation technique that uses a combination of kneading, pressing and sliding movements on the most superficial layers of the muscles. It works on the muscles, joints, and soft tissues to help heal injuries, relieve pain and prevent diseases.
The Swedish massage is designed to improve circulation, range of motion, and flexibility, reduce stress and relieve muscle tension.
Abdominal massage
Abdominal massage is a technique used to work and stimulate the abdomen to assist with digestion gently. It is also said to rid the body of toxins, improve circulation, help the uterus return to its original position, and alleviate back and joint pain in pregnant women.
To conclude
Massage therapy is one of the oldest medical practices in the world. Massage therapy can help in weight loss. Body rub helps you relax and reduces the stress hormone cortisol levels, which can help regulate appetite, blood sugar, muscle metabolism, better sleep, and insulin sensitivity. However, it would help to see a professional massage therapist for weight loss.
But there isn’t much evidence that massage promotes weight loss beyond these indirect benefits.
A 2017 study found that massage therapy resulted in only short-term weight loss in overweight adults. For long-term weight loss, it’s best to combine massage with other types of exercise and dietary changes to create a healthy lifestyle overall.
After getting a massage regularly, you can start seeing the result in 5-7 weeks. Also, eat healthily and exercise regularly to prevent gaining weight back again.
