Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine how traditional Japanese style bathing could promote good health. Using healthy volunteers, we assessed body temperature (core and cutaneous), red blood cells, white blood cells (WBCs), venous blood gas parameters (PO2, SO2, PCO2, TCO2, HCO3, and pH), weight loss (which may indicate sweat volume), and the time until sweating before and after bathing. We simultaneously conducted a double-blind clinical trial using a bath additive group and a control group to investigate the effect of a bath additive on the same parameters. We found that bathing increased the core and cutaneous body temperature, as well as PO2, SO2, and blood pH. All of the subjects also showed increases in heart rate and weight loss (sweat volume). After bathing, the number and ratio of granulocytes increased while the number and ratio of lymphocytes decreased. These results tended to be emphasized in the bath additive group; however, significant between-group differences were not detected. Our results indicated that bathing improved blood circulation and had a modulatory effect on the autonomic nervous system. This suggested that traditional Japanese style bathing might contribute to good health and longevity; however, additional larger-scale studies were needed to confirm or refute this conclusion.
Highlights
According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan, Japanese women had the longest average life expectancy worldwide, at 86.83 years, for the third consecutive year in 2014, while Japanese men climbed a notch to tie for third longest life expectancy at 80.50 years [1] [2]
We investigated the health effects of the hyperthermia and bath additives associated with traditional Japanese style bathing
During the bath, the mean core temperature increased, the temperature decreased to 36.2 ̊C ± 0.6 ̊C at 60 minutes after the bath
Summary
According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan, Japanese women had the longest average life expectancy worldwide, at 86.83 years, for the third consecutive year in 2014, while Japanese men climbed a notch to tie for third longest life expectancy at 80.50 years [1] [2]. The American anthropologist Ruth Benedict reported in her book on Japanese culture, “One of the best loved minor pleasures of the body in Japan is the hot bath...the daily soak in superlatively heated water is a part of the routine of every late afternoon. They sit in the bath with their knees drawn up in fetal position, the water up to their chins” [7]. A recent investigation in Japan found that 27.6% of respondents put additives into their bath water to enjoy hot spring-like effects [9]
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