Taking a daily sauna or slipping into a jacuzzi could help reduce weight gain during menopause, research suggests.

Spending half an hour a day in a hot environment was found to trigger a protein which helps the body use energy and burn fat.

It also improved the use of insulin, needed to control the body’s blood sugar levels.

Scientists believe it suggests heat therapy – such as saunas or jacuzzis – could be an effective way of controlling weight gain many women experience through menopause.

Changing hormone levels are thought to alter the way the body stores fat, with healthy women typically gaining between 1-1.5lbs a year throughout the menopause.

Combined with a natural reduction in muscle mass slowing the rate the body uses calories, it can make it especially difficult for women to stay a healthy weight as they age.

Researchers from the department of nutrition at the University of Massachusetts Amherst wanted to test if exposure to heat could alter the body’s response to fat.

Click here to resize this module

They used older mice with their ovaries removed to simulate menopause and fed them on a ‘Western diet’, containing 45 per cent calories from fat.

Half of the mice then received 30 minutes of daily heat therapy in a heat chamber set to 40℃ (104°F) for 12 weeks.

Those in the sauna group did not suffer tissue damage and showed significantly reduced lactate dehydrogenase levels, indicating less aging-related tissue damage.

The therapy also effectively mitigated weight gain induced by a high fat diet, according to the findings presented at the Nutrition conference in Chicago.

This could be in part due to them showing significant improvements in insulin sensitivity as well as reduced fat accumulation in key areas such as the liver.

They had better levels of brown fat, a type of fat which helps the body to burn more energy but which people tend to lose as they age, leading to weight gain.

The heat therapy seemed to trigger several molecular processes that help the body use energy more efficiently and burn fat, including a protein known as TRPV1.

Associate professor, Soonkyu Chung, said: ‘Our study suggests that whole-body heat therapy could serve as an effective, non-invasive solution for managing weight gain and insulin resistance associated with menopause.’

Further research is needed to determine the optimal duration and intensity of heat exposure in people, they said.

Rong Fan, co-author of the study, said the treatment could be widened out to other heat therapies, adding: ‘Heat therapy could be a practical option for those with increased abdominal fat and a higher risk of metabolic diseases triggered by menopausal hormonal changes.

‘It could be easily integrated into routine healthcare practices through regular sessions in saunas, heated baths or with specialised heat wraps.’