How to Burn Up to 600 Calories Sans Workout

This may sound like an early Sunday morning infomercial: Burn up to 600 calories without lifting a finger. Oh and that's not all: take care of joint stiffness, asthma and other aches too.

Orlando's local Fox affiliate reports this is not just some bad infomercial, but a reality, as long as you have access to an infrared dry heat sauna.

Watch the report here:

As the report states, the heat goes deeper into the body, which is confirmed by a Mayo Clinic doctor who says that the infrared sauna heats your body directly, instead of heating the air around you. Dr. Brent Bauer states that there could be health benefits, and notes that several studies have cited positive effects from sauna use for those with high blood pressure, congestive heart failure and rheumatoid arthritis. He also states that there are no adverse side effects.

In 2009, Dr. Oz, of the Dr. Oz Show, appeared on Oprah highlighting similar claims. In addition to raising your metabolism a little bit, Oz stated that it also helps you sweat out toxins.

A letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association from the early 1980s does note that some of the weightloss would be water weight that is regained during rehydration. But, the act of sweating is a "complex thermoregulatory process of the body involving substantial increases in heart rate, cardiac output, and metabolic rate, and consumes considerable energy." Therefore, even though some water weight would return, the calories burned during the process would not.