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024: How cold therapy can burn off fat
Today I am going to talk to you about one of my favorite longevity practices (bio hacks),
I honestly don’t know why I do the crazy things I do! I have tried many things in the name of health. There is some strong need, some drive in me to try these things out. It doesn’t feel optional. If feels like a must. Here are a few of the things I’ve tried in the name of extreme and health:
1. 100% raw vegan diet for 5 years. What I learned.
2. Deep colon cleanse for 1 month using herbs and fasting
3. 3-month juice only cleanse
4. Water fasting for 10 days in Thailand
5. Dry fasting for 5 days (preceded by 48 hours and 72 hours) and other time periods off and on. My most recent was 40 hours.
6. Ketogenic Diet.. mostly plant based
7. Cold Therapy using ice baths and cold showers
8. Osteostrong
9. Hot Saunas
10. Running
ICE BATHS FAQs
1. Who should take ice baths? Is it just for athletes?
2. Are cold showers as good as cold baths?
3. What are the benefits?
4. How do I make it easy to do on a regular basis
5. How am I sure I am getting an effective experience?
6. Does it hurt?
7. How Long is good?
8. When (before or after a workout, in the morning? Etc.
9. How do I get started? According to Tim Ferriss of the 4-hour body, start slow with ice showers.
10. Can I take a hot shower or bath after my cold plunge?
Reference this site for info I talked about: https://www.naturebuildshealth.com/blog/cold-thermogenesis-showers-icebaths
When sunlight is not present, you need cold to make you feel good.
You see, cold thermogenesis can make you feel great in the same way that sunlight can. Cold increases the dopamine levels in your brain [12 - 15].
Dopamine is a motivation and reward neurotransmitter that helps your brain function optimally. Dopamine also helps you think outside the box, bolsters decisive action, and allows you to see patterns.
Dopamine additionally aids in making better choices and helps you see the big picture in life.
If you don't let nature build your dopamine levels - either through sunlight or cold thermogenesis - then you'll automatically find other ways to raise your dopamine levels. These alternatives include porn, drug use, alcohol, sex addictions, watching too much television, or an internet addiction.
The human body will do anything to feel good.
So, if the days get very short and dark at your location, you'll want to do get outside in the cold
Cold literally changes the (bio)chemistry in your body. That changing chemistry means that the laws that are applicable during "normal" warm temperatures are no longer valid [16; 26].
In plain English, the biology and chemistry in your body function differently in low and high temperatures.
In terms of chemistry, human beings have two different types of metabolism.
One metabolism is active during long light cycles, such as the spring or summer. Another metabolism is active around the wintertime when it is dark and acts on cold.
Human beings can tap into that darkness/cold metabolism with cold thermogenesis.
Put even stronger: human beings must tap into that cold metabolism when the days get very short.
Should you?
Probably...
Cold thermogenesis does not need to be very hard though. A common question I get is "whether cold is really painful", or whether exposing yourself to cold is being hard on yourself.
That's why we'll now look at whether exposing yourself to the cold is stressful.
The answer might surprise you!
4. WHY COLD THERMOGENESIS IS NOT STRESS (AT LEAST NOT FOR EVERYONE)
You might think that getting in a cold shower or taking an ice bath is equal to adding stress to the body.
That's not always right.
If the intensity of the cold thermogenesis session is low, then the cold thermogenesis is not necessarily stressful.
Your stress hormones are not necessary activated when you have a low to medium intensity cold session [30; 31].
Why?
To understand how cold does not necessarily add stress to the body, we'll have to look at our mitochondria in our cells:
Mitochondria are the energy-producing "factories" of your body. Cold thermogenesis affects these mitochondria [44; 45].
How so?
When you are exposed to cold, the mitochondria in your cells have to increase their energy production.
At first sight, that increase in energy production seems like stress. However, that increase in energy production only seems like stress because there are two ways to look at this "problem":
1. A chemical perspective, which pertains to biochemical reactions within the body.
2. A physics perspective, that looks at how the fundamental processes of nature influence biology.
From the chemical perspective, adding cold to the body seems like asking the body to compensate for the initial stimulus. The chemical perspective might thus consider cold stressful. However, we're interested in the physics perspective right now.
Why?
The physics perspective tells us that cold shrinks the proteins in your mitochondria.
Shrinking proteins means that these proteins move closer together. The closer these proteins are together, the higher the energy yield of the mitochondria.
Why?
Well, energy has to travel a shorter distance in your mitochondria.
In simple terms, that means that cold allows you to produce energy more efficiently.
How can one understand the word "energy" in this phrase?
Your mitochondria use electrons as their energy.
Cold Therapy – Why You Should Be Doing it, and How to Incorporate it
· Improves the Lymphatic and Immune Systems.
· Improves Your Circulation.
· It Reduces Muscle Inflammation.
· It Can Create a Sense of Wellbeing.
· It Can Facilitate Weight Loss.
· It Can Increase Mental Toughness.
· It Can Reset your Temperature Regulating System
Dr. Rhonda Patrick on the Joe Rogan show episode #773 says:
Cryotherapy and cold water immersion increases norepinephrine, 2 minutes can increase 2x – makes you feel good, helps with learning, and a very potent anti-inflammatory
Hormesis- healthy stress
In every type of cold exposure including ice baths, 10 days in a row-Increases liposomal glutathione production by 2 fold and glutathione peroxidase by 68% (the enzymes produced during cold exposure needs to be present to use it so it’s much different than a supplement).
NorE- causes your energy metabolism to ramp up to make heat
Shivering Thermogenic effect- you generate your own heat by shivering. But your body will adapt and you won’t shiver- but your body quickly adapts and you don’t shiver, but you still get the effect.
You start to make more mitochondria in your fat cells called brown fat. So you are burning fat! The more cold exposure, more brown fat, and longer tolerance. You begin to adapt with the increase of mitochondria in your fat cells. This has been shown that 38% increase after 10 days (50 degrees 10 days for around to 6 hours).
Brain benefits: You feel really good and also more focused.
If you do cold water immersion within 1 hour of exercising you may blunt the inflammatory effects – but you may want to wait a bit longer to get as much muscle gain for those who are doing bodybuilding.
Seems to improve heart rate variability.
Difference between cold water therapy and cryotherapy- water or ice is much better at extracting heat from the body than air. You can sit in the cold water for a lot longer. 20 seconds at 40 degrees is comparable to 2 minutes. Which is a more robust response.
Wait at least an hour after working out to be sure you get the benefits of muscle gain from your workout.
Norepinephrine mediates a lot of stuff.
FROM: http://www.active.com/running/Articles/Do-s-and-Don-ts-for-Icing-Injuries
8 Ice Bath Dos and Don'ts
DO Seek to simplify. Building a personal ice bath daily can be a daunting task. Look for a gym that has a cold plunge, or if you live close to a river, lake or the ocean, keep tabs on the current water temperature.
DO: Be conservative with water temperature as you get started. Most rehabilitation specialists recommend a water temperature between 54 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Consider starting a bit higher and inch this downward a degree or two each exposure.
DO: Recognize that each individual will have his or her own cold threshold. Play within your personal comfort zone and consider investing in booties (toe warmers made of wetsuit material) as your toes are likely the most sensitive body part to be submerged.
DO: Be aware that moving water is colder water. Much like the wind chill created when you ride, if there are jets in your ice bath and the water that is warmed at the skin's surface gets pushed away, the resulting impact of the water will be cooler than measured by the thermometer.
DON’T Overexpose! At the recommended temperature range noted previously, 6 to 8 minutes should be sufficient. Unless supervised or you have history with ice baths, do not exceed 10 minutes.
DON’T Assume colder is better. Spending a prolonged period of time in water colder than 54 degrees could be dangerous.
DON’T Assume 54 to 60 degrees or bust. Cool water (say, 60 to 75 degrees) can still be beneficial—as can active recovery (very light exercise to facilitate blood flow to musculature).
DON’T Rush to take a warm shower immediately after the ice bath. The residual cooling effect and gradual warming are ideal. Consider initial warming options of a sweatshirt, blanket and/or warm drink... But DO take the shower if you are unable to warm yourself.
RESOURCES
💖 Web - https://purejoyplanet.com/
💖 Pure Joy Podcast Podcast - http://bit.ly/purejoypodcast
💖 Recipes - https://purejoyplanet.com/recipes
💖 Online Superfood & Health Store -https://store.purejoyplanet.com/
GET IN TOUCH
💖 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/rawchefelainalove/
💖 Twitter - https://twitter.com/ElainaLove
💖 Facebook -https://www.facebook.com/PureJoyAcademy/
Do you have questions, thoughts or feedback for ___ or me?
Want to support these messages and my show? You can do so by:
-
Subscribe to the show by clicking “subscribe in itunes or your podcast app
-
Write a review
-
Share this episode with one of your friends
These simple steps help bring this message to more people and fuel conversations that I cover here. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening and joining me on this journey to greater health and joy.
Q&A Send an email to [email protected]
View all episodes
By Elaina LoveToday I am going to talk to you about one of my favorite longevity practices (bio hacks),
I honestly don’t know why I do the crazy things I do! I have tried many things in the name of health. There is some strong need, some drive in me to try these things out. It doesn’t feel optional. If feels like a must. Here are a few of the things I’ve tried in the name of extreme and health:
1. 100% raw vegan diet for 5 years. What I learned.
2. Deep colon cleanse for 1 month using herbs and fasting
3. 3-month juice only cleanse
4. Water fasting for 10 days in Thailand
5. Dry fasting for 5 days (preceded by 48 hours and 72 hours) and other time periods off and on. My most recent was 40 hours.
6. Ketogenic Diet.. mostly plant based
7. Cold Therapy using ice baths and cold showers
8. Osteostrong
9. Hot Saunas
10. Running
ICE BATHS FAQs
1. Who should take ice baths? Is it just for athletes?
2. Are cold showers as good as cold baths?
3. What are the benefits?
4. How do I make it easy to do on a regular basis
5. How am I sure I am getting an effective experience?
6. Does it hurt?
7. How Long is good?
8. When (before or after a workout, in the morning? Etc.
9. How do I get started? According to Tim Ferriss of the 4-hour body, start slow with ice showers.
10. Can I take a hot shower or bath after my cold plunge?
Reference this site for info I talked about: https://www.naturebuildshealth.com/blog/cold-thermogenesis-showers-icebaths
When sunlight is not present, you need cold to make you feel good.
You see, cold thermogenesis can make you feel great in the same way that sunlight can. Cold increases the dopamine levels in your brain [12 - 15].
Dopamine is a motivation and reward neurotransmitter that helps your brain function optimally. Dopamine also helps you think outside the box, bolsters decisive action, and allows you to see patterns.
Dopamine additionally aids in making better choices and helps you see the big picture in life.
If you don't let nature build your dopamine levels - either through sunlight or cold thermogenesis - then you'll automatically find other ways to raise your dopamine levels. These alternatives include porn, drug use, alcohol, sex addictions, watching too much television, or an internet addiction.
The human body will do anything to feel good.
So, if the days get very short and dark at your location, you'll want to do get outside in the cold
Cold literally changes the (bio)chemistry in your body. That changing chemistry means that the laws that are applicable during "normal" warm temperatures are no longer valid [16; 26].
In plain English, the biology and chemistry in your body function differently in low and high temperatures.
In terms of chemistry, human beings have two different types of metabolism.
One metabolism is active during long light cycles, such as the spring or summer. Another metabolism is active around the wintertime when it is dark and acts on cold.
Human beings can tap into that darkness/cold metabolism with cold thermogenesis.
Put even stronger: human beings must tap into that cold metabolism when the days get very short.
Should you?
Probably...
Cold thermogenesis does not need to be very hard though. A common question I get is "whether cold is really painful", or whether exposing yourself to cold is being hard on yourself.
That's why we'll now look at whether exposing yourself to the cold is stressful.
The answer might surprise you!
4. WHY COLD THERMOGENESIS IS NOT STRESS (AT LEAST NOT FOR EVERYONE)
You might think that getting in a cold shower or taking an ice bath is equal to adding stress to the body.
That's not always right.
If the intensity of the cold thermogenesis session is low, then the cold thermogenesis is not necessarily stressful.
Your stress hormones are not necessary activated when you have a low to medium intensity cold session [30; 31].
Why?
To understand how cold does not necessarily add stress to the body, we'll have to look at our mitochondria in our cells:
Mitochondria are the energy-producing "factories" of your body. Cold thermogenesis affects these mitochondria [44; 45].
How so?
When you are exposed to cold, the mitochondria in your cells have to increase their energy production.
At first sight, that increase in energy production seems like stress. However, that increase in energy production only seems like stress because there are two ways to look at this "problem":
1. A chemical perspective, which pertains to biochemical reactions within the body.
2. A physics perspective, that looks at how the fundamental processes of nature influence biology.
From the chemical perspective, adding cold to the body seems like asking the body to compensate for the initial stimulus. The chemical perspective might thus consider cold stressful. However, we're interested in the physics perspective right now.
Why?
The physics perspective tells us that cold shrinks the proteins in your mitochondria.
Shrinking proteins means that these proteins move closer together. The closer these proteins are together, the higher the energy yield of the mitochondria.
Why?
Well, energy has to travel a shorter distance in your mitochondria.
In simple terms, that means that cold allows you to produce energy more efficiently.
How can one understand the word "energy" in this phrase?
Your mitochondria use electrons as their energy.
Cold Therapy – Why You Should Be Doing it, and How to Incorporate it
· Improves the Lymphatic and Immune Systems.
· Improves Your Circulation.
· It Reduces Muscle Inflammation.
· It Can Create a Sense of Wellbeing.
· It Can Facilitate Weight Loss.
· It Can Increase Mental Toughness.
· It Can Reset your Temperature Regulating System
Dr. Rhonda Patrick on the Joe Rogan show episode #773 says:
Cryotherapy and cold water immersion increases norepinephrine, 2 minutes can increase 2x – makes you feel good, helps with learning, and a very potent anti-inflammatory
Hormesis- healthy stress
In every type of cold exposure including ice baths, 10 days in a row-Increases liposomal glutathione production by 2 fold and glutathione peroxidase by 68% (the enzymes produced during cold exposure needs to be present to use it so it’s much different than a supplement).
NorE- causes your energy metabolism to ramp up to make heat
Shivering Thermogenic effect- you generate your own heat by shivering. But your body will adapt and you won’t shiver- but your body quickly adapts and you don’t shiver, but you still get the effect.
You start to make more mitochondria in your fat cells called brown fat. So you are burning fat! The more cold exposure, more brown fat, and longer tolerance. You begin to adapt with the increase of mitochondria in your fat cells. This has been shown that 38% increase after 10 days (50 degrees 10 days for around to 6 hours).
Brain benefits: You feel really good and also more focused.
If you do cold water immersion within 1 hour of exercising you may blunt the inflammatory effects – but you may want to wait a bit longer to get as much muscle gain for those who are doing bodybuilding.
Seems to improve heart rate variability.
Difference between cold water therapy and cryotherapy- water or ice is much better at extracting heat from the body than air. You can sit in the cold water for a lot longer. 20 seconds at 40 degrees is comparable to 2 minutes. Which is a more robust response.
Wait at least an hour after working out to be sure you get the benefits of muscle gain from your workout.
Norepinephrine mediates a lot of stuff.
FROM: http://www.active.com/running/Articles/Do-s-and-Don-ts-for-Icing-Injuries
8 Ice Bath Dos and Don'ts
DO Seek to simplify. Building a personal ice bath daily can be a daunting task. Look for a gym that has a cold plunge, or if you live close to a river, lake or the ocean, keep tabs on the current water temperature.
DO: Be conservative with water temperature as you get started. Most rehabilitation specialists recommend a water temperature between 54 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Consider starting a bit higher and inch this downward a degree or two each exposure.
DO: Recognize that each individual will have his or her own cold threshold. Play within your personal comfort zone and consider investing in booties (toe warmers made of wetsuit material) as your toes are likely the most sensitive body part to be submerged.
DO: Be aware that moving water is colder water. Much like the wind chill created when you ride, if there are jets in your ice bath and the water that is warmed at the skin's surface gets pushed away, the resulting impact of the water will be cooler than measured by the thermometer.
DON’T Overexpose! At the recommended temperature range noted previously, 6 to 8 minutes should be sufficient. Unless supervised or you have history with ice baths, do not exceed 10 minutes.
DON’T Assume colder is better. Spending a prolonged period of time in water colder than 54 degrees could be dangerous.
DON’T Assume 54 to 60 degrees or bust. Cool water (say, 60 to 75 degrees) can still be beneficial—as can active recovery (very light exercise to facilitate blood flow to musculature).
DON’T Rush to take a warm shower immediately after the ice bath. The residual cooling effect and gradual warming are ideal. Consider initial warming options of a sweatshirt, blanket and/or warm drink... But DO take the shower if you are unable to warm yourself.
RESOURCES
💖 Web - https://purejoyplanet.com/
💖 Pure Joy Podcast Podcast - http://bit.ly/purejoypodcast
💖 Recipes - https://purejoyplanet.com/recipes
💖 Online Superfood & Health Store -https://store.purejoyplanet.com/
GET IN TOUCH
💖 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/rawchefelainalove/
💖 Twitter - https://twitter.com/ElainaLove
💖 Facebook -https://www.facebook.com/PureJoyAcademy/
Do you have questions, thoughts or feedback for ___ or me?
Want to support these messages and my show? You can do so by:
-
Subscribe to the show by clicking “subscribe in itunes or your podcast app
-
Write a review
-
Share this episode with one of your friends
These simple steps help bring this message to more people and fuel conversations that I cover here. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening and joining me on this journey to greater health and joy.
Q&A Send an email to [email protected]