Scientific support for cold showers reducing body fat?

#21

I will!

(Clara Teixeira) #22

I tested the theory out that cold can energize a body last winter. Northern MN so we do get cold! Choosing to leave my skin exposed to -14° f for about 3 minutes seemed a bit weird but I found it strangely invigorating. I plan to do it again in a month or two when our temps drop back down. If anything it woke me up! I gained quite a bit of weight last winter but I was not keto then.

(Liz ) #23

I dunked myself in the chilly ocean yesterday to test the idea it would boost my norepinephrine & I was super cheerful the rest of the afternoon, but I was at the beach so…hard to know if it was the cold water or my lucky circumstances. I am feeling anxious this morning so I’m going to brave a burst of cold water at the end of my shower & see how my mental health does after that! Seems such a simple thing to try & if it helps with mood & brown fat production, worth it.

#24

I’ve been taking cool (not to cold yet) showers the last few times - it actually feels pretty good. I find I don’t linger as long in the shower. I’m not sure about the physiological benefits but I’ll keep it up, try to work up to cold, see what happens.

(Jason Thomas) #25

It does wonders for my inflammation. I’m currently doing the Wim Hof breathing method and hoping to do some winter swimming in Lake Natoma and build up to ice baths. Supposedly the cold turns your fat into brown fat which may or may not help you burn more fat. I think it’s a great adjunct to Keto. There are some amazing benefits to controlled stressors strengthening the body. I find the disciple fits in very well with Keto. I’ve been doing the breathing exercises for 6 weeks, and you can feel your body consciously and the release of hormones in your brain during the exercise. I’m no Wim Hof. The man is seemingly super human.

Here’s what sold me and they’ve published this data. There were two groups. Wim and 11 of his students, and a control group. I believe that was 12 as well. Anyway, they injected everyone with an endo toxin (e Coli as I recall). Everyone in the control group spiked a fever and got symptoms of illness.

No one in Wim Hofs group did. They literally controlled their autonomic nervous system using the technique. Sounds fantastic, but I also beat an ear infection with no medical intervention for the only time in my life. I think there’s something to it being GOOD for you, so the fat burning benefits of the cold aren’t my main interest. However the wife’s been keto for a year, and struggling to lose. I reckon Lake Natoma gets in the 50s. It’s certainly colder then the shower, and we swim almost daily. She seems to be getting leaner. Of course, I convinced her to quit her job, so we march and swim almost daily.

We are both unemployed and reconnecting with nature and natural law. I know THIS is what life is supposed to be.

We have plenty of US dollars saved. It’s just paper, but people accept it as currency, yay!

(Jason Thomas) #26

I love Rhonda!!

(EJ) #27

The fat burning idea is a subject that I would love to hear more about. Anecdotally, I have been taking cold showers only for the last 200+ days. It is one of the best changes I’ve ever made. My goal started at a month, then quickly moved to a year, and honestly I’ll never go back to hot/warm showers. There is no better way to start your day than with a cold shower. It invigorates you, and it forces you to use your mind/will power at the start of the day, which I have found has helped me accomplish many other changes (including a keto lifestyle and fasting).

My issue during the summer is that my shower won’t get cold enough for me to even feel that its a challenge. I plan to do some short and tshirt hikes and maybe cold lake swims as winter approaches and the temperatures drop. I have also been using the Wim Hof breathing method and I really feel calmer and more in control of myself every day.

You’ve got nothing to lose, so I say give cold showers a try and see where it leads you. My bet is that you won’t be disappointed.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #28

This lecture has been linked in another thread, but it might also be appropriate here:

New to this and loving it but
#29

Thank you, @PaulL! Great lecture.

#30

Just saw this on yesterday’s MDA blog post on hormones: a link to a study on cold immersion and improved insulin levels and insulin sensitivity in (non-obese) women - very cool!
(Ha! unintentional, that pun…)

CONCLUSION:
Regular cold water swimming may stimulate metabolic changes suggesting that leptin and insulin participate in adaptive metabolic mechanisms triggered by repeated cold exposure accompanied by mild exercise in healthy non-obese women.

(VLC.MD) #31

I’m starting a Cold Yoga program today.

(Norma Laming) #32
  1. How long did it take until you were looking forward to the shower rather than dreading it?
  2. What about shampoo / cleaning? Soap and shampoo wont come off unless the water’s warm
  3. Respect! Not sure I could do that. No: sure couldn’t!
(EJ) #33

  1. I started looking forward to it very quickly, but there are still days where it’s not that easy. I never even consider using Hot or even warm water. For me it feels more natural and refreshing to shower with cold water and it is much easier on my skin.

  2. I’m not sure what you mean with this one. I use soap and shampoo and it rinses away no problem. Cold water isn’t softened so I probably don’t get quite as much sudsing from the soap, but i never feel like I was unable to rinse off.

  3. I think anyone could do it if they really wanted to. Once you feel the alertness and energy you get it becomes self fulfilling

(Norma Laming) #34

I find that soap/shampoo doesn’t wash out unless the water is a bit warm.

It’s definitely something to try. I am convinced of the health benefits and would love to be able to swim in open water every day: I think one has to do it every day otherwise it becomes too daunting and your body doesn’t adapt .

Thanks for replying. It’s just so easy not to bother……!

(Liz ) #35

I still love a super hot shower as it seems to help with stiff muscles in the morning. But I’ve been turning the water to cold gradually at the end of my shower & I do think after about a week it is getting easier to withstand. I can’t tell if it’s beneficial in any way yet but I aim to keep at it & see. Maybe I need a longer period of time than just a few minutes in the chilly water to get the mood boost, but hopefully the brown fat production is being encouraged.

#36

I’ve been taking progressively colder showers since my original post here. I’ve finally gotten to the point where is cold all the way. I actually enjoy it. My soap and shampoo rinse out fine. I’ve noticed my skin is less dry but I haven’t noticed any other benefits yet.

I’ll tell you what else is nice: Taking a hot bath and then following it immediately with a cold shower. Invigorating.

(KCKO, KCFO) #37

@wishbone, did you try the cold pack on the lower back area? How would one tell if the brown fat is growing/being used?

We have a wrap around cold pack we use for lower back pain, but do it infrequently, just wondering if I should use it daily. I can not abide a cold shower, heck, lukewarm makes me shiver some days.

#38

I guess living in Florida that I am lucky! 90 degrees outside most days so it isn’t bothering me. Makes me wonder if brown fat goes dormant for we humans who like to be warm all the time lol

I don’t know if its working, and I couldn’t afford the scans to find out!

(Consensus is Politics) #39

I was stationed in Turkey for a few months shortly after Desert Storm. There were so many of us there we had built a tent city in the park. Thousands of those old army tents (think MASH, and you got it right).

Our shower was this huge communal open shower in a roughly 40’x100’ semi inclosed tent with walls made of wooden pallets turned edge up. With a floor made of wooden pallets that had 1/4" of slime growing on it. I never fell, but saw plenty of other guys get splinters in their back sides doing the ol’ looks like you slipped on a banana stunt.

Oh, yeah, NO HOT WATER. After the first week of cold showers just bought diaper wipes in the blue box (like 2 lbs of baby wipes, fresh scent of course) to take a wipe down bath at my bunk. It caught on.

Air Force Civil Engineers eventually put a water heater on it. So if you liked to steam instead of showering in water, you could do that :roll_eyes:

But this subject of cryo got me to thinking of my sleep habits. I don’t usually use a blanket. I wear shorts and a t-shirt to sleep in, but dont use any covering, unless it gets cold and breezy, then I might cover up.

It could be 40 degree’s F in the house at night and I’m just fine. Of course, I do also have this layer of fur that wont go away. Yes, I meant fur, not fat, not a typo.

I did an experiment once. I used the product Nair on one leg to see what would happen. Lets just say that leg was cold all the time, and when the hair began growing back it was like having a cactus for a leg. I had to buy a set of long legged PJ’s so I could sleep without getting stuck in the other leg all night :unamused:

#40

This happens to women all the damn time! :rofl: Great story!

When I was teaching English in Izamal about 25 years ago, I had only cold running water, which I used for showers and for hand-washing my laundry. I would have to stand in the cold water for 20-30 minutes showering and scrubbing the clothes. I got used to it after a while, but when I got back to the states, I immediately reverted to hot steamy showers.

For about three weeks after reading about cold showers and reducing body fat recently, I did cold showers (no laundry) again, then discovered I preferred starting with a warm shower then for the last minutes turning the dial all the way to cold. Very refreshing, but probably doesn’t do much about fat.