Cold therapy benefits wayyyy outweigh the fact that you’ll be freezing for a short period of time. Did you know submerging your body in cold water can help you to lose weight, increase metabolism, sleep better and increase your sex drive? Call me crazy but coming from someone who deals with chronic pain from a fracture in my spine and three autoimmune diseases, this works. Whether or not you’ll give it a try is up to you.

What is cold therapy?

It is the crazy art of getting super cold to activate your ANS (autonomic nervous system) and warm up your body. I know, sounds bizarre. By getting cold you can alleviate symptoms of many medical conditions and even benefit your digestive, lymphatic and circulatory systems for the long haul. Best of all, it’s freaking FREE.

Remember, this is not me diagnosing or treating you with anything. This is simply educational material and should be monitored by a doctor if you have preexisting conditions.

My experience with cold therapy

Have your your lips or cuticles ever turned blue once you get cold? This has happened to me since I was a little girl and I always thought it was just something normal that happened to me. Little did I know, this was a vagal nerve response and since I was a little girl my body was telling me something was off.

Sure enough, this is exactly what happened the first time I tried CT. I got in the 50 degree water and immediately had this response. Right away, I started to shiver uncontrollably and couldn’t talk or take deep breaths. I stayed in the freezer for less than a minute before doctor told me to get out. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get my breath in and down past my throat. It was stuck. After a few emotional releases from a traumatic experience (almost drowning when I was little) I went back in the pool. 

You wouldn’t believe it. No blue lips, cuticles or complete inability to breath. I could take my breath in and down all the way to my belly and while I couldn’t talk with ease, I was able to stay in for 5 minutes. HUGE progress with one emotional release and not giving up. Now, I am able to go in, talk, breathe deep and stay in for 15 minutes (in 37 degree water). I still shiver since that’s a normal response and have to catch my breath in the beginning but I’m able. Now, I use this therapy for chronic pain and it works like a charm. 

Cold therapy benefits

Now, here are some of the things I have personally experienced since starting cold therapy in October 2019:

• weight loss
• lymphatic drainage and support
• cold adaptation
• brown adipose fat activation
• vagal nerve toning
• autonomic nervous system activation
• better sleep
• quickened metabolism
• easier digestion
• skin clearing up
• return of and increased libido

More geeky science on CT

CT helps to activate our brown adipose tissue. Brown adipose tissue is what helps us to stay warms (and they thought only babies had it until the age of 8). Exercise, exposure to cold and high fat diet induces the activation of adipose tissue. Obese insulin resistant individuals have brown adipose tissue but it’s inactive! So, we need to activate it.

You need to get so cold that you shiver. CT improves metabolic rate and helps us to better tolerate glucose and insulin (bye diabetes). Besides that, it’s a mental exercise as well. It forces us to take action first thing in the morning. How many times a day do you think of “starting x, y, z” and never do it.

Example: Protocol (4 weeks for 4x a week at 2 hours a day – all men) did CT in 50 degrees F water. They got their muscle tissue biopsied and found there was an increase in uncoupling protein 3. Histological changes in the muscle itself in the type 1 muscle fibers and 40% increase in volume and activity of brown adipose fat. Also, a drop and reduction in insulin.

Some research shows that this helps with autophagy. Initial super cold = increased sympathetic response = how we oxidize fats. Mitigate pro inflammatory stressors (lipopolysaccharides or endotoxins).

Simple CT methods you can start RIGHT NOW (for free)

While these methods aren’t as stimulating and effective as full body submission, you get surely get a start with these free and simple CT methods in your bathroom, today. After your oh-so-warm shower, turn the water as cold as it will go and run it on your body for 30 seconds. Splash your face with cold water or dunk your face in your sink filled with cold water. Place a wet rag in the freezer and place it on your body intermittently with a warm rag. 

So, will you do it? Comment below and tell me how you are goin to try this and what cold therapy benefits you’re most looking forward to!

Here’s another great post on cold therapy benefits. Stay tuned because I am doing a whole series on these and the youtube video will be up soon!

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Resources:
1. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/cool-temperature-alters-human-fat-metabolism
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4049052/