It’s proof that 'The Iceman' Wim Hof's hellish method really does wonders for your health. Plunging yourself into an ice bath 'reduces inflammation'.
The idea of sitting in a bath full of freezing cold water makes me like the sound of this inflammation thing. Put me down for that one.
Wim Hof is an extreme athlete who does lots of things in the cold. It seems doing such activities could unlock a multitude of benefits including reduced stress levels, a stronger immune system, increased energy, better sleep, heightened focus and smaller willy.
A lot of this doesn’t make sense to me. Whatever your life is like you will have a certain level of stress. But if you live that same life but also have to sit in a freezing cold bath on top of it, how is that less stressful? There’s something else going on here. My guess would be trauma response.
The actual scientists found cold therapy and ice baths caused an increase in adrenaline levels, which can indirectly reduce inflammation.
OK, but there are many things that cause adrenaline levels to increase that don’t involve freezing your nips off. Extreme sports. Being a passenger in a car with a bad driver. A row with your spouse. They all cause increased adrenaline and the last two might be connected.
While the results suggest that the method may have physiological benefits, researchers stressed the need for more robust, confirmatory research before the method can be recommended.
How do you do proper trials? How do you check for the placebo effect? If you tell someone they’re having a cold bath but they’re not, they’ll notice the lack of water when they get in.
It all works for Wim Hof who holds 21 Guinness World Records for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro while wearing shorts, swimming 66 metres below ice, standing for two hours in a container filled with ice cubes, and running a half marathon over the Arctic Circle.
Has anyone checked if he’s depressed?
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