export_ofoct.com

[00:00.92] Ice baths are a popular subject on American social media pages.

[00:07.04] Kim Kardashian, Harry Styles, Kristen Bell, Lizzo, and other stars have posted about their cold water experiences.

[00:18.19] Health claims surrounding ice baths include improved mood, increased energy, weight loss and reduced inflammation.

[00:29.08] But the science linked to some of those claims is not very strong.

[00:33.86] Here is what medical evidence, experts and fans say about cold water baths, an activity that dates back hundreds of years.

[00:45.82] Since June 2020, Dan O’Conor has jumped into Lake Michigan almost daily.

[00:51.39] The 55-year-old man lives in the city of Chicago.

[00:56.17] O’Conor used the term endorphins - “feel good” hormones released in reaction to pain, stress, exercise and other activities – to talk about his experience.

[01:08.92] “The endorphin rush … is an incredible way to wake up and just kind of shock the body and get the engine going,” he said on a recent morning when the air temperature was minus-5 Celsius.

[01:24.33] With the lake temperature at 1 degree Celsius, O’Conor did a running jump into the icy gray water.

[01:33.10] His first jump came early in the pandemic. O’Conor had too much alcohol and his wife was angry at him.

[01:41.86] She told him to “go jump in the lake.”

[01:45.05] The common saying is not usually received as a real command.

[01:49.57] But, O’Conor acted on it.

[01:52.76] He says the water felt good that June day, so he kept jumping in every day following.

[02:00.19] As the water grew colder with seasonal change, the good effect was even greater, he said.

[02:07.09] “My mental health is a lot stronger, a lot brighter.

[02:11.35] I found some zen down here coming down and jumping into the lake and shocking that body,” O’Conor said.

[02:19.58] Dr. Will Cronenwett of Northwestern University’s Feinberg medical school tried cold-water immersion once while visiting Scandinavian friends.

[02:31.27] After a sauna, he jumped into the ice-cold water for a few minutes. He said it was a powerful experience.

[02:40.30] But Cronenwett says studying cold water immersion with a kind of scientific study known as a randomized controlled trial is difficult.

[02:51.46] This is because it is hard to develop a placebo for cold water baths.

[02:57.56] A placebo is something that has no effect.

[03:03.15] Placebos are important because scientific tests need to compare the possible effect of something with something else that does not have any physical effect.

[03:13.51] There are a few ideas about how cold water immersion affects the mind.

[03:20.15] Cronenwett says it makes the part of the nervous system that controls the resting state more active.

[03:27.84] Such an effect may increase feelings of well-being.

[03:32.36] Cold water immersion also affects the part of the nervous system that controls the fight-or-flight stress reaction.

[03:41.13] Cold water treatment on a usual basis may reduce that reaction.

[03:46.97] So, Cronenwett said, it might help people feel better able to deal with other stresses in their lives, although that is not proven.

[03:57.33] Czech researchers found that cold water immersion can increase blood levels of dopamine — another hormone — by 250 percent.

[04:07.69] High amounts have been linked with paranoia and aggression, noted James Mercer of the Arctic University of Norway.

[04:16.19] Mercer co-wrote a recent scientific paper that examined studies on the treatment.

[04:22.56] Cold water immersion raises blood pressure and increases stress on the heart.

[04:28.94] Studies have shown this is safe for healthy people and the effects are only temporary.

[04:35.84] But sometimes these effects can cause the heart to beat unevenly and can cause death, Cronenwett said.

[04:43.54] People with heart conditions or a family history of early heart disease should talk with a doctor before doing cold water immersion, he said.

[04:54.44] Repeated cold-water immersions during colder seasons have been shown to improve how the body reacts to insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar levels, Mercer noted.

[05:07.46] This might help reduce the risk of getting diabetes.

[05:11.97] It also might help people with the disease control it.

[05:16.23] More study is required to know for sure.

[05:19.94] Cold water immersion also activates brown fat.

[05:23.92] This tissue helps keep the body warm and helps it control blood sugar and insulin levels.

[05:30.30] It also helps the body burn calories.