GETTING STARTED WITH COLD THERMOGENESIS
Taking cold showers is a practice that I have been doing for some time now, and although this might sound like a torture, cold thermogenesis, which consists in exposing the body to low temperature, can help you lose fat by directly utilizing it as fuel to produce heat as well as increasing glucose absorption and regulating insulin levels. (1) BAT (brown adipose tissue) is a kind of active fat tissue that burns calories to keep the body warm when exposed to cold. (2)(3) This type of fat, which is located mainly in the neck, chest and upper back, functions as a thermoregulator to maintain core temperature.
WAT (white adipose tissue) is another other kind of fat that is used for heat insulation, mechanical cushioning, and fuel storage and is less bioactive that BAT. Increased levels of WAT is what causes obesity and type 2 diabetes among other diseases. (4) Exposure to cold for short periods favours the secretion of a hormone called irisin which turns WAT into BAT and also promotes muscle growth by neutralizing a compound known as myostatin which inhibits cell growth. Adiponectin is another hormone released called thermogenesis known for its important role in muscle recovery by regulating blood pressure and cardiovascular inflammation.
Cold exposure have also shown to decrease oxidation, a study made with swimmers found that those that swam on cold waters had their levels of uric acid and glutathione decreased, which contributes to the prevention of muscle breakdown. (5) Also, it has been demonstrated that a fall in body temperature as a consequence of a short period of cold exposure creates a favourable immune response to fight diseases. (6)
HOW TO START
The most painful and yet most effective way of inducing cold thermogenesis is by submerging your body in cold water at a temperature that would make you shiver (50 F to 55F). I live in Canada in an area surrounded by small lakes with very cold water, even in summer! and although I always look for a chance to plunge into some of these lakes, this is not part of my dailyroutine. For this, I tend to finish off my shower time with a three to five minutes of cold, letting water runs through my face and upper body to target those areas with high concentration of BAT. If you find it too painful to stand cold water you can always go outside on a cold winter days to get exposure to cold air although this would be a less effective method as water is a better transporter of cold and can lower body temperature more rapidly than air.
Cold thermogenesis turns to have a critical impact on fat loss and help with recovery and muscle growth through hormonal release besides helping you decrease oxidation and fight diseases, what is even better is that you can implement this useful practice in different simple ways according your tolerance level. In the end, this friendly torture is meant to bring the best of yourself.
REFERENCE
- Carol Torgan, Ph.D, Cool Temperature Alters Human Fat and Metabolism, July 28th, 2014
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland. Different metabolic responses of human brown adipose tissue to activation by cold and insulin. August 3, 2011
- Véronique Ouellet and others, Brown adipose tissue oxidative metabolism contributes to energy expenditure during acute cold exposure in humans, January 24, 2012
- Dara P Schuster, Obesity and the development of type 2 diabetes: the effects of fatty tissue inflammation, July 16th, 2010
- I. K. M. Brenner and others, Immune changes in humans during cold exposure: effects of prior heating and exercise, Journal of Applied Physiology, August 1, 1999
- Werner G.Siems, Uric acid and glutathione levels during short-term whole body cold exposure, March 1994
Originally published at www.damianroiz.com on July 30, 2017.
