And yes, you can own this shower curtain! They sell everything on Etsy!
Indoor plumbing may be the single best advancement in the history of mankind. In the past, unless you were lucky enough to live in a bathwater climate like Hawaii, bathing, washing or drinking often meant hacking a hole in the ice first. (Writes the girl who lives in Minnesota where the majority of our ten thousand- ish lakes are still frozen, despite the fact it’s APRIL. Get it together already Mother Nature!) So why would anyone in their right mind want to return to dumping a bucket of cold water over his or her head?
In spite of how insane it sounds “cold therapy” is making a comeback. First it was your ultra-marathon friend doing post-run soaks in an ice bath, said to reduce inflammation and speed recovery. Then it was a shot of cold at the end of your shower to “seal your pores”, make your hair shiny and – duh – wake you up. And now it’s come to this: A journalist (who, for once, I don’t envy them their job) crouched in the fetal position at the bottom of a 60-degree pool, breathing through a tube and trying not to rattle his fillings loose as he shivers for 20 minutes. In his article for Wired magazine, entitled “Tapping the Power of Cold to Fight Fat,” Steven Leckart plays lab rat in a way I never could in order to help former NASA scientist Ray Cronise learn about how cold effects the human metabolism and specifically in the role that brown fat plays in weight loss.
Cronise has a vested interest in the subject, and not just the monetary kind. After watching Michael Phelps talk in an interview about how he ate an astonishing 12,000 calories a day Cronise did the math and figured out that even given his build, athletic workouts and youth, he still shouldn’t not have needed that many calories a day. Unless there was another variable in the equation. Which there was: the cold. Cronise theorized that Phelps’ metabolism was supercharged because it had to work overtime to keep his body warm in the pool.
As a girl who detests swimming exactly for this reason – it can’t be overstated enough how much I hate being cold – Cronise’s theory makes sense. Ever the scientist, he decided to try it. Here’s what happened, according to Leckart:
“That fall, Cronise grew obsessed. He avoided warmth altogether: He took cool showers, wore light clothing, slept without sheets, and took 3-mile “shiver walks” in 30-degree weather wearing a T-shirt, shorts, gloves, and earmuffs. In six weeks he shed 27 pounds, nearly tripling his weight-loss rate without changing his calorie-restricted diet.”
It worked! And thus a diet fad was born. While I’m not aware of any controlled studies examining this technique, there’s now a large amount of anecdotal evidence from satisfied, if chilly, people. But what there is a lot of evidence on is the emerging role that “brown fat” plays in a healthy metabolism. Up until recently it was thought that only babies had this special kind of metabolically active (read: calorie torching) type of fat – commonly found in the upper back and neck. But it’s since been discovered that some adults still have a significant of brown fat – and the ones who do, have an easier time maintaining their weight or losing weight. Cronise’s theory is that by subjecting himself to uncomfortable (but not extreme) levels of cold, he was forcing his body to make more brown fat and thereby upping his metabolic burn.
In an article I wrote for Shape about healthy stuff you hate to do but should anyhow, I got to interview several super smart people about this very subject. (Ironically, when Shape published the piece, they cut out the entire section on cold showers so… yeah, now you get it here!) Dr. Pamela Brar, MD, says that there is some research to back up Cronise in this area. “According to a 2008 study entitled “Human Skeletal Muscle Mitochondrial Uncoupling Is Associated with Cold Induced Adaptive Thermogenesis” human brown fat can provide better calorie burning when exposed to very cold temperatures,” she explains. “And a shock of cold water can stimulate the production of this elusive brown fat in adult humans, a phenomenon previously only though to occur in babies and animals.”
Of course, if he’s correct – and it seems as if he might be – that leads to an even more uncomfortable corrollary: Do you have to keep up all the shivery stuff to maintain the brown fat and ergo your weight? Because a lifetime of cold showers and “shiver walks” sounds about as fun as being a North Korean diplomat right now.
Here’s where I confess: I hate being cold more than I hate almost anything. I don’t know if it’s my highly sensitive nature or if I’m just a pansy but I tolerate cold very badly. I’m chronically cranking up the heat in the car to the point where my kids are stripping down to their undies (although let’s be honest, kids don’t need much incentive to strip!) just so they don’t sweat to death. At home, I’ll routinely get dressed in a normal outfit (jeans, top, sweater) and then pull on plush pajama pants and an oversized sweatshirt on over the top. (And hopefully I remember to shed the outer layer before I run to the store or answer the door!)
Right now, ready for bed, I’m wearing long johns, leggings, a fitted t-shirt, a loose t-shirt, fuzzy knee-high socks and my husband’s hooded sweatshirt that goes to my knees. And I’ll sleep in all of it all night long… under a thick down comforter. Since I know someone will ask, my thyroid’s been tested and it is well within normal limits and my body fat percentage is higher than it’s been in years so now I’m wondering if I’ve “warmed away” all my awesome brown fat? Or maybe I’m just messed up. Either way though, this cold experiment is one I don’t think I could ever do. I’d take any other weight loss method – even a liquid diet- over this one if I needed to lose weight!
What do you think of the new cold therapy – have you ever taken a cold bath or shower (on purpose)? How well do you tolerate cold? And is Cronise’s weight-loss method crazy or crazy cool? Would you try it??
P.S. Oh and don’t forget to check out my whole list of High Maintenance Healthy Habits That Pay Off on Shape.com! There are some really interesting ones on there – especially floor sleeping!! (Which I’ll probably cover in more depth later on here.)
I’m a firm believer that cold tolerance boils down (haha!) to body fat. I can tolerate cold so much better (and now love swimming!) since my body fat increased. But I think your body fat has to increase substantially to see a real difference in the tolerance.
I kinda like the sounds of cold therapy – maybe I’ll give this experiment a shot in your stead 😉
That being said, sitting at the bottom of a cold pool breathing through a tube isn’t exactly my idea of fun!
DO IT!! And then let me know how it goes:) I love experimenting on other people!
My water heater broke down this past February. I live in California, and even in the pitifully wimpy California winter, I wanted to die when I took my cold shower.
People who enjoy cold thermogenesis can keep it for themselves. I’m thin enough as it is anyway.
Frankly speaking you need to have very very very big motivation in order to try things that make you feel uncomfortable. If losing weight is so important as to be or not to be, so perhaps extreme therapy is for you.
Great article. A year or so ago Prince Harry took part, with some of our soldiers disabled through war, in a walk to the North Pole. The TV programmed mentioned that in a day of walking in that cold, even with their insulating clothing, they would still burn about 8000 calories a day!
I guess it comes down to: do I want to be very uncomfortable and thin, or comfortable with a bit of extra padding! Like you, I don’t tolerate cold very well either!
Ooh I’ll have to look up that interview! Sounds fascinating. And also, not my idea of a vacay at all;)
It was a couple of programmes on the BBC. The second episode is available on YouTube, but can’t seem to find the first. It’s called Harry’s Arctic Heroes.
I *might* be able to do some cold walks if I was already warmed up with exercise, but that’s about it. I have very, very low tolerance to cold water; my bones and teeth actually ache if I come in contact with water that’s too cold.
Mine too! It’s a very unpleasant feeling!
I’m a huge wuss when it comes to cold. This past summer (Australia – we’re just starting Autumn/ Fall) we had insanely hot days. Even then I can’t have a cold shower. I have to add hot water to take the edge off. I did have a doctor and a physio both recommend cold showers, drinking cold water and removing a layer to be cooler to burn more fat. I kept my jumpers, hot showers and nice hot cups of tea 🙂
I’m with you about the weather – it’s crazy !
Great article for Shape!!!
I’m with you – I hate to be cold!! I’m pretty sure that is a weight loss method that I will not try!!
Whoa, I went on two dates with the doctor in the article. So funny to run across his name.
And that’s ALL you tell us?! My curiosity is killing me! Did he wear shorts and a tank top on every date? How was it? Apparently not great since you stopped at two dates, lol.
Ha, it was 12 or 13 years ago! He’s been married for maybe a decade with a few kids. At the time, he was a new MD/PhD, and his research interest was diabetes.
Now that I think about it, I do have a cold-specific anecdote. On the second date we went to the Jerusalem zoo. The tiger walked right up to me, but the penguins flocked to him. I’m sure they knew about his future with brown fat.
I love the cold, in all of its forms. So…yeah, I could do this.
DO IT please!! I love experimenting on other people!
I think there’s very likely a lot of truth in it. I’ve read what researchers living at the poles eat – something like 6000 Kcal a day, while sedentary. And it clicked for me when my vet told me my cat didn’t need a lot of high-cal canned food because he’s an indoor cat. Just keeping our bodies warm uses a huge amount of fuel!
However, I also HATE being cold. At least, being THAT cold. I do keep the heat at 65 degrees, no longer overdress for the outdoors, and turn the shower temperature to cool at the end, but there’s no way I’m doing ice baths or shiver walks!
Very cool additional evidence! Some of the other commentary I’ve read on this piece pointed out that man evolved to regulate body temps in different weather so central air is basically working against our physiology. But still… I love my heating!
Brrrr, I hate cold! I’m so sad over the fact that while it was a high of 70 on Monday it’s back to a high of 45 today. Spring has not yet hit NC either, I’m thinking next week. It’s been a long winter for this CA native! So yeah, there’s no way I’ll be volunteering to test this weight loss theory either. (Except involuntarily when, like this morning, I let the fiance and our houseguest shower before I did. Big mistake!)
I’m exactly the same as you, Charlotte. My dad calls my car the rolling sauna and my fiance takes off his coat before getting in the car with me, while I’m wearing a coat and blasting the heat. I keep my house at 70 in the winter too, even though I’m also always wearing sweats in the house and curling up under blankets. My only exception is when I sleep, then I get super warm. So I just shiver until I fall asleep and my body temperature spikes. But yeah, I have noticed when I have a few days of eating a bunch of junk food I tend to be a little warmer. I guess it’s just the extra calories burning?
Haha – we’d be the perfect travelling companions then! My husband always strips off before he gets in the car with metoo. Friends are like… um, aren’t you warm yet? Interesting point about the junk food – I’d never noticed that effect!
Well if that’s the secret to weightloss I think I’ll hold on to my weight. I hate being cold so this would be miserable for me, even the cold shower wouldn’t happen. I do take ice baths after hard runs but normally i’m dragged in kicking and screaming by my husband.
Well you’re braver than I am! I’ve never even tried an ice recovery bath! Do you find it helps though?
Unfortunately I do find that it helps…I wish it didn’t because then I could avoid it, but after a hard run I definitely notice a decrease in recovery time if I freeze my butt off in the ice
I love the cold and can tolerate cold really well. I’m that nutjob who is walking around in shorts and a T-shirt when other people have coats on. If it’s above 70 degrees, I start wanting to turn the A/C on.
I really hope science finds a way to just activate brown fat, then we have have the artificial metabolism acceleration that some of us just could really use.
I couldn’t do it. I hate being cold. Since I lost weight my internal thermostat is broken…
For a while I had purple hair (I miss it…it looked great). Reason I stopped dying it was I had to shower and wash my hair in cold water to keep the colour lasting. Which suck diddly ucks. There is no way I’d do that for a few pounds. I’d rather keep the pounds 🙂
Purple hair!!! I love it! My hair is so dark that the only way to do really fun colors is with extensions or bleaching my hair within an inch of it’s life – both not fun options;) I’d be with you though – no cold showers, not even for my hair!
Oh no. Nuh-uh. No way, no how, no sireee Bob! I am a MASSIVE weather wuss, and I live in California.
Last year, in February, we had some unseasonably warm days. The kids wanted to swim, even though the pool wasn’t heated and was literally ice-cold. But they jumped right in and swam for nearly an hour! (I jumped in once, and jumped right back out again, gasping for air.)
I think I’ll stick to other methods to try and get the weight off.
I think I have mentioned before that I am Canadian, well, I have no toelrance to cold and a lot of my friends make fun of me (I live in California and it hasn’t changed…) People used to tell me, wait till you get pregnant, you’ll complain that you’re too warm/hot…well, after 2 kids, I’m still waiting left cold. Perhaps menopause?
Cold “therapy” = no fun for me…
When I was younger, I spent about 8 weeks on the road, camping and swimming in rivers and the ocean–both of which are chilly up here in western Canada. I’m not sure I could do it now, but I remember feeling great at the time.
Spring has been delayed here as well–we’re supposed to get 10 cm (4 inches) of snow tonight. It’s been a never-ending winter, so I sympathize with you about the weather.
I’ve used cold to wake myself up, but prolonged discomfort as a weightloss tool… mmm, no thanks. I can’t concentrate (or sleep! I’ve tossed my covers before to awaken violently shivering and I get a headache and take forever to fall back to sleep) when I’m cold and I have things to do.
Umm…I have to admit, this sounds a little crazy to me. I don’t have an intense aversion to cold, but it just sounds so…extreme, I guess. Maybe it’s just my love of everything comfortable, but can something this extreme really be good for your body? Or is this just vanity winning over health??
I hate being cold. The worst is dealing with a cranked up A/C during the summer and having to go outside to warm up. Then, I just want to lie on sidewalk, like a snake, and soak up the warmth.
My most annoying “cold” moment was watching a news segment during which a woman and her son were complaining b/c their benefits for free heat had been cut. She was wearing a t-shirt, and the son didn’t have a shirt on. I was sitting on the couch, bundled up in a sweater and sweatshirt, yelling at the tv to “put on a sweater!!! Of course you’re cold!!”
Ha ha! I do that too in the summer! It is such a lovely, melty feeling to go outside in the sun and thaw. My fingers have literally had condensation on them sometimes from going from extreme cold AC to muggy, hot outside. (In the summer of course. I live in MN and this only happens about 3 times a year…)
I don’t do cold well either. I’d much rather run in heat and humidity than brave cold and windy. I’d much rather burn my calories training than shivering. I’ve heard great things about ice baths, but the best I can do is slap on some biofreeze (sorta like icy hot) and then I sit under a blanket in sweats shivering for 30 mins.
I could do cold therapy. As long as the back of my neck is warm I am fine. The neighbours think I’m insane because I have on occasion stood in the snow bare foot talking to them.
I keep a fairly cold house and it hasn’t made me slim yet.
Can I spot reduce by sitting my butt on an ice pack?
“Shiver walks”? Cripes! I’ve always said if I knew state secrets all someone would have to do it lock me in a walkin freezer for about, ohhhhh, 5 seconds, and I’d sing like a bird. Sometimes I will pick up, say, a cold can of soda, and the shock of the cold almost makes me drop it. I’m super sensitive to cold. And I’m in MN too, so no warmth here yet. My dad and my oldest son can literally walk outside and stay outside for a half-hour without coats or hats in the winter. They are furnaces. I wonder what makes the difference? My dad is very overweight, but my son is like a beanpole, so I don’t think it’s all down to body fat.
No thanks, sounds like my idea of torture.
Charolette, I am with you. I hate the cold. The other day I read something and it said drinking cold water in the morning would help increase your metabolism. I thought they were insane and it might be an April Fools post. After reading your article…there maybe so truth to it. Not sure I want to shock my body with any type of cold water.
I grew up skiing in Vermont which means most ski days left parts of my body numb with cold. After even a few hours of skiing I was ravenous with hunger, even for hours after I got home.
I just moved here to Colorado where the conditions are much warmer. Even though I’m skiing longer and harder I’m not getting that long lasting hunger.
Even so, I don’t think purposely making ourselves cold is a good idea. It’s fine to take a cold shower and stuff, but purposely making ourselves hot and cold is playing with fire. Even if it does work I look at it as an unnecessary stress.
I have read about this before – I think the 4 day Diet or something like that … to me it comes down to is it really worth it & maybe I just rather work a bit harder to enjoy some warmth & some foods I like – all about choice & my choice would be NOT to do this & work out harder & eat a little cleaner. 🙂
No thanks…I hate being cold. It seems like my hands are always cold as it is. I deal with the heat much better than the cold. Last summer, it could be 95 degrees out and I’d be outside running in my capri tights and a heavy cotton t-shirt while everyone else was either wearing next to nothing or inside running on a treadmill. I might be a sweaty mess, but I prefer to be hot.
I actually prefer being cold to being hot. When cold, I can add more layers, or move around to get warm. But when I’m too warm, it just drains me. I’d rather work outside in the cold, than when it’s hot. That might be from all the “spring” soccer I played in the snow as a kid in Idaho!
Really interesting! Ps. DO It- I dare ya 😉
I became a true believer in ice baths when I trained for my 4th marathon. My knees took such a beating when I trained for the 3rd one that I knew I had to try something different. After each long run I would sit in a tub full of ice water for 12 minutes, blaring songs and singing as loudly as possible to help distract myself. Low and behold, I had absolutely NO problems with my knees! Another benefit (I found)was that I had more energy in the afternoons after the long runs. Previously, the rest of the day after a long run was shot because I was so exhausted. The power of ice…it works!!
I got cold just reading this! Ha. For the past three winters, I go to swim practice in the mornings four days a week, and the part I hate most is jumping in the pool at the beginning. I never linked it to burning more calories or making brown fat. Who knows what it did.
I had to pick between two colleges to attend this fall – one in TN, one in NY (Rochester) – I picked the one in TN pretty much because of the weather. Part of it is lack of sunlight in winter, but I also don’t handle cold well. (I live in NC, so TN weather is what I’m used to.)
I will just settle with the traditional or other effective programs we have today. I am determined to lose weight but I think I will not be able to survive in that kind of cold. Maybe further studies and proof about this cold regimen may tempt me to try this but not today.
No thanks. This sounds too painful to me. I like my blanket too much.
I have a distinct dislike of the cold after working for a number of years as a gardener and having to work though some particularly bad winters. I think I’ll skip this one thanks!
I am a furnace. So I guess I love the cold but probably because it never feels all that cold to me… so perhaps the experiment wouldn’t work for me? I never wear socks, I walk barefoot in heels in 25 below Celcius weather to scrape the snow and ice off the car before getting in. I hate too much heat in a car (super dry skin makes dry heat so painful!), I sleep in an unfinished basement, nekked and with a fake comforter cause down is too damn hot. I prefer hiking and camping in the fall for the cold button nose feeling and seeing my breath next to the fire at night (plus lessss bugs and clear night skies). My ex would stick his feet next to mine in bed to warm up…
So I could try it but I fail to see how I could get a shiver going on short of the ice bath which definitely sounds painful :s although in Scandinavian type of spas (which I LOVVVVVE) my fav part is the cold 60 degree pool. I stay in much longer than the recommended minute completely submerged until my body starts to buzzz… it’s divine… maybe the ice bath wouldn’t be so bad after a hard workout 😉
Since I love cold weather, I’d love to go on an human powered solo polar expedition for an extended period of time… when they say you need to consume 8000 cals… my vain brain immediately thinks this would be the easiest way for me to get to sexay by working out and restricting cals to like 5000 instead (wouldnt hurt as much as those 1200cal type diets and would yield faster results! ;))
What’s up, the whole thing is going nicely here and ofcourse every one is sharing information, that
Members of our paleo forum take ice baths, do face dunks, take cold showers, and shiver walks. There’s also something called the ‘cool fat burner’ you can wear that induces cold thermogenesis.
I’m a complete wuss when it comes to being cold. Can’t stand the thought of ice baths. Tried a cold shower once and never again!
I only WISH being cold helped with weight loss!
All winter long (MN native here!), I only wear a thin softshell jacket, with the exception of about three days when it was cold enough to wear my real winter jacket. Though, I hate having cold hands, so I usually wear at least thin gloves. I’m also one who rinses my hair in cold water most of the time.
I can honestly say being cold, or at least chilled, most of the time does NOT work as a weight loss method for me. Maybe I need to get even colder?
It sounds like it works but how can you avoid catching a cold from the shiver walks?
I’ll give it a go. 30 days of cold baths. And I won’t wear a coat in the walk in freezer at work. If I never comment again assume I succumbed to hypothermia and blog on in my memory.
Ah I love you!! (And I love experimenting on other people!) Keep me posted!!
I hate the cold too! I was raised in Miami and lived in upstate NY for a while. Never Again! Main complaint: Never being able to leave the house because of the 5 feet of snow in front of the door. Over thirty years ago I watched a documentary (whose title I have since forgotten) that discussed the topic of cold-induced thermogenesis in rats. From what I remember, brown adipose tissue (BAT) was located in the upper back area and nape of the neck in mice. The documentary showed obese mice that had an abundance of white adipose tissue (WAT) where their thinner counterparts had a higher ratio of brown to white fat. Cold-induced (non-shivering) thermogenesis was discussed and showed promise as a weight loss aid. I’ve read you must shower between 68 and 72 degrees for cold-induced thermogenesis to occur. I thought I’d try this at the gym after my workouts. I got the water’s temp as cold as possible and stood there for 5 minutes feeling like a Popsicle. When I turned around to see what the water temp was…90 degrees F! Hilarious!
I went for an easier alternative for quick fat loss which is the blue fat freeze system and it helped me lose 3 inches around my waist in 2 months