What do Novak Djokovic, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Anthony Joshua, and Tony Robbins all have in common besides being very successful and resilient? They are all fans of cold exposure.
The best part is that you can follow their example. And you won’t need an A-lister’s pay packet to afford it. Thankfully, cold exposure is an effective way to keep fit, healthy, youthful, and resilient that most people can afford.
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The Influence of Wim Hof
Having mentioned all these stars, it would be remiss not to mention Wim Hof. This Dutchman has done more to bring the benefits of cold exposure and breathing techniques into the consciousness of the masses than anyone else. He used breathing techniques and extreme cold exposure to deal with his grief after the sudden death of his wife. And his rise to celebrity has led to more research being carried out in order to understand how this somewhat extreme activity can benefit our health, vitality, energy, strength, and resilience, both mentally and physically.
The Mind-Body Connection
When you first step into a cold shower, every fibre in your body screams at you to get out of there as quickly as possible. This is a perfect example of the “fight, flight, or freeze” (literally) reaction. The cold reminds us that we are in charge of how we react to different situations. At that precise moment, you have the option of either fleeing from what the body sees as a perceived danger, by jumping out of the shower and running away, or you can choose to relax the mind by taking deep, slow, steady breaths and working through the discomfort instead. You are teaching your mind to remain calm under pressure whenever you choose to stay under that cold water. This is the basis of what Wim Hof teaches.
Building Mental Resilience
In addition to this, you are strengthening your mental resilience. This will serve you well in many other aspects of your life. If you can remain calm during a cold shower or ice bath, you will also be able to use the same strategies to remain calm when enduring other challenges in your life. For this reason, it is worth giving cold exposure a try if you want to push yourself out of your comfort zone, both emotionally and physically.
Defining Resilience
So what do we mean by “resilience”? We often think of resilient people as those who have been through tough times and come out stronger on the other side. But resilience is not just about overcoming adversity or, in this case, cold temperatures. It’s also about being able to adapt and thrive. Resilient people are able to manage their stress levels and stay positive even when things are tough or cold.
How to boost resilience in cold water
When you are submerged in ice-cold water, your body will make an effort to keep its internal temperature stable. It does this in a number of ways, one of which is by forming a thermal layer of water around your body. This layer acts as insulation between your body and the cold water, and it also helps to reduce the loss of heat. When you get cold, the intuitive thing to do is to move about to keep warm. That works out of water however, if you move your limbs about when you are in cold water, the thermal layer will break up.
This means that you will experience the chill of the water with more intensity than if you stayed still. Just remember to keep your hands and feet in the water. Breaking up the thermal layer around your body means you will be exposed to a lower temperature than if you stayed still, which is another way you can build up resilience along with resistance to the cold temperature.
The role of norepinephrine and resilience
When we think of ourselves as resilient, we tend to think of it more in terms of our mental health. Taking cold showers or ice baths has been shown to boost mental health and resilience due to the way in which your body reacts to the cold. One way it does this is by raising the production of norepinephrine (also known as noradrenalin). Norepinephrine has multiple functions as it behaves as both a hormone and a neurotransmitter in the body. When the cold causes more norepinephrine to be produced, it helps improve our mental health due to its effects on focus, mood, and attention. Low levels of norepinephrine are also associated with depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which is why cold showers and cold water swimming have been linked to a reduction in these conditions.
When we take a cold shower, norepinephrine, acting as a hormone, causes vasoconstriction. This is the reduction in the width of your blood vessels, which helps your body retain heat. It does this to protect your vital organs and keep them warm. When you step out of the shower, as your body warms up, the veins and arteries dilate. When this happens regularly, your body acclimatises to the reactions and associated sensations. This helps you to gradually train your body to adapt to cold showers and deal with the stress of the cold. Hence, increasing your resilience and vitality.
Resilience can also be viewed from the angle of staying strong and healthy to protect yourself from illness and disease, many of which are caused by inflammation. Norepinephrine can help reduce inflammation by blocking the production of cytokines. Cytokines are tiny proteins that cause inflammation. One example of this type of cytokine is TNF-alpha, which has a role in the development of a wide variety of diseases. These include cancer and diabetes. Further on in this article, we will reveal other ways that exposure to the cold can help protect you from developing these debilitating diseases.
The role of cold exposure in boosting health resilience
We have already discussed how cold exposure can reduce inflammation. However, frequently taking a cold shower on a regular basis can also help to reduce the chances of developing diabetes. This is due to increased glucose tolerance and reduced blood sugar levels, as glucose is removed from the blood more quickly when we are exposed to cold temperatures. This happens because the cold affects specialised transporter proteins, called GLUT 4 transporters, causing them to move to the cell walls, where they can be effective. These transporters are like little gateways that open, allowing glucose to leave the blood and enter the cells, where it is used for energy that is vital for life.
Ensuring you keep your blood sugar regulated is very important in helping to boost our resistance to diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and kidney disease. If blood sugar is too high for a long period of time, it can also lead to nerve damage and even loss of eyesight. However, it is important to stress that as well as boosting resilience with cold exposure, it is also extremely important to follow a healthy diet and take regular exercise.
Cold exposure, resilience, and sleep
You are stressed out because you can’t get to sleep, and you can’t get to sleep because you are stressed out. It’s a scenario played out in many bedrooms every night, across the world. Even though too much stress can make it tricky to fall or stay asleep, getting enough sleep can help you become more resilient and better able to deal with that stress the next day.
When you are asleep, the events of each day are processed by your brain, during which time new memories are formed. A restful night's sleep is essential for the healthy functioning of your brain, which helps you learn new things and digest information more quickly. It also enables you to have more control over your emotional responses and your ability to make thoughtful, considered decisions the next day. Getting enough quality, restorative sleep every night is vital for your health and resilience.
Cold exposure and getting a good night's sleep
The question is: how exactly does being exposed to cold temperatures improve the quality of your sleep and boost your resilience? To begin, it has been shown that spending time in cool environments can increase slow-wave sleep. This is when we are sleeping deeply, and all those memories get permanently embedded in our brains. It is also when the body can repair itself, heal itself, and remove toxins and waste products from all the hormones and enzymes that have been used during the day. Melatonin synthesis can also be stimulated by exposure to cold temperatures.
Melatonin is referred to as the “sleep hormone” as it helps us wind down and relax in the evening so that we can get to sleep more easily. Having a cold shower a few hours before you plan to go to bed is the ideal time to support melatonin production. Do not be tempted to take a cold shower immediately before bedtime, though. A cold shower is a great way to wake you up in the morning, while flooding your body with feel-good endorphins, making you feel refreshed, vital, alive, and prepared for the new day.
Reduce stress and improve resilience using cold exposure.
Modern Comforts and Thermal Stability
We are genetically inclined to endure extremes in temperature because we used to live in caves. Unfortunately, from the point of view of building resilience, we are now cocooned in centrally heated, double-glazed houses. So we are all cosy and comfortable. This lack of challenge to our thermal stability has been suggested as one reason why we are prone to anxiety and depression. It’s almost a case of “use it or lose it”.
Cold Exposure and Mental Health
When you take a cold shower, immerse yourself in an ice bath, or swim in cold open water, it sends electrical impulses from the nerve endings in the skin to the brain. These electrical impulses stimulate the brain and increase alertness, clarity, and energy levels. In the process, endorphins (happiness hormones) and dopamine are released. These have a positive impact on fighting the effects of stress, anxiety, and depression. Research has suggested that a cold shower of two to three minutes, twice a day for several months, preferably forever, is the ideal quota of cold exposure to keep stress, depression, and anxiety at bay.
Stress Reduction and Improved Sleep
As mentioned earlier, when you are stressed, it is much harder to get to sleep. So reducing stress by taking cold showers or immersing yourself in very cold water is important to not only help you become more resilient generally but to get that all-important restorative, resilience boosting shut-eye.
Breathing Techniques and Cold Exposure
When you step into a cold shower or bath, it is natural to gasp and breathe too fast and shallowly. This is the same breathing pattern and physiology that happens when we are anxious. Therefore, it is important to take long, slow breaths when going into a cold shower. It is tempting to hunch your shoulders and tense up all your muscles when the cold water hits your body. You will have to concentrate to overcome this. But consciously breathing slowly, lowering your shoulders, and relaxing your body will help you cope with the stress of the cold temperature.
With regular practice, as you take your daily cold shower, you can use this same strategy to overcome anxious feelings when they occur in your everyday life. In other words, as your body learns to adapt to the cold stress, it can also adapt to coping with other stresses. This increases your mental resilience. The easier you can cope with cold temperatures, the easier you will find it to cope with stress and anxiety.
Focusing on the Present
When showering in extremely cold water, it's challenging to think about your problems while you focus on breathing, trying to stay relaxed despite the freezing cold water hitting you!
How cold exposure makes your immune system more resilient
We have already mentioned that we live in warm, centrally heated houses. This is not an ideal scenario when thinking about health and resilience. Many people assume that if we get cold, we will get poorly with colds and flu. Contrary to popular belief during cold weather we retreat to our homes, turn up the heating, and close all the doors and windows. These warm surroundings make it easier for bacteria and viruses to thrive and multiply, making us more likely to get sick. The cold not only kills off these bugs but also helps boost our immune system. This means we are better equipped to fight off infections. We just choose to stay indoors, all warm and cosy.
Cold Exposure and Immune Cell Activation
When we take a cold shower or immerse ourselves in an ice bath, many reactions happen in the body that have an effect on our immune cells. One of these changes is that white blood cells, which fight disease, increase in number. This happens because, as the body tries to keep itself warm, our metabolism speeds up, which stimulates the immune system, triggering the production of white blood cells. Normally, the presence of bacteria or viruses that start an infection would cause this activation of the immune system.
This happens naturally to send out as many white blood cells as possible to kill off the invading microbes. A recent study from 2023 has also found that exposing the body to very cold temperatures, such as an ice bath, also causes the production of natural killer cells. This is good news for the immune system, as natural killer cells can kill viruses and cancerous cells.
Benefits of Cold Water Swimming
If you want to take it one step further than a cold shower try swimming outside in cold water. Doing this consistently can boost the resilience of your immune system. People who swim regularly in cold water have many more white blood cells than those who do not regularly engage in this cold exposure activity or only do it occasionally. Specifically, the regular swimmers had more monocytes and leukocytes.
Role of Monocytes and T-Lymphocytes
Monocytes help to protect us against bacteria and virus cells by hunting them down. They then change into macrophages and literally eat the infectious microbes. When T-lymphocytes come across a specific strain of bacteria or virus, they recognise that it is not part of the body. They produce chemicals called antibodies. If the same bacteria or virus invades the body again, these antibodies can then recognise them immediately. This enables them to kill them off much more quickly.
This is called immunity. To have resilient immunity, we need to have monocytes, T-lymphocytes, and natural killer cells. These cells protect us from illness and disease. Immersing the body in very cold water at least three times a week for a minimum of six weeks helps to trigger the production and activity of protective immune cells. It also triggers B-lymphocytes and other immune cells such as interleukin-6. This boosts the immune system’s resilience even more.
Oxidative Stress and Antioxidant Production
Due to all the natural metabolic processes taking place, millions and millions of chemical reactions occur in the body. These include digestion and energy production. Unfortunately, these processes create waste products called free radicals, which can cause damage to our cells if they build up. This damage is called oxidative stress and can lead to inflammation, which in turn can lead to many life-limiting diseases. Free radicals also speed up the aging of our cells and tissues. Therefore, anti-oxidants are incredibly important for our health, vitality, and resilience. This is because they fight the effects of oxidative stress on the body.
Glutathione and Hormesis
As well as the anti-oxidants in the food that we eat, the body produces its own anti-oxidants, which are another part of our innate immune system. One of our naturally produced anti-oxidants is glutathione. Swimming regularly in ice-cold water has shown to increase this important antioxidant. This production of glutathione is an example of hormesis. Hormesis is where stress elicits the strengthening or hardening of a part of the body, and is another way that exposure to cold temperatures increases resilience.
It is worth mentioning that cold water swimming can also cause oxidative stress. However, when implemented on a long-term, regular basis, the body overcomes this due to the production and action of its own innate anti-oxidants.
Cold Exposure and the Lymphatic System
Another way that cold exposure plays a part in our fight against illness and disease and boosts our immune system is by stimulating the lymphatic system. Unlike blood, which the heart pumps around the body, lymph relies on bodily movement to circulate it. The lymphatic system is one way that the body gets rid of waste, specifically toxins and bacteria. If the lymph remains still and the body does not circulate it, it cannot eliminate waste properly. This can lead to infection, illness, and disease as it stagnates. When you take an ice bath or cold shower, the lymph vessels contract, helping the lymph to be pumped around. The waste products can then be flushed away through lymph nodes and into the blood. The white blood cells then jump into action and destroy the bacteria.
Cold exposure, the brain, and resilience
Exposure to the cold, whether in water or cold air, also helps protect against diseases; especially those linked to the brain. Things can inevitably go wrong sometimes. This is due to the incredibly complicated processes that occur in the body day in and day out. Proteins have many functions in the body. To carry out these functions correctly, they link together in chains. These chains of proteins arrange themselves in a very specific way.
When they arrange incorrectly or out of order, it can lead to inflammation and diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's. These chains of proteins are arranged in a very specific way. These proteins, when not arranged correctly, can also lead to premature aging as they can cause damage to our DNA. Cold exposure can activate the action of specialised proteins called cold shock proteins. These cold shock proteins seek out the incorrectly arranged proteins and reduce their negative effects.
Benefits of Cold Showers and Outdoor Swimming
Studies show that taking a cold shower daily can reduce the number of sick days taken off work. Additionally, swimming outdoors in cold water can increase the levels of antioxidants in regular swimmers. This protects them against oxidative stress. Cold water immersion benefits those suffering from a disease that affects the lungs, by helping them breathe more efficiently. This is due, in part, to the activation of interleukins and lymphocytes stimulated by the cold temperature. Cold exposure can also play a part in lowering both systolic and diastolic blood pressure over time.
Conclusion: Health Benefits of Cold Exposure
The evidence discussed in this article illustrates that exposure to cold has many significant health benefits. These are for both physical and mental health. Take a simple five-minute cold shower. Immerse yourself in an ice bath. Or go for a regular swim in open water outside. You can use these as a preventative measure to boost your immune system. And it can even help ease symptoms of already established conditions, such as high blood pressure, poor sleep, and stress. So make like an A-lister and dive into that cold water.
