What are the benefits of cold exposure?

Cold exposure offers numerous benefits, including:

• Boosting metabolism
• Increasing stores of brown fat, which helps maintain warmth
• Reducing inflammation
• Enhancing resilience
• Producing a robust, long-lasting increase in dopamine, which can improve mood and perception of time 1

Cold exposure also:

• Serves as a form of self-discipline and helps build up resilience
• Familiarizes the body with adrenaline, which is useful for dealing with stress
• Provides neural effects that contribute to a sense of energy 2

Additionally, cold exposure:

• Enhances mood and focus through long-lasting increases in catecholamines (dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine)
• Can be tailored to suit individuals' goals (e.g., metabolism, reducing inflammation, building mental resilience, etc.)
• Has been used to assist in addiction recovery by providing a healthy form of dopamine release 3
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For more information on this topic, refer to the entire discussion in the podcast episode devoted to deliberate cold exposure.

The latest research on cold exposure discussed in the Huberman Lab includes various benefits for physical and mental health. Here are the key findings:

• Deliberate cold exposure can improve anxiety regulation and lead to a substantial reduction in waist circumference and abdominal fat, especially in males 1.
• Repeated cold exposure over a period of six weeks can show trends towards increased immune function, reflected in higher plasma concentrations of immune cells and molecules 2.
• Cold exposure triggers metabolic adaptations, including increased activation of brown fat and improved insulin sensitivity, which can subsequently lower blood pressure and heart rate over time 3.
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• There were significant increases in norepinephrine by 530% and dopamine by 250% after cold exposure, which lasted for an extended period and greatly enhanced mood and attention 4.
• It's speculated that the absence of significant increases in the stress hormone cortisol during cold exposure suggests it may create eustress, which is a positive form of stress that can lead to health benefits 5.

These findings underscore the potential of cold exposure in enhancing mental sharpness and mood, improving metabolic health, and possibly benefiting the immune system with regular practice. For a deeper understanding and a comprehensive review, the episodes and clips cited above can be explored.