huberman cold plunge comparable to cocaine

Yes—Huberman compares the dopamine increase from cold exposure to cocaine’s: cold immersion can raise dopamine to about 2.5 times baseline, a level he says rivals cocaine’s, but the effects differ in their time course. 1

• Cold exposure: Dopamine rises more gradually and can remain elevated for hours after getting out of the cold. 1
• Cocaine: Huberman contrasts that sustained rise with cocaine’s sharper increase followed by a drop below baseline. 2
• Other effects: He describes cold exposure as a healthier, apparently less addictive way to raise dopamine, and associates it with resilience, increased metabolism, and reduced inflammation. 3 4