Are Polar Bear Plunges Good for You?
February 01, 2013
Story at-a-glance
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Polar bear plunges, which involve taking a dip in the ocean in
the winter, are said to invigorate and energize, but they can
also generate an enormous shock to your system
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You should be in relatively good shape if you take a polar bear
plunge; for those at risk of stroke, aneurysm, blood pressure
problems, or heart disease, the extra stress on your body can be
especially dangerous, increasing your risk of heart attack
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Even among healthy people, the adrenaline release that occurs
during a polar bear plunge can lead to irregular heart rhythms
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Cold water and ice baths, otherwise known as cold water
immersion or "cryotherapy," is a popular technique among amateur
and professional athletes because it is thought to help reduce
muscle inflammation and pain after exercise, as well as speed
recovery time
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Exposure to cold temperatures may also help you to activate
brown fat, a heat-generating type of fat that burns energy
instead of storing it, which may help with weight loss
By Dr. Mercola
The Coney Island Polar Bear Club was founded in 1903 by
Bernarr Macfadden, an early advocate of physical fitness and
natural foods, who believed immersing yourself in the ocean
during the winter was “a boon to one’s stamina, virility and
immunity.”1
To this day, club members take weekly dips in the ocean
from October through April, a practice that is also embraced
by numerous other “polar bear clubs” around the United
States and world.
In fact, people in Russia and Scandinavia have been
taking so-called polar bear plunges for centuries, often
right after coming out of a hot sauna. Participants claim
the cold water is invigorating and energizing, but is it
really good for your health?
Polar Bear Plunges Come With Real Risks …
Jumping into a body of near-freezing water is not an
activity to be taken lightly, and if you do decide to do it,
you should be in relatively good shape first. To put it
simply, the cold water will generate an enormous shock to
your system, which will result in:
- An initial “cold shock,” which will leave you
gasping for air and unable to hold your breath
- Blood vessels along your outer body constrict,
attempting to shift blood to your inner organs
- Your muscles will get very cold and may become
paralyzed or weak
Drowning, even after just one or two minutes, is
therefore a very real risk if you’re not careful.
Cold Temperatures May Increase Your Risk of Stroke
For those at risk of stroke, aneurysm, blood pressure
problems, or heart disease, the constricting of blood
vessels and extra stress on your body can be especially
dangerous, increasing your risk of heart attack. Even among
healthy people, the adrenaline release that occurs during a
polar bear plunge can lead to irregular heart rhythms.
Further, research has shown that when temperatures
decline, your blood pressure tends to go up, and this
association is particularly strong if you’re over age 80. On
average, systolic blood pressure may be up to 5 points
higher in winter than in summer.2
This makes sense since, as mentioned, when you’re cold
your arteries may constrict, which means your blood must be
pumped with greater pressure in order to reach all areas of
your body. This is a significant finding, since high blood
pressure is one of the largest risk factors for stroke. In
other words, exposure to cold temperatures may lead to a
rise in your blood pressure that in turn raises your stroke
risk.
If you know you have high blood pressure, are at an
increased risk of stroke, or are elderly, polar bear plunges
may pose too much of a risk for you.
That said, if you’re healthy you may be able to develop a
tolerance of sorts to the cold water if you immerse yourself
on a regular basis, or “prime” your body for the plunge by
taking gradually colder showers for a few days. And it’s
also important to immerse yourself in the water gradually,
by walking in from a beach as opposed to jumping in from a
pier (which leads to such a sudden change in your body
temperature that it can cause a heart attack).
Cold Water May Help You Activate Beneficial Brown Fat
Provided it’s done safely, there appears to be some
health benefits to cold-water immersions or plunges. In one
study, scientists found that they were able to activate
brown fat in adult men by exposing them to cold
temperatures.3
Brown fat is a heat-generating type of fat that burns
energy instead of storing it, and this may have
important implications when it comes to weight loss.
Human newborns have a supply of brown fat to keep warm,
but by adulthood they lose most of their stores of it. Brown
fat has been located in the neck area, around blood vessels
(helping to warm your blood), and "marbled" in with white
fat in visceral fat tissue. The men burned more calories
when cooled, and lost white fat, the kind that causes
obesity. According to the study's authors:
" Does human brown fat actually combust fat to
release heat? ... Ouellet et al. demonstrate that
metabolism in brown fat really is increased when adult
humans are exposed to cold. This boosts the possibility
that calorie combustion in brown fat may be of
significance for our metabolism and, correspondingly,
that the absence of brown fat may increase our proneness
to obesity …"
Swedish research published in 2009 also found that cold
temperatures increased the activity in the subjects' brown
fat regions.4
In fact, cold-induced glucose uptake was increased by a
factor of 15! Based on animal models, researchers estimate
that just 50g of brown fat (which is less than what most
study volunteers have been found to have) could burn about
20 percent of your daily caloric intake—and more if
'encouraged.'
Boost Your Body’s Fat-Burning Potential With Exposure to
Frigid Temperatures?
Tim Ferriss, author of The Four-Hour Work Week,
also published a book called The Four-Hour Body,5
which also includes the concept of activating your brown fat
to boost fat burning by exposing yourself to frigid
temperatures. He claims you can increase your fat-burning
potential by as much as 300 percent simply by adding ice
therapy to your dieting strategy. A LiveStrong article
backed up Ferriss' claim stating:6
"A NASA scientist told ABC News that's no
hyperbole. In studying the effects of temperature on
astronauts, he saw people's metabolism boost by 20
percent in environments as mild as 60 degrees. A Joslin
researcher told National Public Radio that 3 oz. of
brown fat could burn 400 to 500 calories daily."
So, how does Ferriss' Ice Therapy work? Well, by cooling
your body down with ice, you're essentially forcing it to
burn much more calories by activating your brown fat, as the
studies above can attest to. His suggestions, from easy to
'hard core,' include the following. Do advance slowly! It
may be inadvisable to go straight to the ice bath if you're
not used to it!
- Place an ice pack on your upper back and upper chest
for 30 minutes per day (you can do this while reading
or relaxing in front of the TV for example)
- Drink about 500 ml of ice water each morning
- Take cold showers
- Immerse yourself in ice water up to your waist for
10 minutes, three times per week. (Simply fill your tub
with cold water and ice cubes)
Another Use for Cold Water: Muscle Soreness
Polar bear plunges tend to be regarded as a fun, social
activity that may end up giving you a health boost. But
regular cold water and ice baths, otherwise known as
cold-water immersion or "cryotherapy," is a popular
technique among amateur and professional athletes, too, as
it is thought to help reduce muscle inflammation and pain
after exercise, as well as speed recovery time.
Indeed, after analyzing 17 trials involving over 360
people who either rested or immersed themselves in cold
water after resistance training, cycling or running,
researchers found the cold-water baths were much more
effective in relieving sore muscles one to four days after
exercise.7
Just how cold does the water need to be?
In this case, most of the studies involved a water
temperature of 10-15 degrees C (50-59 degrees F), which
participants stayed in for about 24 minutes. Some of the
trials involved colder temperatures or "contrast immersion,"
which means alternating between cold and warm water (this
did not show a significant benefit compared to rest, but
some experts do believe that alternating hot and cold water
helps drive oxygen and nutrients to your internal organs,
while encouraging detoxification).
Most studies on cold-water immersion report no or minimal
side effects, so if you're willing to spend 20 minutes or so
in a cold tub of water, you may very well find some relief.
Of course, common sense must be used and caution exercised.
As with polar bear plunges, when you immerse yourself in
cold water, it will shock your body to some degree, so you
need to make sure the water is not too cold, and that you do
not stay in it for too long.
Can Polar Bear Plunges Increase Your Stress Tolerance?
Exposing your whole body to cold water for short periods
of time, which is precisely what polar bear plunges entail,
is actually used to promote “hardening.” Hardening is the
exposure to a natural stimulus, such as cold water, that
results in increased tolerance to stress and/or disease.
This was demonstrated by a study involving 10 healthy people
who swim regularly in ice-cold water during the winter.8
Following exposure to the cold water, researchers noted a:
- “Drastic” decrease in uric acid levels:
High levels of uric acid are normally associated
with gout, but it has been long known that people with
high blood pressure, kidney disease and people who are
overweight often have elevated uric acid levels. When
your uric acid level exceeds about 5.5 mg per deciliter,
you have an increased risk for a host of diseases
including heart disease, fatty liver, obesity, diabetes,
hypertension, kidney disease and more.
- Increase in glutathione:
Glutathione is your body's most powerful
antioxidant, which keeps all other antioxidants
performing at peak levels.
Personally, I have been experimenting with cold-water
immersion for a couple of years. I now go into the shower
without allowing it to warm up, and I also jump in the ocean
without a wet suit on. I have found that if I hold my breath
it really helps adjust to the initial shock, and I rapidly
acclimate to the cold. I have come to enjoy it and now view
it as a form of healthy stress very similar to exercise.
If you decide to give any type of cold-water immersion a
try, be sure to listen to your body and work up to the more
advanced techniques gradually.
© Copyright 1997-2013 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.
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