Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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Tim Ferris' new book has an interesting chapter called Ice Age about using the cold for weight-loss and it comes at just the right time (at least here in these northern parts) for some experimenting.

His basic premise is that the body burns up energy in more ways than just exercise and one of those ways is through loss of heat. They were trying to figure out how Michael Phelps could eat so much and still burn it even though his exercise output--which is a lot--still didn't amount to what he was eating. One thing they found was that when a body is in contact with cold water we transfer heat from our body to the water. Then our body burns more calories to keep its body temp up. He claims that research has shown people can burn 4 times the amount of fat after two hours of cold exposure. He says cold stimulates certain fat cells to burn fat in the body. Interesting ideas.

I know a bunch of people here take part in Polar Bear Swims and things--probably more for fun than anything--but is anyone thinking of applying some of the cold=weight loss ideas this winter?

edited Dec 16 2010 at 15:59

JJ
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asked Dec 16 2010 at 15:32

MikeD
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	I guess I should stop taking contrast showers.... I need to gain weight! Ha. – JJ Dec 16 2010 at 15:33
	I've been using contrast showers for years - way before I ever heard of paleo. Invigorating and helps with back pain. Even better in the winter when the water is really cold! – Dave S. Dec 16 2010 at 16:00
	I always try to finish my showers with 1 minute of the coldest water. Lately, I have been slacking due to the weather... it's too cold , lol.. enter my violin here.. – Todd Dec 16 2010 at 16:07
	i havent turned on the heat yet in my apartment - 25 degrees outside but its about 60 inside, seems colder than that tho. – MikeD Dec 16 2010 at 16:13
	this is actually not very surprising. Thermogenics is a factor in calorie burn and therefore weight loss. I remember reading that drinking ice water upon waking up can burn calories – Payam Dec 16 2010 at 17:00

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ecb · Answer 1 · 2010-12-16 17:39:41Z UTC

cold water exposure is super, super healthy. Once you get over the shock it starts to feel great and gets a little addictve.

if you don't have easy access to an ocean, river or lake try this (I am NOT a doctor, so if you have any worrisome medical conditions consult your physician before): -get a large bucket from home depot or wherever (several gallons).

-either instead of, or following, a super hot shower fill up the bucket with the coldest water you can get (some people leave the bucket outside overnight to get it really cold)

-dump it over your head, while trying to stay as relaxed as possible/conscious of tension in your body

-do it a second time

why is this superior to just a cold shower? the immense volume of water, in the super short time frame, provokes a different, more thorough bodily response (at least in my own experimentation).

some notes on this: -breathing is important. try to relax your breathing and avoid that GASP response. On the first one try to maintain a long, relaxed inhale. on the second try a long relaxed exhale. order isn't important, but just do both an inhale and exhale that starts just before or as you contact the water. maintain it throughout the pour as best you can.

-try doing this OUTSIDE in all sorts of weather, awesome!

-i've read that it triggers the mammalian diving reflex, which basically means that sudden cold contact drives blood to the interior of the body/prime organs. among other things this causes your core temperature to spike and acts as a mini internal-fever and can be GREAT for preventing illness.

-definitely helps circulation and immune response in general (several studies on this I believe)

-afterwards you will probably feel a really delicious glow/warm feeling in your belly/core (imagine drinking nice warm tea) and general sense of well-being relaxation.

-great for sore muscles, general fatigue and excess tension. I used to suffer a lot from anxiety. Once I did this at the onset of a panic attack. I can't explain what happened but the cold water just released all the pent up tension in me and I started laughing hysterically, pretty incredible in retrospect actually.

Eva · Answer 2 · 2010-12-16 19:11:49Z UTC

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As for weight loss, seems to me that for most people it would be overall not effective enough to make a major difference. Easier to eat just a few bites less of food or cut out a tad of carb than to suffer long bouts of freezing cold! Plus being cold and uncomfortable is a stress on the body, which I think should be considered as potentially less healthy if done to excess. I am personally not convinced it is healthy to shock your body with very cold water. I'd have to see some scientific evidence before I changed my mind. Pain and discomfort are our body's ways of trying to stear us away from unhealthy activities.

answered Dec 16 2010 at 19:11

Eva
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	I recommend you try it and see how you feel. A lot of people mischaracterize the sensations of cold water as 'painful' or 'uncfortable' but how many people would say the same thing about fasting? Cold water immersion is used by a lot of olympic atheletes btw. – ecb Dec 16 2010 at 22:23
	also, I don't know if they affect weight loss but it will make you feel great. they are proven to be good for the immune system and circulation. Paleo man was definitely not taking hot showers--except when fortunate enough to be near a hot spring, if he was in the water, it was probably pretty cold. – ecb Dec 16 2010 at 22:26
	i think you are right, i wouldn't use cold as my way of losing weight haha. but it might be one more thing in the bag of tricks to mobilize your body for fat burning. next time someone says hack my diet, its not working, we could tell them to take cold showers right? – MikeD Dec 17 2010 at 0:14

James · Answer 3 · 2010-12-16 19:18:03Z UTC

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re. Polar Bear club. Take a closer look at them. Maybe yours are different, but the pictures of the people I see are all on the heavier side.

answered Dec 16 2010 at 19:18

James
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	Frankly that is a really, really bad way to figure that one out. Lots of fat people engage in lots of activities. Doesn't necessarily apply causation. – ecb Dec 16 2010 at 22:21
	Tons of variables, but my point being that it doesn't seem to help them much in losing weight... :P – James Dec 16 2010 at 23:42
	true its the not the be all end all but maybe its got some benefits? a lot of heavy people are on the paleo diet too :) – MikeD Dec 17 2010 at 0:15

Ambimorph · Answer 4 · 2010-12-16 19:43:06Z UTC

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Aquatic mammals in an ice-cold environment store lots of fat. Think of seals, walruses, whales, and even polar bears. I don't know about cause and effect, but the correlation is not the one you want.

answered Dec 16 2010 at 19:43

Ambimorph
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thats ridiculous. Those animals have evolved higher bfp's for a number of reasons. The idea that cold water exposure could cause someone to gain fat because animals that have evolved in cold water over millions of years happen have a higher bfp is not logical. Thats like saying going tanning will make you cold blooded b/c lizards are. – ecb Dec 16 2010 at 22:25

You think they have evolved higher bfp's for some reason other than temperature regulation? I think it follows that if exposure to cold makes you burn a lot of fat (which is part of the premise under discussion) then a good body response to that is to make sure you have lots. – Ambimorph Dec 16 2010 at 22:53

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This study, for example, shows leptin decreasing in response to cold exposure: linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/… – Ambimorph Dec 16 2010 at 22:57

This one shows lowered adiponectin levels: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20423746 – Ambimorph Dec 16 2010 at 22:58

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And "Changes in thermal homeostasis in humans due to repeated cold water immersions." ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8765994 shows a (small) increase in body fat. – Ambimorph Dec 16 2010 at 23:27

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rafi · Answer 5 · 2011-06-13 23:23:26Z UTC

I don't know about the benefits for weight loss but I participated in my first polar bear swim this year and it was truly invigorating. Also, made a funny video about it which we've just posted: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sT0_NHtEAFQ

What do you think of Polar bear swims, winter runs, ice baths for weight-loss?

5 Answers