Celebrities advertise ice baths, but the science behind the benefits is tepid

Here’s what medical evidence, experts and amateurs have to say about a practice that goes back centuries.

CHICAGO. The coolest thing on social media these days might be celebrities and regular people taking a dip in cold water or taking an ice bath.

Advertised benefits include improved mood, increased energy, weight loss, and decreased inflammation, but the scientific evidence supporting some of these claims is rather tepid.

Kim Kardashian posted a picture of herself on Instagram. Harry Styles tweeted his failures. Kristen Bell says her jumps are “tough” but uplifting. And Lizzo claims that ice baths reduce inflammation and improve well-being.

Here’s what medical evidence, experts and amateurs have to say about a practice that goes back centuries.

INTELLIGENCE

Dan O’Conor can be called an amateur cold water diving expert. Since June 2020, the 55-year-old Chicago man has been diving into Lake Michigan almost daily, including on cold winter mornings when he has to dig through the ice.

“The endorphin rush… is an incredible way to wake up and just shake your body and start the engine,” O’Conor said on a recent morning when the air temperature was 23 degrees below zero (minus 5 Celsius). Endorphins are “feel good” hormones released in response to pain, stress, exercise, and other activities.

With a lake temperature of 34 degrees (1 Celsius), O’Conor, bare-chested, took a running jump off a snow-covered shore to throw himself forward into the icy gray water.

His first dive came at the start of the pandemic when he went on a bourbon binge and was told by his exasperated wife to “go jump in the lake.” The water was pleasant that June day. says, and it made him want to continue. As the water got colder with the seasons, the psychological effect was even greater, he said.

“My mental health is much stronger, much brighter. I found a bit of zen here that went down and jumped into the lake and shook this body,” O’Conor said.

Dr. Will Cronenwett, chair of psychiatry at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, tried cold water immersion a few years ago while visiting Scandinavian friends on a Baltic island. After the sauna, he jumped into the icy water for a few minutes and had what he described as an intense and invigorating experience.

“It felt like I was being pierced by hundreds of millions of very small electrical needles,” he said. “I felt that I was strong and powerful and could do anything.”

But Cronenwett says studying cold water diving with a gold-standard randomized controlled trial is challenging because developing a placebo for cold diving can be difficult.

There are several theories about how this affects the psyche.

Cronenwett says that immersion in cold water stimulates the part of the nervous system that controls the state of rest or relaxation. This may improve well-being.

It also stimulates the part of the nervous system that regulates the fight-or-flight response to stress. Doing this on a regular basis can dampen that response, which in turn can help people feel better, deal with other stresses in their lives, though this hasn’t been proven, he said.

“You have to conquer your fear. You have to muster up the courage to do it,” he said. “And when you finally do it, you will feel like you have achieved something meaningful. You have reached your goal.”

Czech researchers found that immersion in cold water can increase blood levels of dopamine, another so-called happiness hormone produced in the brain, by 250%. Large numbers have been associated with paranoia and aggression, notes physiologist James Mercer, emeritus professor at the Arctic University of Norway, co-author of a recent scientific review of cold water diving research.

HEART

Immersion in cold water raises blood pressure and increases the workload on the heart. Studies have shown that it is safe for healthy people and the effects are temporary.

But it can be dangerous for people with heart problems, sometimes leading to life-threatening irregular heartbeats, Cronenwett said. People with heart conditions or a family history of early heart disease should consult a doctor before diving, he said.

METABOLISM

Repeated immersions in cold water during the winter months have been shown to improve the body’s response to insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar levels, Mercer noted. This may help reduce the risk of developing diabetes or better control the disease in people who are already affected, although more research is needed to prove this.

Immersion in cold water also activates brown fat, a tissue that helps keep the body warm and helps it control blood sugar and insulin levels. It also helps the body burn calories, prompting research into whether cold water immersion is an effective way to lose weight. The evidence is still inconclusive.

THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

Anecdotal studies show that people who regularly swim in cold water are less likely to catch colds, and there is evidence that it can increase levels of certain white blood cells and other infection-fighting substances. It is not clear if accidental immersion in icy water can cause the same effect.

One of the biggest unanswered questions is: How cold does water need to be to benefit health? And will a quick dunk have the same effect as a long swim?

“There is no answer to the question “the colder the better,” Mercer said. “Besides, it depends on the type of reaction you are looking at. For example, some of them happen very quickly, such as changes in blood pressure. … Others, such as the formation of brown fat, take much longer.”

O’Conor dives year-round, but he says winter dunks are best for “mental clarity,” even if they sometimes only last 30 seconds.

On those icy mornings, he “blocks out everything else and knows I have to get in the water and then, more importantly, get out of the water.”

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