Freeze a bit. Maybe lose weight. It sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it?
Ice vests and freezing showers are suddenly the topic of conversation. But until now, the science was mostly thin. People love cold plunges, sure, but does it actually do anything for your health? Not much proof out there.
A new study says otherwise.
Forty-seven adults. Most carrying extra weight. Researchers at the University of Nottingham and Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands put them to the test. Half got the treatment: an ice vest and a waist wrap. Two hours every morning. Top of a thin T-shirt. Gel packs chilled in the freezer overnight to sit at 15°C.
Simple enough. Just keep going about your day.
The results in six weeks were small but telling. The cold-exposed group lost 0.9 kg (about 2 lb). Almost all body fat. The control group? They didn’t lose weight. They gained 0.6 kg.
It’s not a magic pill. It’s not drastic. But it is something.
“Vests like this can be worn in home,” says Dr Mariëtte Boon. “Cold exposure could be simple… and inexpensive addition to healthy eating and activity.”
It works because of brown fat. You have it, you just don’t think about it much. Cold activates it. It burns calories to make heat. Think of it as an internal furnace kicking in when it’s chilly outside.
Prof Helen Budge notes it might also help with lipids, glucose, inflammation. Good for the heart, theoretically.
Is this the next big diet trend? Hard to say.
They are already looking at cold showers next. Another study. 34 women. 90 seconds. Coldest setting every morning. The hypothesis is similar: shock the body, burn the fat.
Boon admits it’s apples to oranges though. A vest is a longer, gentler exposure. A shower is short, but colder. And jumping in a lake? That’s a different beast entirely, shock and all.
We’ll see. If you can find a way to freeze that fits your life, it might help.
