What we can all learn from wild swimming (whether or not you actually do it)
Cold water therapy
More and more people are fascinated by cold water exposure and cold water swimming for immune boosting and longevity benefits. The figurehead of the movement is Wim Hof, also known as The Iceman. Mr Hof is a Dutch extreme athlete noted for his ability to withstand freezing temperatures. He attributes these feats to his Wim Hof Method (WHM), a combination of frequent cold exposure, breathing techniques and meditation.
It’s said that Wim Hof can increase his metabolic rate during his icy exposures, and therefore also increase his body temperature. This miraculous sounding feat is not unique at all, we can all do it. Whether or not we can all train our bodies (and minds) like Wim is another matter, but the metabolic boost from cold water exposure is linked to something in your body known as brown fat.
Brown fat (Brown Adipose Tissue) is a type of fat tissue that is able to release energy directly. This is unlike white fat, which stores energy. New-born babies have a high amount of brown fat, so that they can regain any heat lost within a relatively short period. It’s needed as newborns can’t shiver. Not surprisingly, it was thought that once we learned to shiver, this brown fat was all but lost in adulthood. However, that might not be the case after all, especially for those of you who are keen on cold water swimming as it appears that brown fat tissue can also be activated by cold. No matter your reasons for taking a dip, it’s something to tread carefully with though, when the core body temperature falls below 35°C, hypothermia takes place.
If it sounds a bit much, or if an ocean or lake isn’t nearby, you can start in a more domestic setting. A cold shower can actually boost your metabolism and immunity too.
A study conducted by the Thrombosis Research Institute showed that people who took a daily cold shower had significantly more white blood cells in comparison to people who did not. These cells are on our side - in other words, they boost your immunity. The cold water stimulates the metabolic rate during and afterwards to help us warm up, and as a result the immune system is activated, resulting in the release of more white blood cells. How long this added protection lasts, nobody really knows, but today’s Covid world, any natural boost to our immunity is welcome.
