#26 The Cold Truth: How Ice Baths Heal Hormones, Brain, and Metabolism - Thomas Seager at Return to Nature Retreat 2025

In this week’s Quantum Lens episode, we bring you Dr. Thomas Seager’s powerful presentation from the Return to Nature Retreat 2025—a gathering where ancient wisdom meets modern science to guide us back into alignment with nature. 🌿❄️

Thomas, an Associate Professor at Arizona State University and CEO of Morozko Forge, reveals why cold exposure is much more than a trend. He shows how deliberate ice baths can transform health at the mitochondrial level—boosting brown fat, balancing hormones, protecting the brain, and even supporting fertility and cancer recovery.

Through evolutionary insights, breakthrough research, and deeply personal stories, Thomas explores how cold immersion reconnects us with our ancestral design. He shares inspiring case studies—like reversing a prostate scare, preventing pregnancy complications, and even helping patients heal from cancer and neurological disorders.

At the Retreat, Thomas also introduced his Couples Ice Bath Protocol, demonstrating how shared cold experiences can rekindle intimacy, resilience, and love. Beyond science, this is a call to remembrance: that discomfort is medicine, resilience is connection, and healing begins when we return to nature.

Whether you’re curious about ice baths, seeking natural approaches to health, or looking to deepen your resilience, this episode delivers both practical tools and powerful inspiration. 🌊🔥

🔑 Key Moments

00:01 – Opening at the Return to Nature Retreat: why cold plunges matter

02:20 – Are humans aquatic mammals? Surprising evolutionary clues

05:16 – Brown fat: the forgotten organ for energy, fertility, and brain health

10:59 – Pregnancy, mitochondria, and preventing autism through cold immersion

13:02 – Men’s health: erectile dysfunction as a metabolic warning sign

16:27 – Thomas’s personal story: reversing a prostate scare with daily ice baths

19:30 – The timing secret—how cold before exercise boosts testosterone

21:24 – Couples’ protocol at the Retreat: using ice baths to spark intimacy

25:18 – Case studies: fertility, mood, and hormone transformations

29:30 – Cold exposure as cancer therapy: starving tumors with brown fat

31:11 – Dean Hall’s story: healing leukemia through swimming and cold immersion

36:07 – Alzheimer’s, mitochondria, and why the amyloid hypothesis is wrong

38:46 – The “dose” of cold: cold enough to gasp, long enough to shiver

45:07 – Retreat protocols for women: fertility, cycles, and pregnancy safety

🗝️ Key Quotes

“At the Return to Nature Retreat, I remind people that if you’re not getting cold, you’re neglecting your mitochondria—and you’re losing something essential to human survival.” — Thomas Seager

“Cold plunges aren’t about suffering. They’re about remembering who we are, rebuilding resilience, and reawakening love.” — Thomas Seager

📬 Connect with Dr. Thomas Seager

🌐 Website: morozkoforge.com

📘 Books: Uncommon Cold, Uncommon Testosterone

📱 Instagram: @morozkoforge

🐦 Twitter/X: @thomaswseager

🎓 ASU Faculty Page: Thomas Seager – ASU

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