Episode #250. Ice baths and other forms of cold water exposure have gained a huge amount of traction in the past few years. I’m joined by expert Dr Susanna Søberg to examine what the science says – is cold water exposure safe? What does the research say about the bold health claims? Is brown fat just a buzzword? How do you safely and effectively implement hot and cold exposure into your life? Dr Søberg answers these questions and many more in this three-hour deep dive into cold water immersion.

Specifically, we discuss:

• Intro (00:00)
• The tradition of winter swimming (01:52)
• Cold water swimming and activating brown fat (09:44)
• Dr. Søburg's personal experience with cold water bathing (23:13)
• Funding hurdles and potential benefits of cold water immersion (25:34)
• Cold water immersion and the body's response (33:36)
• Brown fat activation and more physiological responses (40:45)
• What is brown fat? (45:54)
• Is brown fat genetic? (55:28)
• Benefits of activating brown fat (58:32)
• Winter swimming, sauna, and disease: what the data says (1:01:10)
• Metabolism and shivering (1:13:01)
• Brown fat activation and muscle building (1:25:06)
• Who has more brown fat: Women or Men? (1:36:33)
• Chronic inflammation, exercise, and more benefits of deliberate cold exposure (1:46:11)
• Cold water immersion for beginners (2:06:18)
• The minimum threshold for health benefits using cold and heat (2:15:03)
• Clothes or no clothes? (2:22:57)
• Temperature regulation and gender differences (2:26:30)
• Safety protocols & understanding ice plunging lingo (2:34:08)
• Outro (2:47:18)

To connect with Dr Susanna Søberg, you can find her on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn. Head to her website, www.soeberginstitute.com, to learn more about Dr Søberg’s work – including her research and her book Winter Swimming. Friends of The Proof can also receive a 10% discount on her Thermalist course with code SIMONHILL.

Discover more insights and supporting resources in the full show notes.

Enjoy, friends.

Simon

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Simon Hill, MSc, BSc (Hons)

Creator of theproof.com and host of The Proof with Simon Hill

Author of The Proof is in the Plants

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