If you keep up at all with the cutting-edge science of nutrition and bio-hacking, you’ve probably heard about the growing popularity of cold thermogenesis …AKA cold exposure.
Brr.
Cold thermogenesisis a new trend that has been popularized by guys like Tim Ferriss and Ben Greenfield…while also being legitimized by scientific papers, studies, research, and recommendations from really smart doctors.
So how does cold thermogenesis work? Can it actually help you burn fat? And is this whole this just a big scheme being perpetrated by the state of Minnesota to try to encourage people to move there? If I had to guess, I would say…
Magic, maybe, and definitely.
But let’s dig in a little deeper, shall we?
How Does Cold Thermogenesis Work?
Your body has 2 different types of fat. First, there’s “white” fat, which is the normal, ugly fat that we normally think of. This is the unfortunate kind of fat that piles up around your gut, your butt, your hips, and your thighs, and causes mean little kids to yell “MOOOOOO” when they pass you on the street.
The other fat is brown fat, and brown fat is your friend. Brown fat is a magical substance that increases your metabolism and causes your body to burn extra calories. Brown fat has 1 goal in life, which is make you look like a sexy beast.
Ok, that’s not true. Brown fat’s REAL goal is to keep your core body temperature up. And the way it does that is by burning energy and glucose in order to generate heat. Babies and small animals have a high amount of brown fat, which is what helps them to keep warm even though they don’t have as much insulation as we adult fatasses do.
Researcher Paul Lee, MD, PhD, said that:
Long-term minimal manipulation of overnight ambient temperature — well within the range found in climate-controlled buildings — was able to modulate brown fat activity in humans. Mild cold exposure stimulated brown fat activity while mild warm exposure suppressed it. Brown fat increase was accompanied by improvement in insulin sensitivity and energy burning rate after food.
Well, Paul, you certainly bored the shit out of me with that quote, and you probably caused me to lose 90% of the people who started reading this article. So thanks for that, you boring dick.
But basically what Paul was trying to say with his big fancy science words was that brown fat causes you to burn more calories…and that you can increase brown fat just by making your bedroom a little colder at night.
(See how much easier it is to understand people when they use English words?)
Now you might just be one of those skeptical people who wants actual “proof” that things work and who wants to know that I’m not just “making this up” like I do with all my other articles. You probably belong in this category if you don’t believe in leprechauns or unicorns.
Well I’m happy to inform you that yes, this is proven in actual real studies with live human beings. In fact, brown fat increased the resting metabolic rate for men…from 7.6 megajoules per day to 8.5 megajoules per day.
Now what is a megajoule? Fuck if I know. But 7.6 to 8.5 sounds like a pretty good jump.
The number was a little different for women, but I don’t have those numbers with me right now, because I’m a man, and I only care about myself.
I’m kidding. Women increased from 6.2 to 6.9. Megajoules per day.
So, either way, man or woman, brown fat raises your metabolic rate by 11 or 12%. Not bad for simple cold thermogenesis, right?
Now at this moment, you might be thinking: But Neil…I like sunshine and warmth. I don’t want to move to Minnesota.
Well, the good news is, you don’t have to freeze your ass off all day long. Like I said, studies shows that simply lowering your thermostat at night was enough to create more brown fat in people. So keep your bedroom on the cool side–say 66 degrees or so. Sleeping in a cooler room also helps you to sleep better, because your body temperature naturally drops at night.
The other thing you can do is take either cold showers or, if you’re really hardcore, take ice baths. Now I know this might sound miserable. You probably love taking your hot shower in the morning. But cold showers are better for you.
First of all, like we’ve been saying, cold showers cause your body to convert ugly white fat to fat-burning brown fat. Which raises your metabolism.
Cold showers are also better for your skin and your hair, because hot water dries out your skin by stripping away your natural oils. But cold water doesn’t.
Cold showers and ice baths also help reduce inflammation in your body, which goes a long way in promoting overall health. Inflammation is one of those silent killers…just like an old lady’s farts.
If you think about it, this is also why professional athletes take ice baths after games–because the cold water reduces the inflammation from all the bumps and bruises they get during the game. It helps their bodies recover faster.
Finally, cold showers just feel awesome. Trust me. You might think it sounds miserable, but you don’t just jump in the shower with freezing water already running. No, you get in the shower when the water is sort of a cool/lukewarm temperature. Get in, and give yourself a second to adjust.
Then, what you do is you slowly turn the temperature down a little bit at a time. You get used to it. By the time the water is ice-cold, it actually feels GREAT. It’s super refreshing and invigorating. And trust me, once you get out of a cold shower–you are going be wide awake and full of energy, ready to tackle the day and beat the shit out of it.
“Fuck you, Tuesday! Take that you shitty weekday!”
So there you have it. You can convert ugly white fat into fat-burning brown fat by simply turning down the thermostat and by taking cold showers. Brown fat is NOT going to make up for a terrible diet and a lack of exercise, but it IS going to help supplement your weight loss efforts by raising your metabolic rate by about 11%.
Or if you REALLY want to ramp up your brown fat, you could always jump into an ice hole like this guy:
