There are 7 trillion nerves in the human body. Like a complex network of wires they pass sensory information between the brain and every part of your body, turning information into actions, and helping to keep you alive.
Ice evolution
It’s called many things. Deliberate cold exposure. Cold water therapy. Cold water immersion. Cold training. Cold thermogenesis. Cold water swimming. Call it what you will, the secret is out and it’s gathering pace. Thanks to the likes of Wim Hof, most have now heard of cold water immersion, but few understand it. Humans evolved in the cold.
Our bodies adapted to winter conditions over thousands of years. We survived and thrived. Yet today, we live in artificially heated environments that our bodies just aren’t optimised for. We’ve lost our biological connection to the cold and all the gifts that came with it.
When we're challenged, we're changed.
Stressors on the human body were key to our evolution as a species. These ‘teacher’ stressors were nothing like the daily grind we associate with modern ‘stress’ today. Known as ‘hormetic stress’, in short bursts, high stressors like fasting, workouts or cold water immersion can bring big benefits to our health.
Controlled, positive stress builds our mental and physical resilience each time we take a dip. Resilience we can use as a tool to push further in sports and fitness, better navigate stress at work and negotiate the tests and trials of modern life.
Interested in the deeper science?
The larger body of scientific research remains a bit of a mixed and often confusing bag, however, the potential impact of cold exposure on overall wellbeing is unequivocally good. Cold training, like any exercise, doesn’t yield lasting effects with a single exposure. The benefits of adaptation come with repeated exposure, and nobody can sit in cold water for extended periods without some form of adaptation. Check out the science section if you want to dig a little deeper on the inner mechanisms through cold adaptation.
Ice Guide
Multiple sources now prove that a practice of cold water therapy is unequivocally good for us. Here's your free guide why and how to get yours!
Journal
Out of all the health benefits that cold water therapy is now being proven to support, perhaps the most stunning is its potential to both protect and re-grow the brain, specifically the repairing of synapses and the regeneration of neurons. The potential is to support in strengthening against neurodegenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s), and cognitive decline whilst offering protective effects against brain injuries. Research involving cold exposure and brain health highlights a protein that can be targeted to prevent and slow progression of the disease.
When we say ‘stress’ we usually think of life stress. Money worries, a job, relationship problems, children causing havoc. The list goes on. Chronic and persistent levels of cortisol in the bloodstream can cause serious mental and physical health problems. Tackling these usually requires fixing the cause and/or our response to the cause, which is why exercise and meditation can provide some remedy, even when we’re in the thick of it.