Chill-Out On Your Diet

How to Boost Weight Loss With Cold Showers

With worldwide obesity levels growing--and reaching epidemic levels here in the U.S.--fad diets often come and go. Most of these diets are basically the same: they work (or don't) through some combination of calorie restriction and exercise. In other words, reduced intake and increased output. But science has discovered that may not be all there is to it.

Thermo-what?
The human body is an open thermodynamic system--that means it can use, store, or lose energy in a number of ways, not just through calorie restriction. This was the topic of a collaborative study by two European Universities on the effects of cold induced adaptive thermogenesis on adipose storage in humans. In English: Can taking cold showers help burn excess body fat?

Scientists knew cold exposure raised energy output in all mammals, including humans. In small animals cold was known to activate brown fat (heat-burning fat) causing white fat (inactive fat) to dissipate. In the end, researchers proved brown fat exists in humans in very small amounts around the neck and shoulders and can be activated with cold exposure as an alternative therapy in the treatment of obesity.

It's Going Swimmingly
Author Tim Ferris writes about the effect in his New York Times best seller The 4-Hour Body. He retells the story of an overweight NASA scientist who saw a television interview with Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps. During the interview Phelps mention he ingested around 12,000 calories a day while in training.

The NASA scientist was flabbergasted. Doing the math, he realized even swimming four hours a day it was impossible for any human to expend that many calories with exercise alone. At once, he realized the water in the swimming pool was acting like a heat conductor, removing energy from Phelps' body. Over the next couple months the NASA scientist lost 30 pounds through rigorous thermogenesis practices, never to regain it again.

Four Easy Steps
While researchers don't know how much weight you can lose with this technique, they do agree it can accelerate metabolism more than diet and exercise alone. Of course, check with your doctor before beginning this or any other diet and exercise program.

Step 1: In the shower, complete your personal hygiene regimen as normal and at your preferred water temperature.

Step 2: Turn the cold water to halfway between the coldest point and your preferred temperature. Let your body adjust to the new temperature for 30 seconds.

Step 3: Position the temperature another half distance to complete cold, so you adjust to the temperature once again. At this point, you will be activating brown fat tissue and affecting your metabolism. Stay at this temperature for 30-60 seconds.

Step 4: Ready? Set. Go! Turn the cold water all the way up allowing it to run over your shoulders, neck and back. These are the areas where the majority of human brown fat is found. Do this for 30 seconds minimum, but stay in as long as you like!

Want to super-charge it? Follow this regimen two or three times per day. Humans do not have a lot of brown fat, says scientist Stephan Herzig (TIME magazine, May 2010), but only a small portion of brown fat needs to be activated to experience the metabolic benefit.

by YOU Magazine