Cold Therapy Benefits: 6 Reasons Why Cold Is Good for You

As kids, we heard it every winter: “Wrap up warm before you go outside, it’s cold out there.” But that advice isn’t always the best — in fact, cold exposure can be genuinely good for your body. Here are six reasons why.

• Cold stimulates the production of brown fat cells This may not sound like a benefit at first, but it is. Your body needs brown fat cells to keep itself from freezing: brown fat tissue burns white fat cells, generating heat that keeps you warm even at low temperatures. Brown fat is therefore extremely valuable — but it breaks down when we spend all our time at constant temperatures, especially in heated rooms during winter. The result: the body gets cold faster, becomes more sensitive to low temperatures, and has to shiver to stay warm.
• Cold gets your circulation going When your body is exposed to colder temperatures for a while, your blood vessels constrict and blood flows through them more slowly. This makes the heart pump harder, which stimulates the circulatory system. Once the blood vessels widen again, the stronger pumping action of the heart improves blood flow throughout the body.
• Cold may help relieve pain It’s well known that cold can have a pain-relieving effect. It’s usually applied locally — think ice spray or cold packs on the affected area — but whole-body treatments can make sense too. When your body is exposed to cold, it releases norepinephrine (also known as noradrenaline), which can have an analgesic effect. Pain therapy with cold is considered well researched and is used by many doctors and clinics.
• Cold can support the immune system It’s a common misconception that cold and low temperatures simply make us sick. Cold exposure can actually have a positive effect on the immune system: it reduces the number of active immune cells, and a high count of active immune cells is an indicator of inflammation in the body. Cold exposure can also increase the number of white blood cells — so in some respects, cold may even help strengthen your immune defenses.
• Cold stimulates the thyroid Alongside norepinephrine, the body also releases thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) when exposed to cold. TRH stimulates the thyroid, which in turn produces T3 and T4 — hormones that boost cellular metabolism. Cold therefore plays a fundamental role in thyroid function and the body’s metabolic processes.
• Cold as an energy boost Most people already know cold as a “wake-up call,” typically in the form of cold showers or ice baths. In addition to the hormones mentioned above, cold exposure also triggers the release of endorphins and dopamine. Dopamine is responsible for sharpening our focus and making us feel alert — which is exactly where that energy kick from the cold comes from.

These six reasons alone show how valuable cold exposure can be for the human body — and there are plenty of other effects beyond them. If the damp, chilly weather of fall and winter puts you off spending time outdoors, we recommend trying the dry cold at -85 degrees Celsius in our cryo chamber instead. Thanks to the very low humidity inside the chamber, even deep sub-zero temperatures feel completely different — and far more comfortable — on the skin. Simply book an appointment and experience for yourself what dry cold feels like.

In this video, you can see the positive effects of cold on the body.

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