The Most Overlooked Secret To Losing Weight: Cold Water Therapy
Did you know…
that a NASA Scientist may have discovered a powerful and overlooked secret to shedding pounds?
Shedding pounds can seem as challenging as rocket science…and in truth, the formula for melting excess fat may be closer to rocket science than we could have imagined! The secret is body temperature.
NASA Scientist Cracks the “Body Temperature—Fat Loss” Code
Ray Cronise, a former NASA scientist, spent years dieting but was never able to keep the weight off. Frustrated, he put his world-class brain to work. After analyzing his goal and the tools available for achieving them, he realized there was something missing from the multitude of popular diet and exercise plans available.
The current paradigm of losing weight focuses on diet and exercise, or calories in versus calories out, while ignoring a critical factor: the relationship between body temperature and our surroundings. This is critical, because the human body must maintain its temperature at about 98.6 degrees, regardless of the temperature of its surroundings.
“It takes a lot of energy to keep it that way, no different than heating your house,” Cronise explains. By exposing his body to cold temperatures, thereby forcing his metabolism into high gear, he doubled his weight loss rate. In just 6 weeks, he was able to drop 30 pounds of fat alone.One of the techniques Cronise used for exposing his body to cold temperatures was to take cold showers. As he did so, he may very well have been significantly boosting his overall health. That’s because as it turns out, cold water therapy has benefits beyond weight loss.
Powerful Overall Health Benefits of Cold Water Therapy
Modern science and numerous case histories support the use of cold water therapy for a variety of health conditions, including:
- Frequent colds
- Chronic pain and inflammation
- High blood pressure
- Heart conditions
- Insomnia
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
How to Use Cold Water Therapy
Dr. Alexa Fleckenstein, M.D., is a board-certified internist who practices traditional and complementary medicine in the Boston area. She advises a gradual approach to beginning cold water therapy.
Dr. Fleckstein recommends that you begin with your usual warm shower, because the shock of stepping into a purely cold shower can have a too-strong effect on your blood pressure. Once you’ve finished with your usual shower, you can step away from the water stream and turn off the hot water, while leaving the cold water running.
Only then do you gradually ease yourself into the cold stream, moving slowly from your feet to your hands and then your face. Then finally you can step your whole body under the cold stream.
“Work up to whatever is comfortable for you,” advises Dr. Fleckstein. If you find the experience truly intolerable, begin by exposing “only your feet, hands, and face.” As your body adapts, “gradually increase the duration and area of exposure.”
If you continue to find cold showers miserable, Cronise and other fans of cold water therapy can list many variations that range from drinking cold water…to immersing your face in a sink filled with water and ice cubes… to a full-out “polar bear” plunge into near-freezing water. As with many therapeutic health practices, the concept of cold water therapy has given rise to plentiful options. If you’re willing to experiment (in the true NASA spirit), you’re sure to find one you enjoy.
Further Related Reading:
http://undergroundhealthreporter.com/cold-water-therapy-losing-weight
