Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee - BITESIZE | Why You Should Take a Cold Shower Every Morning for Good Health | Wim Hof #377

Episode Date: July 6, 2023

CAUTION: If you have uncontrolled hypertension or heart disease it is not advised that you start practising cold water immersion. If you have any doubt at all as to whether you are fit enough to give this practice a go, please consult a qualified healthcare professional. My guest today believes cold exposure can help you battle disease, regulate your mood and help you connect with your true self. Feel Better Live More Bitesize is my weekly podcast for your mind, body, and heart. Each week I’ll be featuring inspirational stories and practical tips from some of my former guests. Today’s clip is from episode 127 of the podcast with Wim Hof, also known as The Iceman.   Wim has been described as a ‘trailblazer for human potential’ and a ‘modern legend’. He has performed incredible feats such as withstanding extreme temperatures and climbing Kilimanjaro wearing only a pair of shorts.  In this clip, he explains why taking a cold shower every morning could improve your health, reduce stress and help you take on any day. Thanks to our sponsor https://www.drinkag1.com/livemore Support the podcast and enjoy Ad-Free episodes. Try FREE for 7 days on Apple Podcasts https://apple.co/feelbetterlivemore. For other podcast platforms go to https://fblm.supercast.com. Show notes and the full podcast are available at drchatterjee.com/127 Follow me on instagram.com/drchatterjee Follow me on facebook.com/DrChatterjee Follow me on twitter.com/drchatterjeeuk   DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's Bite Size episode is brought to you by AG1, a science-driven daily health drink with over 70 essential nutrients to support your overall health. It includes vitamin C and zinc, which helps support a healthy immune system, something that is really important at this time of year. It also contains prebiotics and digestive enzymes that help support your gut health. It's really tasty and has been in my own life for over five years. Until the end of January, AG1 are giving a limited time offer. Usually they offer my listeners a one-year supply of vitamin D and K2 and five free travel packs with their first order. But until the end of January, they are doubling the five free travel packs to

10. And these packs are perfect for keeping in your backpack, office, or car. If you want to take advantage of this limited time offer, all you have to do is go to drinkag1.com forward slash live more. Welcome to Feel Better Live More Bite Size, your weekly dose of positivity and optimism to get you ready for the weekend. Today's clip is from episode 127 of the podcast with Wim Hof, also known as the Iceman. Wim believes that cold exposure could help you battle disease, regulate your mood and help you connect with your true self. In this clip, Wim explains why taking a cold shower every morning could improve your health, reduce stress and help you take on any day. Why is the cold so powerful? The cold, without a doubt, very directly, very effectively, very strongly is able tackle our the biggest health problem in the

world which is the cardiovascular related diseases and we have a this the organ which is called our skin and we never expose it to natural elements and it is built to be able to stir to be to be stimulated the electro receptors thermal receptors they are all in the surface of our skin that directly goes when we take a cold shower like an electrical jolt through our spine to our deepest part of our brain, the brainstem. It's being alive. Oh, yeah, the shocking experience that you are surviving. That is a great way to not only give a jolt to, say, an electroshock to your brain. For people who are into depression, this is great. You just take the cold shower and depression is going to be depressed.

So that is one. The other thing is all of us, we have 100,000 kilometers, like 70,000 miles of vascular little channels,illaries arteries and veins 100 more like 100 000 kilometers that is a lot that is like two and a half times the world is in each and every one of us they contain millions of little muscles and they help the blood flow going through, but not if it is in a condition after we have lived, been living with clothes all the time, which is a de. Our heart is pumping more than it should. It's pumping more because it tries to get the blood flow full of oxygen, the nutrients, and the vitamins to the cells. And it is not able to do that. You weaken yourself because you are in stress.

in yourself because you are in stress. And that stress, that creates oxidative stress through continuous presence of cortisol. And that is when the heart rate goes up, that is normally done when there is danger to pump the glucose through the body and the adrenaline. That is when there is danger now it is danger because we have a weak condition within our vascular system maybe not when you are young still but when you are 30 35 40 it begins really to wear out a cold shower stimulates all the vascular muscle tone and thus the blood flow will go better to the cells heart rate goes down with 20 to 30 beats a minute 24 hours a day and the energy is being fat the energy processes the metabolic mitochondrial processes are being fed with all the oxygen, nutrients,

vitamins, all what is needed. You get plenty of energy. So when you take a cold shower a day, it is great. It's like a vaccination, a natural vaccination where you make your body the way nature meant it to be with a great blood flow, which doesn't know inhibition, fears, blockages, sclerosis, or anything like that, because it's flowing. There is no cortisol, no oxidative stress going on. This is the way nature meant it to be. Everybody in the world should take the damn beautiful cold shower a day. It is not difficult. And the investment is by far the outcome. You get so much more energy and so much more peace because the stress will go out of your body. When someone's underneath the cold water,

right? First of all, how cold does it need to be? Does it need to be cold enough to give them a shock is the first question. Then the second question, just to be super practical, you can have cold water over your head and you can tense up and last 10 or 15 seconds if you have to, but that's going to be very different than if you have the cold water and you lean into it and you relax and you breathe. So for people who feel inspired to go, okay, all right, Wim, I'm going to try and have a cold shower. What is the minimum amount of time they need? What is the temperature they need it to be? is there a difference with their tents or whether they're relaxed and slow breathing exactly so first of all know that everybody is capacitated by nature

by birthright to go into this stressful uh natural environment called the cold. So a cold shower is cold. A cold shower you are able to take on any any day. That's the first one to know. Now if you're if you are in a vascular condition which has been alienated from going into the cold stress ever, then of course you have to take it step by step, but it goes very fast. You begin with a hot shower and then you get into the last 30 seconds of cold. Turn it to cold and then your vascular system is very well able to, in this case pass passively because you got into the heat of the hot shower then it works like a sauna and then you have a cold dip it's passive because you've got a lot of heat and so you are able to lose a lot of heat passively through taking on the cold shower. 30 seconds to begin with is activating, igniting the memory cells

within you, the genome expressions in the cell to adapt to the situation. That's the way the DNA works. So in 30 seconds, it's able to be activated to give this spark of neural activity that initiates a different neural activity that directly influences into the vascular system the vascular system and the neural neurology are tied together and they know how to act and in in the 30 seconds, to begin with, anybody can do that. And from 30 seconds the other day, you do 40 seconds, 50 seconds, up to two minutes. In 10 days, everybody is able to take for two minutes, a cold shower, two, three minutes. And at that point, you are back at your natural condition of your vascular

system is when you are able to get into, say, natural bodies of water, like in the UK in wintertime. And we are in the end mammals, guys. And it's great to feel the mammal inside because it's very powerful. You know that mammals are very powerful. They sleep outside in rain and the cold and this and that. See how far we got away from that. So once a day getting into a cold shower, everybody is able to do. And with that, the outcome is tremendous. Many books can be written just on the outcome of what a cold shower is doing. Physically, mentally, astrally, spiritually, emotionally,

it's all different bodies at work, because it all relates to a great blood flow. When they're in the cold shower, do they then need to do anything with their breath? Or is there something people should be trying to do? Or they just need to tolerate the cold for as long as they can? Don't cramp up. Follow the breath. Don't cramp up. No contraction of your muscles. What do you do is when you really feel cold, and it's not cold right now, guys. The cold shower is good. It's thermogenesis. You are exercising the vascular system when you take a cold shower now.

That is great. But in winter, you're going to meet your true self within the elements of nature. And that is a great experience. And for that, we condition our vascular system and it always goes through long out breaths this is the way you go into the cold shower and then the body is able not to get into panic, not into paranoia. No, it's able to adapt. The thermogenesis is able to do what the body is able to do. If you do this, then the body is not able to do what the body is able to do.

If all you do, right, is take a cold shower each day and you do nothing with your breath, right? Even that I'm guessing will have some benefit, but the benefit is magnified if you also do the breathing. Is that right? Absolutely. Absolutely. Here comes in the power of the mind. Because once you learn to control your breath, going into the cold shower, you enter into getting a hold on the stress upon the body through holding your breath it's the beginning of getting into the stress mechanisms inside the brain wow and then the unlocking of the potential to neurologically control the stress mechanisms of your brain is beginning. And it can go very fast that you learn to control what you could not control in the past, which then created fear

instead of confidence. Now you will learn to have confidence because your brain now is able to be entered into these stress mechanisms to activate it whenever you need it it's like instead of being helpless suddenly you have a gun in your hand you are powerful you are powerful against the stressor coming in i'm not into war guys and i'm not into war, guys. I'm not a cowboy. I'm into peace. And bringing peace is bringing a true confidence that you are able to confront yourself with any kind of stressor. That is the way you bring peace to yourself. Take him on, guys,

because you will be ready to take on any stressor in the world coming to you future is yours your happiness strength and health that is who you are hope you enjoyed that bite-sized clip i hope you have a wonderful weekend and i'll be back next week with my long-form conversational wednesday and the latest episode of Bite Science next Friday.