During this time of discovery for me, I met Eric. Eric was on a similar journey and we traveled many of the same rabbit holes when looking for ways to utilize the cold to keep us healthy. For me it was easy, just keep my garage thermostat set on 45 all Winter and walk around outside without a coat and even barefoot in the snow. In the Summer, I could always take a dip in the ice cold water that runs by my house.
For Eric, who lives in Pennsylvania, he only had a few weeks a year with access to the temperatures needed for effective "cold thermogenesis" so he had to invent the cold. And what a job he did!
For years now, we've exchanged papers and studies on cold, brown fat, and other things that cold supposedly does for us. Eric took all this to a new level with his CoolFatBurner, a vest with pouches for ice packs. Sounds simple, and it is...so much so that now competitors are ripping off his patented design! You may think this all sounds like a late-night infomercial, and in some ways, it is. But I know the history behind all of this, and I know that it works. I helped Eric "beta-test" his first couple of CoolFatBurner vests, for free, as a "bro." His very first design, while functional, kinda sucked. It was hard to get on and the ice packs were too hard. His latest version, is pretty cool, though. And his ice packs are now flexible.
I keep meaning to write some posts about cold thermogenesis, and still plan on it. Last week, Eric sent me a link to his Kickstarter Project. Reading it and watching the videos brought back a lot of good memories. Eric is truly the "King of the Cold." He didn't just copy and paste studies about the cold, he went to some top universities and medical centers and actually tested his CoolFatBurner on himself. These tests were very well controlled and documented, and now he's wanting to do more.
The purpose of his Kickstarter was to raise about $6,000. A lofty goal, but as of this morning, only a week into his month-long fund drive, he's up to $40,000!
Please have a look at the Kickstarter Project page, and if you are interested in cold thermogenesis and brown fat, watch the videos and read the testimonials. Eric also has a newly revamped website and a Facebook page.
This is not a plea for your money, just something I am proud to share. His Kickstarter is FULLY funded, and I can't wait to see what he does with all the money. It looks like there are still some CoolFatBurner vests available at the Kickstarter prices if you are interested.
CoolFatBurner Kickstarter
CoolFatBurner Website
A Cool video you should watch:
And this is Eric "kicking some ass" in the ring!
Later,
Tim
I have two autistic children (ages17 and 21) who could not (and still can't) tolerate heat and always run two fans at night in their rooms, even in the winter. Summers were miserable for them and their stress tolerance would degrade rapidly. I'm pretty sure there is a great sub-market for these kids alone! There is a lot of googling one could do on heat shock proteins and autism, but that's another rabbit hole. I'm into early perimenopause (started at age 36) and I'd probably buy these coolfatburner vests for those reasons and more! I look forward to anything you may possibly post in the future with your unique and ever eenteresting insight in your research regarding thermogenesis and brown fat.
ReplyDelete~Janie
Or, you could shell out $10K for Stanford's "Cooling Glove." A device some researchers patented and are now selling to sports teams and finding other uses for. No mention of autism, but it looks like they have zero'd in on the menopausal woman angle!
DeleteStanford Invention: Fits like a Glove!
"The team is also working on several medical applications. One variant aims to maintain patient’s temperature during surgery. In this application, booties can be used leaving the arms free for IV lines and other instrumentation. The researchers are also looking at how the Cooling Glove can help menopausal women manage their hot flashes. Heller will soon begin enrolling volunteers for this trial. Another application involves using the glove in its heating mode to stave off migraine headaches before they become full-blown."
Janie - Check this out...a cooling, pressure vest made just for autistic folks!
DeleteCooling pressure vest
What a gem of a find! And! It won't cost me selling a kidney the cooling gloves would. Thanks, Tim. I'll see if my daughter will cotton to this vest this summer.
Delete~Janie
If you try, and it works, let's see if we can help Eric tweak his vest. I'll almost bet he'd donate a couple to you to test out.
Deletehey this is the first time i hear about cold health benefits, but i have a more immediate question, living in nyc and i just hate the cold by body cant take it im miserable unable to get out of bed in winter my feet hurt from the cold, i alwys thought well cold is not for me ill just need to move to FL but its out of the question, my coat and scarf is never enough,
ReplyDeletebut your post here sparked me in a new direction instead of trying to beat back the cold, i should try to join it and its healthy too as you say
so any ideas?
thanks
aj, have you had your thyroid checked? Iron?
DeleteI second that...get your thyroid checked!
DeleteIn addition, you might want to get your general circulation evaluated, including blood pressure. Cold weather tends to raise blood pressure as a method of preserving the body's heat. So cold therapy can be dangerous if your circulation is not healthy. You might also have the blood pressure taken near your ankles as a test for blockages in your legs (it should not be too low relative to your arm's BP).
DeleteLastly, in cold weather, a coat and scarf is never enough. You need layers on your legs too. I can walk for hours in 10F weather with my legs properly layered. My gloves will come back wet because my hands are sweating. But if I just go outside for a few minutes in just jeans, my hands will be cold. People often forget the legs!
Not just get your thyroid checked but do a lot of reading around it to find out more than the docs will tell you. For years I was told I was "normal" but normal just means within a particular range, not what is optimal for a human body. Then you might need supplementation and not all of us respond to the manufactured drugs, we need the real stuff. There are ways and means and with Google its much easier to find info than in the past.
DeleteDry brushing can help with cold tolerance too. Using a dry loofah or soft brush, *gently* brush your skin, all over, always moving towards the heart. Do it once a day, before your shower.
DeleteI agree with Wilbur about dressing appropriately too. And coats should always be long enough to cover your behind - cold kidneys = cold everything. And mittens, not gloves. (Says me, who pretty much stayed inside next to the fire this winter but hey, coldest on record here in Quebec, who can blame me!)
I used to be like you folks. Hiding from the cold, bundling up and piling on the covers. Now, I rarely wear a coat unless I need to spend more than 30 minutes outside, and then just enough to prevent frostbite.
DeleteI'm 'thyroid compromised' probably due to some chemical exposures during the Gulf War, and take Synthroid. However, this talk of 'brown fat' does not rely on the thyroid to keep you warm, it actually bypasses normal metabolism to burn fat as free energy.
Babies are covered with brown fat and it's why they are always nice and warm and don't (can't) shiver. Most adults still have remnants of their brown fat, but it requires cold exposure to activate it.
Known as BRITE (brown from white), your body can turn your regular fat, which is an energy storing organ, into BAT which is an energy burning organ.
What happens when you have lots of BAT, you go outside in the cold and come back into a warm house, you feel as if you are on fire. You radiate heat like crazy, but your temperature stays stable. Just like your temperature doesn't go up when you sleep under an electric blanket. Your basal, core temp regulates itself independently of BAT heat. Crazy stuff!
You guys are making me want to right a post on this, wish I had more time!
See now, I always wondered about that brown fat thing when I had hot flashes. Cold used to bring them on, for one thing, so the vests would have made me suffer more!
DeleteActually, I like the cold sometimes and a walk through a windswept snowy field is one of my favourite things. I just hate being being kinda trapped inside by all this snow, grrr. But when I had to wait for buses in that c**p I used to feel like my burner switched on and get pretty toasty - was that the brown fat kicking in?
WC - Living where you do, you no doubt have accessed your BAT every winter. Do you notice that by February your house thermostat is set lower than in November because you are 'getting used to' the cold? That's BAT.
Deletere: hot flashes. Not sure, if I was a guessing man, I would predict that it might all work exactly the opposite of what you are suggesting. I found that nothing about BAT is intuitive...it seems to break all the rules.
Tim - we heat with wood, but yeah, I'm opening windows by Feb for sure. This winter I lost a few pounds without trying, they just fell off. What am I, a hibernating animal? I credit my circadian clock, we're retired so no stupid schedules to keep to, just the sun and hunger. Is there a relationship between circadian rhythms and BAT, do you know?
Delete@wildcucumber - There is mention on the website that you can use the CFB to re-set circadian disruptions - must be some connection there. Pretty cool!
DeleteThere's one testimonial where a guy working nights use ketosis and the CFB to keep his metabolism from getting out of whack and causing him to put on the night-shift pounds that so many shift workers seem to gain.
Wow! This IS cool! Thanks for letting us know about it.
ReplyDeleteTim...you are "Otzi" from MDA, right? Is that you looking sexy in the snow? When was that pic taken?
ReplyDeleteC
Wait. What? Where?
DeleteVery last picture on the Kickstart page ^_^
DeleteHaha, yes, that's me. It was taken in 2013, I believe. I wondered if anyone would notice that.
DeleteHey Tim, thanks for the mention!
ReplyDeleteThe Kickstarter campaign has soared past the first goal (the cooling vest comparison experiment), and since it went well past 20K, we'll now be able to move forward on the adiponectin and irisin group study.
Many of the benefits of both cold exposure and exercise are both tied to adiponectin and irisin. But we're somewhat handicapping ourselves, as the subjects will only be using the vest for around 1hr. Both my N=1 and the only other published study on cold exposure and adiponectin, had users undergo cold exposure for 1.5 to 2hrs.
So we're pushing it to get results -- we'll see! (should happen sometime this summer)
I have no idea what Irisin is, but you are HOT, Mr. Eric!
DeleteHey Eric - That's great! Have you thought about writing any of these up for a journal? You saw the paper Cronise got published , you could surely do better than that!
Delete@ Anonymous, well thanks LOL!
Delete@ Tim, absolutely. The group experiment will almost certainly get published. And doing indirect calorimetry as well as testing adiponectin and irisin, all at once, using a cooling vest, as well as for the particular duration (far briefer than any experiment to date, so we're handicapping ourselves), are all new variables, never tested before like this.
I believe the "Metabolic Winter" paper was largely just a review of pre-existing literature on cold exposure, wasn't it? I'm pretty sure most of that had already been said or conjectured before.
@Eric
DeleteAny info if your vest has been tried by, say, a breast cancer patient?
Great video presentation of your thermogenesis data. I was relating the results you shared in your video to my husband last night. Fascinating stuff! I'm now curious about the brown fat profiles of people living in warm climates vs. cold climates. Thanks for embarking on this and sharing your "cool" adventures.
Delete~Janie
Janie - I am of the belief that every adult has some BAT just waiting to be 'turned on'.
DeleteBAT in adults was discovered in a cancer hospital, strangely enough. A way to check for cancer is to give people a bunch of glucose, then perform a PET scan to see where the glucose is being burned. They were puzzled when people showed high activity of glucose burning when the room was cold, but not warm. Upon further examination, they discovered they were actually seeing the BAT activity. Now, all PET scans for cancer are done in a warm room.
This BAT contains a special protein known as UCP-1. It stands for "Uncoupling Protein". The 'uncoupling' is of the normal metabolism. Normally cells work in a way that produces ATP for energy, when UCP-1 is active, instead of ATP, the cells produce waste heat.
I can't begin to tell you what a deep and twisting rabbit hole BAT becomes. Eric is getting it all figured out, though!
@Eric
DeleteHm, and are there any results (in cancer I mean) from cryochambers, where you go in for a couple of minutes only?
I think those with chronic fatigue syndrome might use some real cold too...
@Gemma - I'm thinking the same thing RE chronic fatigue. Hormonal disregulation seems to be more common than not with CF - I need help with both :)
DeleteI'm intrigued enough to throw my hat in the ring - I've signed up for the Kickstarter, and I'll certainly report on whatever comes next :)
Re chronic fatigue: I think that anything that provokes the immune system, in a hormetic dose perhaps, is beneficial and helpful.
DeleteI have talked to some people at Phoenix Rising (CFS/ME forum) when they started to use RS and other fibers etc. It is not only food for the gut flora, often it is a signal for the body and the immune system (previously controlled by the pathogen/illness and turning people into living zombies): wake up and defend yourself! Danger around!
And cold stress is a bit dangerous, isn't it? You might freeze to death. And the point is the cross-protection: defending against danger no. 1 often upregulates a defence against totally unrelated danger no. 2.
Eric is probably talking some kind of such theories on his site...
@Andrea
Yes to cold showers!
It's easy enough in a cold climate. Just take off your clothes (or leave on a pair of loose pyjama pants), turn off the heating, open the windows and function for hours doing whatever you'd normally be doing except it's under 19C. Doing household chores mostly naked is good anyway. You don't sweat into your clothes. Cuts down on laundry. I'm a minimalist. I think taking cold showers shockingly extreme and too brief. But running around at home naked is just fine. It's liberating and, at low temps, good for the brown fat.
Delete@ Gemma,
DeleteI haven't really looked into those cryochambers all that much. TBH I suspect a lot of their claims are total b.s. Especially claiming they burn 800 calories. That is so laughable, I can't believe they even try and claim that one. How much real physiological changes can it possibly induce in 3 minutes?
@ Gemma,
ReplyDeleteIf our irisin / adiponectin study gets good results, I was considering contacting various cancer researchers and seeing about possibly using the CFB/CGB by test subjects, to see if it would enhance their treatments.
(actually, I'd already had it in the back of my mind shortly after the original adiponectin experiment, since it also helps kills breast and prostate cancer)
The problem is, in our experiment, the subjects will only be wearing the vest for 60 min (I think) and that's a pretty short duration (compared to previous tests) to raise adiponectin w/ cold thermogenesis.
@Eric
DeleteI am intrigued by this whole process! I don't need to lose weight but had breast cancer. I do exercise 5 days a week. Would it be overkill? Cold has never been my favorite, having grown up in the tropics. I often wonder why I went to boarding school and college in two very cold states! I believe it was youth!
@ navillus,
DeleteWhat would be your goals for doing cold thermogenesis? If for systemic health, then it could theoretically help; both irisin and adiponectin have been shown shown to reduce inflammation throughout the body.
Though exercise (under the right conditions) can also raise those hormones... but if you were to stagger them far apart (say one in the morning, the other at nite) that might help keep those hormones maxed out. (more research is needed in this area)
Very interesting Tim, thanks for linking to it.
ReplyDeleteCurious to know whether you noticed an increase in circulation in your outer extremities once you started this. My hands and feet are always cold, even in summer. Be great to kick start it a bit.
Also, Gemma and Terra, can you share more on your thoughts about the relation to chronic fatigue.
I could jump into a cold shower tomorrow... though am liking the sound of the vest more and more.
Andrea - Cold hands and feet are probably more indicative of low thyroid than insufficient brown fat. Have you been tested? I tried lots of cold exposure when I had low thyroid (low T4, high TSH) and it was miserable. My fingers would actually turn white and numb. I just don't think this is a good hack for people with a sluggish thyroid. But, one I got my TSH/T4 where it should be, my fingers and toes stay toasty warm.
DeleteAnd, re: cold showers...I tried that route once. Cold showers are invigorating, but not my favorite thing in the world! My favorite way to use Eric's CFB vest is to wear it while walking on the treadmill or jogging. It makes it feel as if you are in an air-conditioned gym.
I have been tested, it was a while ago and it was just within the normal range. So I upped my iodine significantly and retested and was totally normal. The cold hands did get a little better, but still on the icy side.
DeleteWill keep thinking about the vest. Might be one of those things that sits in the cupboard and only gets used every so often.
Andrea, check out the graphs in this research paper. The study was for circadian rhythm of thyroid function in healthy adults. Then double check your thyroid test results. http://press.endocrine.org/doi/pdf/10.1210/jc.2007-2674 Look at range for TSH, fT3 and fT4. Compare to your blood test results.
DeleteOk, thanks Gabriella! Will dig out my test results.
DeleteYou might also look up the optimum ratio of T4 to T3 - you can have "within normal limits" TSH, T4 and T3, but if the ratios are out of whack you're still hypothyroid...but very few docs have the finesse to recognize or treat patients with this variation of thyroid symptoms. Needless to say, it's much more common in women than in men, so it's under-reported and researched unfortunately.
DeleteOh boy, more new knowledge, looks like I definitely need some brown fat :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I am buying that vest the firts chance I get money wise.
I was wondering just wondering if I can start experimenting a bit at home right away without any special equipment and what temperature should I expose myself too to start getting some benefits and what is the minimum duration needed?
For example, would 5-10 minutes of cold shower start the process of converting to brown fat?
Also, do I have to expose most of my body or can I simply start by dipping my legs in some large iced buckets?
Fascinating new information, thank you for all the help !
The vest is unique in that it focuses the cold right on top of where brown fat is found, a proven way to activate it.
DeleteHave you seen how much money Eric has made so far with the Kickstarter? He was almost at $60,000 yesterday! I have a feeling it will all be going into improving and studying the effects of cold/brown fat.
If you want to simply DIY this, just expose yourself to progressively lower ambient temperatures. Try to get you bedroom into the 50's or 60's and sleep with just a sheet. Swim in as cool of water as you can find. The temperatures don't have to be extreme, and in fact, probably shouldn't be for results.
I remember some papers discussing the 'thermoneutral' point, which was about 96 degrees in water and 74 degrees in air. Above these points, the body must take steps to cool itself, and below the points has to heat itself.
Then there were other mechanisms discussed. As you expose yourself to lower temps, first there is some minor blood flow diversion, then 'goose bumps,' then brown fat activation, followed by shivering response. Beyond that, shivering stops and blood is diverted massively to protect brain and organs and hypothermia sets in.
There are also some mechanisms that involve a cold face (mammalian dive response..Google it!), and cold hands as there are capillaries that do nothing but sense the cold.
I think for the most BAT activity, you want to be in the zone where you are toying with shivering. You'll find over time, you adapt to shivering as brown fat builds up.
If you live in a place with 3-4 months of temperatures lower than 50 degrees, you should be able to use the outdoors effectively as a BAT builder. If you live somewhere warm, you will probably need to find a swimming pool that keeps it water down around 80 degrees or less.
"...a cold face (mammalian dive response)"
DeleteFascinating! How long can one stay safely in cold water?
Pauline D.
Have you read the stories of kids/babies being pulled out of cold water and being revived after being declared dead? That's the mammalian dive reflex!
DeleteFrigid water may have saved boy, experts say
A healthy adult can survive quite a long time in very cold water, but usually exhaustion and shock will kill the person before hypothermia.
@ Tim,
DeleteSo if you just relax, how long can a healthy adult last? Do they know?
I suspect a long time. I used to take ice baths, submerged up to chest, in 38 degree water for 45 minutes. As long as I warmed up fast, I wouldn't even shiver. It was a crazy fad, but fun experience.
DeleteI really do think fear and possibly dehydration are bigger factors than actual hypothermia. But, hypothermia is real, so obviously there is a limit.
Eric, has the IndiGoGo campaign been set up yet? I just want to be sure I didn't miss a notification somewhere. I want to make sure my pledge is back in the mix!
ReplyDeleteDid something happen? I saw the Kickstarter was suspended with over $100K in pledges.
DeleteYeah - Eric sent out emails saying he was restarting on IndiGoGo, since Kickstarter seemed to feel his product skirted too close to 'medical'. IndiGoGo has different parameters for inclusion, so he's better off there for the CFB :)
Delete(I succumbed to consumer curiosity & purchased a CFB directly tho :P)
OK, here's a link to his Indiegogo campaign, looks like Kickstarter kicked him out because there were too many health claims in his project. Hope he gets up to his original $110K, that money would have done a lot of good!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.indiegogo.com/projects/cool-fat-burner-burn-500-calories-with-no-diet
Did anyone watch the ABC program tonight called "In An Instant"? A woman survived almost 24 hours in IL winter. Her body temp was 84 degrees when they finally found her. She was beaten with a baseball bat and put in a garbage can to die....
ReplyDeleteHow did the story end? Did she lose weight? Fat or water? How much brown fat? Details! We want details!
DeleteHow many hits with a baseball bat for optimum weight loss? Will any garbage can do?
This sounds much easier than Atkins or Weight Watchers!
Sorry, couldn't resist.
LOL!
DeleteShe about lost some limbs... so I guess that could have counted toward weight loss!
She did say that getting beat with the baseball bat was almost preferable to the 24 plus hours in the garbage can in the below freezing elements... But after this post of yours and all the info, I had to wonder if the cold wasn't the reason she survived being beat so severely.....
And in the end, she did lose the total weight of one ex-husband - although I am not sure she would agree with your assessment that it was easier than Atkins or Weight Watchers!
[rofl - Tim you are a terrible terrible person :P]
DeleteOkay, I have started on the cold thermogenesis journey! My goal is treating chronic fatigue and across-the-board low hormones, from thyroid to estrogen/progesterone/testosterone and pretty much everything else in between.
ReplyDeleteReading around intensively the past few weeks, it looks like more than a few people are having pretty profound results with both chronic conditions responding to cold....so here's hoping. Because the only other thing I've ever done that helped the chronic fatigue was the simplified methylation protocol.
I wonder if anyone else using the CFB approach to BAT activation has seen the kind of results people are seeing with full cold water immersion? I can't find any info on that - there are just too few people working this particular cutting edge :) Eric? Tim?
Terra,
DeleteLooking forward to hearing your progress report on the CFB! I signed back up on IndieGoGo. I am hoping for hormone help and to see if it has any effect on my rheumatoid arthritis.
From the studies that Eric conducted, it looks to me like the CFB is just as, or more, effective than cold water baths. Mainly because you can control it a bit to stay right in that per-shiver/shiver sweet spot.
DeleteI see Eric is back up to well over $100K on Indiegogo. I am so proud of him! I know he will not squander the windfall, but use it for backing up the science.
I'm sure there will soon be a ton of knock-offs on the market, promising rapid weight loss with zero effort, and people will try...and fail. But rest-assured, there is enough actual science behind cold thermogenesis to keep my interest piqued.
I'm probably only one of a handful of people who were there with Eric at the very beginning, and I know he is sincere and believes in his CFB and designed it with lots of thought.
Magic bullet? No. Cool? Oh, yeah!
@Andrea - well, at this early date I can say 1) reeeally relaxing to do 2) super calm while icing, automatic deep breathing and focus 3) sleep like a BRICK the moment I put the ice away and 4) clear reduction in inflammation on areas I'm icing (I've got systemic inflammation - anyplace I add ice the inflammation reduction is noticeable and this is a LOT of ice :)
DeleteI do spot icing until the packs are slightly soft and will conform to my clavicles, so I'm getting a lot of use out of the system already. I definitely want to order the CGB as well - I'd rather have more ice on the exterior than adding drinking ice water to cool the interior :)
I have also discovered that the CFB hybrid packs really *are* colder than other packs. Over the years, I've done extensive icing therapy for severe injuries - hours at a time with direct-on-skin therapeutic cold packs and I know how my body handles them, how often to move them, what to watch for... Well, I've never accidentally frozen subcutaneous fat before! Take the no-bare-skin warnings on the hybrid packs seriously :D
@ Terra,
DeleteHow's the eczema you mentioned? Any improvement?
Stuart - you've got a good memory! So kind of you to inquire :) Interestingly the eczema and acne that starting Prescript Assist kicked off have dropped off suddenly, starting about 10 days ago (so pre-dating the CFB use). The acne is mostly gone, the eczema is about half gone (anyone who knows TCM - the eczema was literally on every Gallbladder channel acupuncture point on the torso...and nowhere else - it was bizarre! Liver damp-heat exiting the building!)
DeleteThe irritability that Prescript Assist instigated has faded at around the same time (irritability being a big TCM liver symptom as well). I'm very intrigued that something in those 29 critters cleared liver damp-heat so aggressively - such cool crossovers of symptoms/effects in all these different modalities!
Okay, I can count I promise :D Looking at the calendar, I started Orafti right at the time the eczema/acne really dropped off.
DeleteORAFTI FTW AGAIN :D
@ Terra
DeleteThat's outstanding. It seems in your case the CFB/Orafti combination is dynamite. Also, I think you mentioned that the Orafti tastes sweet It It shouldn't taste sweet at all. Eliminating the short chain inulin fractions takes all the free sugars. Does anyone else think their Syontix Orafti tastes sweet? I do like eating mine dry now too after you recommended it. I like the way it congeals into almost tasteless toffee in my mouth when the saliva moistens it. Don't inhale though.
Btw.those TCM terms, to the completely uninformed like me, are pure poetry
I think Orafti has some what of a sweet nutty taste.
Delete