Dutch extreme athlete Wim Hof, who’s won a host of celebrity followers with his hardcore health and endurance tips, claims taking one cold shower a day could help the body fend off heart disease and even depression.
Speaking to Radio One doctor Dr Chatterjee in his podcast, Feel Better, Live More, the health guru, dubbed the Iceman for his love of sub-zero pursuits, said that cold water immersion was like ‘nature’s vaccination’.
He told listeners: ‘The cold without a doubt is very effectively, very strongly able to tackle the biggest health problem in the world, which is cardiovascular-related disease.
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Dutchman Wim Hof, 62, told Radio 1’s Dr Chatterjee that a freezing cold shower every day acts like a ‘lateral jolt’ to the brain and could stave off depression
He told the GP that on his podcast Feel Better, Live More that a daily cold shower was ‘like a natural vaccination, where you make your body the way it’s meant to be’
He continued: ‘We have this organ, called our skin, and we never expose it to natural elements and it is built to be able to be stimulated.
‘The electroreceptors, thermal receptors, they are all in the surface of our skin. When we take a cold shower, it’s like an electrical jolt through our spine to the deepest part of our brain, a lateral jolt to the brain.
‘People who have depression, take a cold shower and your depression is going to be depressed.’
Speaking about heart health in the podcast, which was recorded in October last year but has been republished by Dr Chatterjee this week, he said that cold immersion stimulates the ‘vascular muscle tone’ and sends the heart rate ‘plummeting to 20 or 30 beats a minute’.
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Explaining why he thinks it could act as ‘nature’s vaccination’, he said: ‘When you take a cold shower a day, it not only keeps the doctor away – the doctor is also doing it! It’s like a natural vaccination, where you make your body the way it’s meant to be.’
The Dutchman earned his nickname after setting world records that defied modern medicine.
The Iceman says that low mood can be eased with a cold shower: ‘People who have depression, take a cold shower and your depression is going to be depressed’
Wim has baffled the world of science for decades with his bizarre ability to withstand freezing cold temperatures and part of his therapy method includes cold therapy
He ran a half marathon above the Arctic Circle barefoot, submerging himself in ice for 1hr 52mins and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in just his shorts and shoes.
Wim has won a reputation for teaching people, including celebrities and professional athletes, to control their body and mind and achieve extraordinary things.
He’s baffled the world of science for decades with his bizarre ability to withstand freezing cold temperatures and part of his therapy method includes cold therapy.
He advises ‘learning how to use the power of cold to burn fat, boost your immune system, sleep better, reduce inflammation and enhance nature’s own mood boosters.’
In the first ever trial of the Dutchman’s bizarre talent, he and 20 other adults were exposed to 15°C (59°F) water.
Body temperatures drop dangerously low in such scenarios, but tests showed the heat of his skin did not deviate once.
Source: Daily Mail
