#74: Susanna Soeberg - Cold Water Bathing: Scientific facts you need to know

Growth Island

Do you know that Coldwater swimming can help you lose weight? 🏊‍♀️🤸‍♀️ Your first reaction might be: You gotta be crazy to say that” OR You’ve already joined the club that swears to cold showers and cold water swimming!! 💪 No matter what your reaction, you’re curious. What’s the healthiest way to do that? And what’s the fuss really about? Does it actually work? Is there proof? Today’s podcast is about exactly that- bringing some scientific proof to the urban legends we hear around the benefits of cold water training. We’ll be talking about some of the most common, yet mysterious questions around cold water training: How good is winter swimming for your body? How long should you do it? Is it for everybody? To answer that I got Susanna Soeberg on the podcast. She finished her post-doc, Ph.D. in winter swimming and brown fat. She’s also written a book on the subject. Among other things we’ll talk about what sounds like the next big thing in cold water bathing - the correlation of ‘brown’ fat with increased metabolism, and how cold water can help. Let’s go diving right in 👇 Show Notes 0:30 Introduction to Susanna 1:20 Susana’s research into brown fat versus white fat 2:45 Does brown fat have anything to do with your skin color? 4:10 Why is winter swimming good for your health and what is it doing to your body 9:04 How cold should your cold water bath be to be effective? 12:20 Can children go winter swimming? How body composition make cold water benefits subjective 15:20 Breaking the Urban legends: How long should your cold shower last to increase benefits 17:20 Overcoming hyperventilation for cold water habituation & adaptation 20:30 Physiology of cold water breathing: What is happening in your body as you submerge in cold water 23:20 What is Norepinephrine and how it’s affecting your body during a cold water bath 25:10 Cold water bath and the immune system - benefits and scientific insights 27:00 Avoiding overload: how often should you cold water shower? 33:06 Is cold water swimming for everyone? Things to be mindful about 35:00 Brown fat and winter swimming: What's the connection and how does it affect overall performance. 42:00 Where to find Susanna (and more about brown fat) 43:00 Susanna's cold water hacks to stay down there longer 45:00 Susanna’s advice to living a healthier, more meaningful life Connect with Susanna Soeberg: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susanna_soeberg/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susannasoeberg/?ref=py_c Link to her upcoming book: https://bit.ly/3y88gDn