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The Benefits of Being Cold

theatlantic.com

51–60 of 181 posts

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#51
post #24

People's reactions to the cold always astonish me. I spend a lot of time in Canada and Hong Kong. In Canada, it can be 12 C (~53F) and lots of people will be wearing t-shirts and jeans, and it isn't too uncommon to see the odd person wearing shorts. In Hong Kong, 12 C necessitates a cold weather warning, and a fair amount of people die when it drops to 10 C (50F). It would be interesting to try this article's suggest…

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Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#53

I don't think he'll sell many ice vests to women - they always seem to feel the cold. The women at work are always rugged up, while the guys (ok, all the guys do a lot of exercise) are mostly in shorts and t-shirts. In bed, my wife has a couple of duvets on, and I'm on the top of the bed with nothing on, sweating away. Maybe, based on the theories in this article, women would find it easier to lose weight if they let…

My wife says it's because women get bladder and urinary tract infections much more easily than men.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#54

What's funny is that the article never suggests that the simplest solution would be to go swimming (Phelps example) instead of resorting to things like the cold vest or sleeping without a blanket. And swimming has more advantages than just being cold : it provides your cardio in a non damaging way (contrary to running) and you gain a valuable skill that can save your life.

This is actually a very good point. Other studies found the general damage done by sedentary lifestyles lived by lots of us is irreversible and I don't think thee are lots of studies showing negative effects of light excercise in general. So trying to cope with obesity by not moving but instead just sitting and having cold (not sure if the article literally suggests it but there were definitely hints towards it) certainly goes against that.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#56
post #43

I'm in Europe. I've been using only (cold) tap water in my house for more than a year. It began with a broken heater in the midst of last year's summer when I decided to postpone buying new one to see how long I can last with cold water. I thought that sooner or later I should catch cold and then I would switch back to using warm water. That summer was hot (up to 35 degree Celsius) and tap water was warm, slowly it b…

It's "common folk knowledge" where I live (Poland) that to be healthy you should "temper yourself" - after hot shower you should follow with cold water for a minute or so.

I do this (not each time but often) and I like the feeling after the cold shower ends - air feels warm instead of cold, heart is beating very fast, and it's very refreshing.

It's probably bad idea if you're not healthy to begin with (thermal shock etc), but if you are healthy it's great.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#57

You can also eat less...

That doesn't work. People eat when they are hungry, if someone is hungry when he doesn't actually need food, he'll still eat.

Telling people not to eat isn't going to work.

For some, small, subset of people it might work. Emotional eaters, or people who make really poor choices of what food. But for most people who are trying to lose weight your advice is useless because it doesn't work.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#58

What's funny is that the article never suggests that the simplest solution would be to go swimming (Phelps example) instead of resorting to things like the cold vest or sleeping without a blanket. And swimming has more advantages than just being cold : it provides your cardio in a non damaging way (contrary to running) and you gain a valuable skill that can save your life.

I think the idea is that this worked for Phelps because he was in cold water all day, and this is what the vest is trying to replicate in a way that will fit in more easily with most peoples' lives.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#59
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends on the humidity. 25C at 50+% humidity feels pretty bad.

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Deserts are nice. I prefer low humidity like Salt Lake City, Denver, Reno, or even the bay area (not technically a desert, but pretty dry). Even Seattle has a nice climate since the mountains push the humidity up so high that it rains rather than gets bogged down in the air.

Beijing is technically dry but can get really humid in the summer (dry windless winters, humid windless summers, go figure).

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#60
When I was about 10-12 y.o. I realy enjoyed cold. And it's kind of easy to get some snow in Russia. But then I've got pyelonephritis for a long time, so my parents did their best to keep me away from long direct cold exposure. Like, you know, don't go out without scarf, skating and skiing in wool socks etc.

When it comes to ice swimming, most of swimmers are overweight... Seems like thier calories are not buring due to cold. Or, perhaps, they've got too much of calories.

Googled a bit about ice swimming. This is exactly how it looks like here http://s.inyourpocket.com/img/russia/Moscow/ice-swimming_b93...

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