>>> France has been diving since Monday in a cold snap and for many, it's bad news. The cold, however, has many virtues for the human body, and even for good mood. Fanny Agostini, in her Rendez-vous à la ferme, invites us to take inspiration from Wim Hof, who has learned to tame the cold to gain the benefits.
Have you ever heard of Iceman? It's not about the X-Men member superhero who can manipulate the ice as he sees fit, but about a man with extraordinary abilities. From his real name Wim Hof, this Dutch-born superhuman is able to withstand exposure to extreme temperatures by consciously adjusting his body temperature. Holder of several world records, he has demonstrated the extent of his abilities by remaining immersed in the ice for one hour and fifty-two minutes, swimming more than six minutes in apnea in the icy waters of the Arctic Circle, and running a marathon in the Namib desert without a single sip of water. He has not caught a cold, flu or cold-related illness for several decades, and while surprisingly, the only explanation for these feats is available to all; it's about breathing.
We are theoretically all capable of transcending our physiological functions in order to extend our resistance to thermal variations. It would be enough to unlock this extraordinary potential by learning to master our breathing when the temperature drops. The latter is indeed the key to promote the brown fat, the second type of fat cells that makes up some tissues of our body. Unlike the white fat that stores lipids in the hips, thighs, buttocks and shoulders, brown fat plays a major role in thermoregulation, quickly burning calories to produce heat (thus activating the weightloss !). We have it mainly around the neck, around the clavicles or along the spine. Breathing associated with exposure to cold temperatures is enough to activate the functioning of these fat cells which constitute on average only 5% of the fatty tissues of our body.
A human potential transformed into superpower
The benefits of cold do not stop there, since it promotes the secretion of endorphins, neurotransmitters that play a role analgesic (painkiller) and anxiolytic (reduces stress), comparable to the effects of morphine, while stimulating the good mood. Regular exposure to cold also boosts the immune system. The diseases that we often develop in the winter are actually related to temperature variations between heated interiors (where bacteria and viruses grow) and the outdoors. By habituating one's body to the cold, one stimulates the reactivity of the immune system, then able to thwart the aggressions even before to feel the symptoms. One more reason to prefer the cold shower in the early morning!
Wim Hof has managed to transform this human potential, inherited from our ancestors, into superpower, and today there are practical courses or online training to learn how to tame the cold in just a few weeks and make it an ally. To voluntarily control the functioning of one's body is within the reach of all, and there is only one step to overcome to unlock these extraordinary faculties: www.cantal.fr/whim-of-method-cantal/