HOT AND COLD THERAPIES AIDING WEIGHT LOSS…
Hot and cold therapy speed up metabolic rate, so does exercise, but you need to be careful with the amount as this speeds up hunger and cravings as well and that’s where people can get it wrong.
This is why you need to have a flexible metabolism, and hot and cold therapy do have effects on hunger and appetite from the hormones – leptin and ghrelin.
Leptin – hormone made in the fat tissue and when leptin levels are high it shuts down hunger. The body signals a lot of leptin around, meaning a lot of fat around, so don’t need to eat as much, when leptin low signals they need more.
Ghrelin is opposite – the higher the ghrelin level the hungrier we get, ghrelin signals an empty stomach.
- Cold exposure raises ghrelin levels and not much effect on leptin.
- Hot therapy raises leptin and ghrelin.
Cold stimulates hunger – think cold days you’re more hungry than on hot days.
- Having hot/cold contrasting showers and saunas is good, but like everything, please don’t go overboard to incur hunger!
- Use the hot/cold therapy in your weekly health regime to help improve the hormones, but don’t over abuse the hormones.
- Allowing our body to regulate its own temperature is always a great natural way to keep the metabolism working efficiently.
- Don’t rush to turn on air conditioner or heater, allow the body to use it’s own natural thermostat.
Cortisol responses in saunas..
When you first get in to hot – it’s relaxing, cortisol levels either stay the same or fall, but as you get more stimulated and stressed out, sitting in the sauna/hot bath, you start to get stimulated, feeling that sympathetic response, cortisol levels start to go up. Like they would in exercise.
At the same time insulin levels begin to fall and/or you become more insulin sensitive.
Heat and cold both seem to perhaps have an effect on the glucose receptors, the same way that walking can increase glucose receptors in the muscle, so can these thermal challenges, in both hot and cold by themselves have been shown to make humans more insulin sensitive.
Cold will have an effect on cortisol as well, typically it will be lower at first or no change, then also go high the longer the stress is there.
Cortisol
- the greater and longer the stress, just like exercise the harder and more the cortisol goes up.
- This is not a bad thing, it behaves favourably depending on other hormones it’s around with.
- If it’s around growth hormone and testosterone, cortisol aids fat loss and helps us adapt.
- If it’s with insulin and high calories it is a very negative hormone and makes us store fat and causes dysfunction.
Hot therapies we get a robust response in growth hormone and get cortisol going up as well.
This looks a lot like HIIT training, or strenuous resistance training or any long duration or high intensity physical activity.
You get a good kick up of growth hormone, testosterone and cortisol.
Shorter duration high intensity is more growth hormone.
In contrast therapy we don’t see testosterone effect, this typically can go down when it comes to heat and cold.
Growth hormone goes up and cortisol goes up with heat, this is a nice effect because cortisol has an action of muscle breakdown to help build muscle mass.
Hot/Cold therapy has its benefit when it comes to your health, along with the rule in general, and that is to use it without abusing it.
Weight loss is a complicated area, and not ONE thing will determine how it works, it’s an array of good nutrition, movement, decreasing stress situations, plenty of sleep and hot/cold therapies, along with breathing exercises and meditation all help the hormones thrive again.
My Healthy Hormone program helps people understand the connection between hormones, and lifestyle to put in place some changes to improve their mood, increase their energy and help with weight loss.
Good luck with your journey and reach out if you need some help.
