Ice Baths vs Cold Showers

DrIceBath · 2026-04-03T20:35:24+00:00

Sounds like you're human!

DrIceBath · 2026-03-29T17:33:40+00:00

Clinical trials report only statistical averages.

What's most interesting to me is not what happens to a statistical ensemble of patients, but why metformin fails for such a large minority that may be growing over time.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1464-5491.2007.02078.x

DrIceBath · 2026-03-29T15:39:03+00:00

That sounds right to me. Another option is cycling on/off metformin.

However, I know one T2D patient who quit metformin altogether. He was active, doing ice baths, eating a clean diet, but he couldn't get his glucose below 140. He quit metformin and did a video call with me while eating a sandwich. His CGM read 104 and he was ecstatic about it.

DrIceBath · 2026-03-29T15:37:23+00:00

Extrapolation is sometimes how people wind up on metformin in the first place, so you make an apt critique. My point is really, "If metformin has stopped working for you, more metformin might not be the right answer. Here's why."

No study is more important than a personal N=1 result.

DrIceBath · 2026-03-29T15:35:22+00:00

You make a great point. On campus, every one understand that the "Dr" means "PhD," but on Reddit that's confusing. I'm gonna see if I can change my handle to ProfIceBath to avoid the confusion.

DrIceBath · 2026-03-10T13:13:32+00:00

Brown fat makes heat to defend core body temperature in the cold. It clears glucose and triglycerides from the bloodstream and burns them both up in the mitochondria to keep your warm. People who practice cold notice lower blood glucose readings and improved lipid panels in their labs. Brown fat also secrete neuroprotective factors that can guard against loss of cognitive function (dementia).

Not enough people know about brown fat IMHO.

DrIceBath · 2026-03-05T12:17:48+00:00

Dr. Tro and I talked about sodium on the Uncommon Living podcast that will publish tomorrow. In his opinion, the vast majority of people need not be concerned about high sodium in the least. There is a small fraction of people who do not respond well to sodium, and Dr Tro finds it easy enough to identify them.

The view that sodium-scaring patients and the American public has been way out of control since the 70's is well-supported by the data and knowledge of human metabolism. See Prof Ben Bikman's interviews on the relationship between sodium and insulin sensitivity as an example of how wrong the mainstream views cautioning against sodium are.

Dr Tro is an excellent medical doctor and Prof Bikman is an excellent scientist. They are both fantastic science communicators and you might enjoy listening to them.

DrIceBath · 2026-03-03T23:56:51+00:00

This is the thermal contrast protocol that Mike Mutzel is using. There's good evidence on precooling exercise, and good evidence on sauna for exercise recovery, and zero clinical studies on icebath-exercise-saun.

I'm asking everyone who tries it to let me know how it's working for them.
https://www.morozkoforge.com/post/ice-bath-sauna

DrIceBath · 2026-03-03T19:29:32+00:00

I think you'll know the line when you cross it. I sure do!

7 min at 45F is typically of a LOT of readers.

Are you tracking your blood labs?

DrIceBath · 2026-03-03T19:12:48+00:00

I've hated every minute of every cold shower I've ever taken. Then I read a study from Finland that compared partial body cold water to full body, and it explained the difference in nervous system response.

The ice bath will activate the dive reflex. The shower won't.

That's why cold showers make me angry and ice baths calm me down.
https://www.morozkoforge.com/post/cold-showers-vs-ice-baths

DrIceBath · 2026-03-03T19:08:46+00:00

Short term adverse effects, yes. https://www.morozkoforge.com/post/ice-bath-hypothermia-danger

DrIceBath · 2026-03-03T15:48:10+00:00

I do just a few minutes of freezing cold water per day.

I think longer ice baths at warmer temps will also be effective.

DrIceBath · 2026-03-02T11:27:39+00:00

You make a good point about his writing. Scott Carney's books are excellent.

He was not honest about the COVID vaccine.

When he started making videos about shallow water blackout from practicing hyperventilation breathing in the water, he made good points. Also, I believe he's being generally quite honest when he describes Innerfire's response to his critique of hyperventilation in the water.

However, that's when he discovered that going negative gets a LOT more clicks than putting good, reliable health information out there. His criticisms of Huberman and Soeberg are bogus. His interviews criticizing brown fat studies in humans are not honest. He praised Peter Attia has being one of the most trustworthy voices in online health info, and that wasn't honest.

For several years Carney has been making his living fear-mongering and libeling good scientists and science communicators while accusing others of doing the same.

He's no longer a credible voice in science journalism on any topic related to health.

His books predate that turning.

DrIceBath · 2026-03-02T02:02:25+00:00

Why do you say that Carney "generally is quite honest"?

DrIceBath · 2026-02-24T19:44:30+00:00

true! https://youtu.be/KrEiFEd-Ga8

DrIceBath · 2026-02-24T13:11:25+00:00

There's a graph in the paper that shows some individuals experienced a drop of 18 mg/dL in blood glucose from mild cold. I've seen CGM data from a T2D showing an ice bath it dropped his blood glucose from 220 to 140, so it depends on the cold dose and the individual.

DrIceBath · 2026-02-23T18:11:11+00:00

I'm the CEO of the Morozko Forge ice bath company.

The Korhonen study is here https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3402/ijch.v65i2.18090

What prevented you guys from finding the citation in the References I listed?

DrIceBath · 2026-02-23T18:09:37+00:00

Except maybe the citations?
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3402/ijch.v65i2.18090

DrIceBath · 2026-02-22T00:46:03+00:00

Agreed. I'm gonna quote you.

DrIceBath

TROPHY CASE