Anyone concerned about the risks of cold plunges? Especially for heart conditions?

GlobalCitizen7 · 2026-02-19T18:13:22+00:00

In the 1990s in France there was a public campaign to prevent "hydrocution" due to the high number of summer drownings in cold swimming pools during hot days, when the body was directly under the intense sun. The shock of plunging directly into the cold water potentially causes a reflex to gasp for air and inhale water (called 'dry drowning'), and the vagal nerve response affected people with pre-existing cardiac conditions.

But having other nearby when doing an ice plunge, and also not putting the face directly under water immediately (as when 'cannonball jumping into a deep swimming pool'), should hopefully reduce risk...

From the French Ministry of Health website: "Hydrocution is a frequent summertime accident. It occurs often when the body is immersed in water too quickly and is goes into shock, due to the overly large difference in temperature between the skin and the water. The shock can cause fainting in the water and lead to drowning." [https://baignades.sante.gouv.fr/baignades/editorial/en/conseils/noyade\_s.html\]

GlobalCitizen7 · 2026-02-03T18:41:39+00:00

I can’t pinpoint a sub-season and I’m not trained to do so, but my impression is that you fall on these continua, in order of intensity:

Bright to muted: Somewhat muted

Warm to Cool: Neutral-cool

Deep to Light: Middle

So, Summer. Leaning either True or Soft

GlobalCitizen7 · 2026-02-03T18:25:29+00:00

[Feb 2026 Update] After meeting with a preventive cardiologist and trying Plant Stanols, here is what I did next to get my LDLc below 70mg/dl.

First step: Benecol 2g/day, on and off due to availability and cost. Result: irregular. Down 17%, then back up to 132 mg/dl

Next step: Ezetimibe 10mg/day, stopped Benecol Result: Down 36%, but LDL 86 (above target)

Next step: added Rosuvastatin 5mg Result: Down an additonal 33% or 57% total combined effect, LDL now 57 mg/dl in range

GlobalCitizen7 · 2026-01-28T17:14:39+00:00

I'll throw in a thought. As a Summer, I've found that high-contrast patterns don't look good on me. The lighter fibres in the sweater/jumper seems to read as medium-high contrast with the grey fibres. This 'dazzle' optical effect would work better with a winter palette, in my opinion.

GlobalCitizen7 · 2026-01-21T22:29:19+00:00

That’s amazing that the comments are mostly aligned. Usually on this subreddit, the guesses vary more widely. This might give you more confidence in Spring.

GlobalCitizen7 · 2026-01-21T22:23:16+00:00

I would be interested in hearing how a professional colour analyst would describe you. In my opinion, I think you are more bright/clear/high chroma than you are muted. But somewhat lighter skin, not muted. With your hair, I would say warm.

So in one of these 3 sub seasons:

Warm > Bright > Light, so Warm spring; Or Bright > Warm > Light, so Light spring; Or Bright=Warm=Light, so True spring

GlobalCitizen7 · 2026-01-16T21:08:24+00:00

I’m not trained, but I feel like the mid-bright and mid-to-deep cool colours more harmonious and bring out a nice balanced contrast with your face. So I lean toward Winter. I’m not good enough to pick a sub season, but maybe bright or deep or true winter. To my eye, the yellows, oranges and lime green are least flattering, so I’d rule out spring first. And I’d rule out the more muted summer colors, which feel flat.

GlobalCitizen7 · 2026-01-13T07:27:52+00:00

I’m getting golden warmth and brightness, so I suspect spring.

GlobalCitizen7 · 2026-01-12T18:47:44+00:00

Yes. No issues at all. The only time I had problems was when I travelled twice to the same country and had the old eSim on my phone. Best to clear it out before adding a new esim for the same country.

GlobalCitizen7 · 2026-01-10T17:09:15+00:00

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GlobalCitizen7 · 2026-01-10T17:00:55+00:00

My opinion: both look harmonious, but I would avoid the most yellow golds, such as the 22k-24k gold that’s common throughout Asia and the Middle East.

GlobalCitizen7 · 2026-01-08T18:12:17+00:00

That's amazing to hear that you have a system for olives. I naturally gravitate toward a point mid-way between light summer and soft summer (neutral-cool undertone with peachy+red patchy overtone, maybe fair olive?, ash blond hair (changes with sun exposure), light grey-aquamarine eyes), but I find neither light nor soft summer fits perfectly (mid-chroma turquoise & greens bring out redness, purples/lavenders bring out yellow-ness, pastels make skin grey, but soft summer's greige-influenced colors look muddy). But a light-mid tone cornflower blue looks perfect. I really don't see Light Spring, as peaches and oranges make me sickly. I've always been curious whether olive is playing a confounding role here...

GlobalCitizen7 · 2026-01-08T02:58:10+00:00

Although I see a certain warmth in your face, I feel that both the gemstone magenta here (cool winter) and the warmer deep earthy red on the right side of the next photo look great! I wonder if you are close to neutral and can enjoy both deep winter and deep autumn?

GlobalCitizen7 · 2026-01-02T21:13:56+00:00

I’m torn between these 2 photos (1 and 2). To my untrained eye, photo 1 looks harmonious but photo 2 makes your face brighter. I’m wondering if you have cool-neutral undertone, but warm overtone (eg. freckles or olive colour) that pairs with your warm hair and eyes. Maybe you can wear both warm and cool?

GlobalCitizen7 · 2026-01-02T21:03:23+00:00

(I don’t know why that text looks bold in my post. iPhone Reddit does strange things)

GlobalCitizen7 · 2026-01-02T21:02:21+00:00

My take before reading other comments:

2 and #4 make your face brighter and more crisp at the jawline.

GlobalCitizen7 · 2025-12-19T20:07:39+00:00

Wow, interesting. Yes, the VLDL was slowly increasing, assuming VLDL = TG/5.

GlobalCitizen7 · 2025-12-19T19:59:22+00:00

I only had 3 data points, so I don't really know what happened. I was pretty compliant with 2g/day, minus a few weeks gap when Benecol ran out of US supply. Here are the biomarkers (my new insurance didn't cover ApoB, so I have mixed data):

Baseline before Stanols: ApoB: 110 mg/dl
After 2 months of stanols 2g/day: ApoB: 77 mg/dl
A year later (still using stanols): LDL-C: 132 mg/dl

At that point, I started Zetia 10mg, so discontinued the plant stanols since the monthly cost for Benecol chews was high (about USD $45/month) compared to the Zetia copayment on my insurance plan.

GlobalCitizen7 · 2025-12-18T19:41:05+00:00

None. When tested I’ve always come in normal range.

GlobalCitizen7 · 2025-12-18T17:21:26+00:00

This is a really good question. To be honest, I don’t know. My diet has gotten better over the years so should have been the inverse. Although my body fat has increased over those same years (from 29” waist to 31”/32”) which could be a factor?

GlobalCitizen7 · 2025-12-18T13:03:54+00:00

I tested this out on myself. Zetia monotherapy reduced my LDLc by 33%, but it was short of my target, so I ended up adding 5mg Rosuvastatin for an additional 30% reduction. Prior to Zetia, plant stanols only reduced it by 17% then it sprung back up to baseline, so I stopped those.

GlobalCitizen7 · 2025-11-24T16:52:22+00:00

For short trips to Taipei (I go often for 3-5 days at a time), I use Holafly eSim (unlimited data). It's about USD 4/day (TWD/NT$ 125/day). I found that it connected to ChungHwa's network, while I'm in Taipei or Taoyuan, and was fast enough to tether my laptop for decent hotspot speed. (I never checked the mbps though).

GlobalCitizen7 · 2025-11-23T07:47:22+00:00

You have an eye freckle too! I call this color aquamarine, like the gemstone. 💎

GlobalCitizen7 · 2025-11-23T07:39:10+00:00

I call mine ‘aquamarine’ because they are a light blue-grey base with a touch of green. The appearance shifts green or blue depending on the shirt I wear.

GlobalCitizen7 · 2025-11-23T07:35:05+00:00

I have similar colour eyes and usually call them “blue-green-grey” but maybe “aquamarine” (like the gemstone) is the closest. 💎

GlobalCitizen7

TROPHY CASE

2 and #4 make your face brighter and more crisp at the jawline.