Re: Cryogenic Chamber Therapy
This is a fascinating topic. Thank you Psyche, Laura, et. al. for your work. Reading these threads and Kruse’s work, I realize that for the last two years, since I have been doing the Paleo diet—cutting out wheat and dairy to began with and then the last six months the very low carb, moderate protein, and high fat of the true Paleo, that I have been naturally cold adapting on my own without being conscious of it. During this time I have noticed that I require fewer clothes to work outside in the cold, am more comfortable with my home heat set at 68 degrees F, and am much more sensitive to overheating. My normal body temp is 97.6 and has been for years, even before the Paleo conversion. When I do notice the cold, something seems to kick in and I warm up very fast and am able to maintain feeling comfortable with fewer clothes than before the diet changes.
This research has caused me to think about how I have adapted to living in different climates over the years. As a child in Michigan, and ever since, with the exception of the two years I lived in Hawaii, I have always had horses and sometimes other livestock to take care of so I am always working outside, morning and evening, every day of the year regardless of the weather, so I have become quite sensitive to knowing temp, humidity, etc.
As a teenager in Michigan during the winters of the 60s and 70s, when it would freeze over and have ice and snow on the ground from Nov-Apr, I remember standing at the bus stop at the end of our icy driveway in platform shoes, pantyhose, and a mini skirt, with only a jacket, (would not be caught dead in a hat and gloves!
), and not really noticing the cold. I remember taking a moonlight horseback ride in 10 degrees F and snow (no wind) and feeling fine.
In my 20s and 30s I spent about ten consecutive years living in Hawaii, Florida, and S. Texas and became comfortable working and playing outdoors in extreme heat. When I had to move to Tacoma Wa. I thought I would die of the cold and wore long underwear everywhere for two years after which I became adapted to the almost constant 55 degree and misty weather and enjoyed the coolness.
Now I live in Mid-Atlantic and have both, short burst of very cold and damp in the winter, and very hot and humid summers. I can feel my body adapting to the seasonal changes to heat, which usually happen like a light switch, with some tiredness for a day or two until the cooling system kicks in. I notice I seem to handle the switch to cold quicker than the adaptation to high heat. I have never been one to feel at my peak in the hot weather—it is always with the first burst of coolness in the Fall that I come alive.
One other interesting thing that happens, and I would like to know why, is when I first go out in cold weather my hands will get cold, but when they get cold enough for me to notice and feel it consciously, then they warm up very fast and will continue to radiate heat in all but the most extreme wind and freezing conditions. I do not like to work in gloves and will avoid them in all but the most extreme wind blizzard conditions. Even then my hands will warm faster if I take the gloves off sometimes.
I usually take cool showers in the summer, and have been rinsing my face and feet in cold water at the end of my showers for a couple of years, but I am just now beginning to lower the temperature of my showers now to get to cold showers and iced tub soaks—although I confess I am in no big hurry and not that brave. It is one thing to tolerate cold on the hands and face and another to submerge the nether parts in ice water! :P It is amazing what we are learning here—the dots just keep getting closer!
Thank you all again for the research.
shellycheval
