Cryotherapy helps with weight loss: new study

Unusual weight loss treatment gives obesity and high cholesterol a miss, according to a new study.

Cryotherapy, which involves standing in a cold room for a few minutes to supercool the body, has been shown to lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels while also reducing waist circumference measurements.

“Our results indicate that whole-body cryostimulation is beneficial in the treatment of obesity,” said Dr. Jacopo Fontana of Istituto Auxologico Piancavallo in Verbania, Italy. “The improvements in blood lipids and blood sugar were particularly striking.”

Cold therapy, such as ice packs and cold water baths, has been used for centuries to relieve pain in injured joints and by professional athletes to recover after strenuous exercise.

Cryotherapy chambers are a relatively new device. The machines use liquid nitrogen or electricity to cool a small, enclosed space to a mind-numbing temperature of minus 150 degrees Fahrenheit or even lower.

People enter the freezing chamber – with their heads sticking out of the chamber through an opening in some cases – while wearing only underwear and shoes for two to three minutes per session.

Celebrities have also been known to use cold therapy: Mark Wahlberg is said to have used a cryochamber to stay fit, and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey takes a regular ice bath.

In recent years, cryotherapy has been considered to treat a wide range of conditions, from fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis to multiple sclerosis and long COVID.

To test the potential of cryotherapy in treating obesity, Dr. Fontana’s team gathered 29 obese men and women and divided them into two groups.

The first group received 10 two-minute cryotherapy sessions at minus 166 degrees F for two weeks, plus a diet and exercise program.

The second group received sham or “mock” cryotherapy sessions along with the diet and exercise program.

The results, presented at the 2023 European Obesity Congress in Dublin, Ireland, showed height measurements were significantly reduced in the cryotherapy group – a 5.6% decrease in the cryotherapy group, versus a 1.4% decrease in the sham therapy group.

And both groups reduced their cholesterol levels, but the reduction in the cryotherapy group was about double that of the sham therapy group.

Total cholesterol, for example, fell 20.2% in the cryotherapy group, but only 9.4% in the sham therapy group.

Doctors believe these results may be due to sub-zero temperatures that convert the body’s white adipose tissue – sometimes called “white fat” – into brown adipose tissue, which breaks down sugar and fat molecules in an effort to warm the body. body.

Despite these promising results, some experts warn that cryotherapy is a largely unregulated and unproven treatment.

“Given the growing consumer interest in whole-body cryotherapy, the FDA has informally reviewed the available medical literature on this topic,” said Dr. Aron Yustein, physician at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. , in a press release.

The risks of cryotherapy include frostbite, burns, eye damage, and hypoxia or lack of oxygen, which could lead to loss of consciousness.

“We found very little evidence of its safety or effectiveness in treating the conditions for which it is promoted,” Dr. Yustein added.