Is 15 degree Celsius cooling Healthy?
Well the most common discussions I have with athletes and industry professionals alike, is the question of weather a cooling vest is healthy or not? Or are there any side effects? Will I get the Flu? etc..
Let me answer this with the following practical and scientific points:
1. Cooling vests, jackets, etc are good for you unless you are crazy enough to wear them in the cold weather.
2. They should be used primary to maintain a safe body core temperature, ultimately preventing heat stress and related illnesses such as dizziness, extreme fatigue, muscle cramps,etc.
3. And yes they are good for you! Ever wondered why people do Cryotherapy? here is an article from Gulf News about the benefits of using Cryotherapy . Cooling shirts and vests cool you at 15C which has recently been tested & researched is actually very GOOD for your Health. See the excerpt from the Harvard University Medical School report:
Burns BAT & Treatment of Obesity: Nov. 4, 2013 - VISTA, CAL. USA -- Cooling the body down, rather than building up a sweat, could be an effective way of losing weight, a new research from Harvard University revealed.
The Scientists concluded that brown fat, a “good” fat that burns calories, is activated by the cold. Brown Fat is found naturally in humans and consumes calories to generate heat. The activation of this tissue through cool temperatures is known as non-shivering thermogenesis and could be the key in the fight against obesity.
The team at the Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard University was successfully able to activate brown fat with a 14°C Cooling Vest. They had also tested the effects of the over the counter weight loss drug Ephedrine but found it was not activating the tissue. Lead researcher Dr. Aaron Cypess said that “this was the first time a study revealed that ephedrine does not turn on brown fat”.
Dr. Cypess said harnessing the cold effects could help reduce calories without the side effects associated with ephedrine.
“Mild cold exposure stimulates (brown fat) energy expenditure with fewer other systemic effects, suggesting that cold activates specific sympathetic pathways,” he said.
Dr. Cypess would conclude the article by saying one method to stimulate brown adipose tissue as we did in the study would be to design a cooling vest that people can wear to help them lose weight.
Dr. André Carpentier, an endocrinologist at the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec said, the brown fat burned about 250 calories over three hours when the subjects were chilled, but not to the point of shivering (University of Sherbrooke - Journal of Clinical Investigation)