Although ice baths and cold workouts are currently very popular… it is high time to prepare for summer. How do we do that best? By relearning our body to thermoregulate. In 2022, we have all lost a large part of the capacity to regulate our body temperature ourselves, this as a result of living in the comfort zone. Modern homo sapiens likes to stay in a 'thermoneutral comfort zone' of 20 to 23 degrees Celsius. We don't like it much colder, but as soon as it gets a bit warmer, we increasingly see that many people are having a hard time. From physical discomfort to even making bad decisions. The reason? The body and brain that overheat because our internal thermostat cannot adjust well or quickly enough to the ambient temperature.
Contribution by Siebe Hannosset / Intermittent Living Expert, NLP Master Practitioner & Lifestyle Architect
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In this blog we will talk about the reason why many people can no longer thermoregulate properly and we provide tips for how to do this restoring your ability to keep a cool head in the heat . We ask Intermittent Living expert, Siebe Hannosset, everything he needs. With his vast knowledge of the human body and his experience in coaching and guiding people to optimal health and performance, we are convinced that after reading this blog you will be able to prepare yourself for the coming summer!
We hear a lot these days about the increasing popularity of cold workouts… But you were the one who suggested doing a blog about heat regulation. What exactly do you mean by this?
Modern man has adapted his environment to his needs and preferences. When it gets a bit colder, we immediately turn on the heating or put on that thick winter coat. When it gets a bit warmer, we have to turn on the air conditioning or we can't take it anymore. We have an absolute preference for living in pleasant temperatures between 20 and 23 degrees Celsius. We call this the thermoneutral comfort zone where our body is not forced to change or regulate its body temperature. Living in our comfort society, where there is an absence of cold and heat stimuli, means that we gradually lose our ability to thermoregulate, i.e. maintain an optimal body temperature. Our internal thermostat functions less and less well, while this is very important for health and performance.
Although we prefer pleasant constant temperatures, we have seen a change recently; you see more and more people taking cold showers, or going into the cold water together after a run in the winter and the Wim Hof method is very popular. Our training courses that we offer with kPNI Belgium (editor's note, - Siebe trains health professionals in collaboration with kPNI Belgium to become intermittent living coaches) also increase awareness and knowledge that cold stimuli are health-promoting.
Instead of treating the symptoms, we want to focus on finding the cause. How come we constantly stay in a 'thermoneutral' comfort zone? What goes wrong for most people?
By nature, we homo sapiens are very good thermoregulators. For evolutionary reasons, we are masters in keeping our body temperature optimal. But the combination of the increasing sedentary behavior in our society and living in the comfort zone - where we tend to always look for comfortable temperatures - significantly reduces the ability to maintain our body temperature.
Our sedentary lifestyle, where we sit for long periods of time and do not move often enough during the day, reduces our intestinal blood flow and therefore also our cooling capacity.
In other words, sedentary life in 2022 makes us temperature-sensitive. We lose our ability to thermoregulate.
Fun fact: Homo sapiens came into the world around the equator and from there started to 'explore and conquer' the world. Due to the need to hunt and gather food during the day, often under a leaden sun, we as humans evolved to walk upright - compared to other mammals. This limited the body surface exposed to the sun. In addition, we have also lost most of our body hair throughout evolution and have developed more sweat glands, in order to cool down better. Thermoregulation was therefore a crucial condition for us as humans to survive. In 2022, this has not changed and yet we have all largely lost the capacity to thermoregulate. This has consequences for health and performance.
Unconscious and uncontrolled hyperthermia (or overheating) is an absolute limiting factor for making good decisions, but also for our health. Failure to cool your brain and intestines in time results in immediate loss of performance. For example, with mild hyperthermia or an increased body temperature of more than 38.5°C, no further muscle contraction is possible. Think of marathon runners who collapse just before the finish. With more extreme hyperthermia (39.3°C or more), brain functions also fail (making decisions is no longer possible) and endotoxemia occurs in the intestine. A phenomenon in which the intestinal barriers are leaky and toxic substances and pathogenic bacteria enter the body. Think of the heat stroke that we all experienced as children. We therefore definitely benefit from keeping our body temperature as ideal as possible and therefore retraining our cooling capacity.
Do you want to get started and improve your thermoregulation capacity?
Then focus on conscious heat stimuli and on movement snacks during the day. A sitting time break where you really get your heart rate up. Do a dozen squats, do a few push-ups, or simply walk up and down the stairs a few times. Just do it.
Finally, we will give you some advice to get started with heat stimuli today. That way, you will get through the coming summer more smoothly and you do not necessarily have to install a fan or air conditioning in every room. We asked Siebe for some tips...
How do you get started with it?
- Take a hot shower, a hot bath or a jacuzzi regularly. Caution: be careful of the drop in blood pressure that can occur when suddenly standing up from a hot bath. Safety first.
- Visit the sauna at least once a week. Research shows that moderate sauna users (2-3 times a week) have a 22% lower chance of sudden cardiac arrest and frequent users (4-7 times a week) even have a 63% lower chance of sudden heart failure.
- If possible, also go for infrared sauna. The anti-depressant par excellence because an incredible amount of serotonin or happiness hormone is released.
- Ever heard of hot or bikram yoga? Sweating it out in temperatures of 40 to 45 degrees is an optimal way to train your thermoregulation.
- Do you like a challenge? Then go overdressed when training in the sun by putting on extra layers of clothing. Warning: not for the faint of heart.
Is there anything I should pay attention to when I start working with this?
Heat works for everyone, but stay away from the extremes. The right dose is important. In addition, there are always exceptions, such as during pregnancy, where caution is the key. Or for example with migraine patients, who often have a hypersensitivity to heat stress stimuli. Should we completely avoid heat here? No, the solution lies in offering heat stimuli more often. But responsibly and step by step.
Remember that the smallest change leads to the biggest results. So let's heat it up!
Are you still unsure about whether to start using intermittent heat or heat stimuli?
Siebe will soon, in a very enjoyable way, use his enormous knowledge and know-how to delve much deeper into how you can ensure a balanced and healthy heat balance, and what the many health benefits are of exposing yourself to heat stimuli more often.
- STAY TUNED -
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