Speaking the Lingo
If you’re new to the world of cold plunge, you’ve probably heard some terms you aren’t familiar with. If you’re like us, you probably nod along and say things like, “Yeah, man. Gotta love that thermogenesis,” as you wonder what the heck that even means.
You’ve probably read plenty of cold plunge reviews and figured out that not all cold plunge tubs are created equal. But you don’t see Doodip mentioned in many of them. Because, like you, we’re new on the scene. But we are making a splash with newbies and seasoned cold plungers alike.
So we know what it’s like to be the new kid. But we want to make plunging into this new habit easy on you. So here’s our guide to some of the lingo you might hear or even read on this very site. Think of it as your cheat sheet to the world of cold water immersion.
Afterdrop: When your body temperature continues to drop after you get out of your cold plunge. To combat this, dry off completely and go inside or put on warm clothes. You can also sip a warm beverage to help warm you from the inside out.
Adrenaline: Hormone made by your adrenal glands, which are right above your kidneys. Also known as epinephrine, it’s responsible for the ‘“fight or flight” response.
Beige fat: A combination of white and brown fat. Beige fat helps regulate temperature by turning white fat into brown fat.
Benefits of Cold Plunge: There are too many to list here, but you can check other articles here and here. Cold plunge reduces inflammation, disrupts and slows the aging process, boosts both your metabolism and your mental health. Basically, if someone put all the benefits into pill form they’d probably get a Nobel Prize. If you want a longer read we love this book: Winter Swimming by Dr. Susanna Søberg.
Brown fat: A type of fat that helps regulate body temperature in cold conditions. Babies are born with a lot of brown fat and we lose it as we age if we don’t expose our bodies to cold. Brown fat is smaller than white fat. Brown fat burns calories by creating heat before you start shivering. It also helps regulate sugar and fat metabolism.
Catecholamines: This is the umbrella term for a type of neurotransmitter, including dopamine and epinephrine. Cold plunge can elevate catecholamines for hours.
Champagne under the skin: The tingly prickly feeling when you get out of a cold plunge.
Circadian Rhythm: This is the 24 hour clock that resides in all of us. It uses signals like light and darkness to tell us when to sleep. If you cold plunge to start your day it will activate your sympathetic nervous system and start your circadian rhythm's wake phase. If you can’t start your day with a cold plunge, don’t despair. A cold plunge any time of day reduces stress and helps with sleep. You can even cold plunge at bedtime to set your core temperature at the ideal sleeping temperature. There is no wrong time!
Cold exposure: It’s just what it says. It’s exposing your body to cold in order to get the benefits of cryotherapy (cold therapy). Water is much better at transferring heat, which is why cold water immersion is a thing and going outside in the dead of winter without a coat on is not.
Cold plunge: This is just a more folksy and less scary way of saying “cold water immersion.”
Cold shock proteins: Nope, these aren’t cold steaks you have to send back to the kitchen. They are stress proteins you already have in your body that don’t do much until you are exposed to cold. There are a lot of them and some we don’t understand but here are the biggies:
YB-1: Promotes wound healing, helps your body form scar tissue and draws immune cells to sites of inflammation.
Lin28A/B: These are actually two cold shock proteins that seem to help break down sugars to produce energy. Or as the nerds in the class would say, they help regulate glucose metabolism. It’s the same thing, but we concede, it sounds more scientific.
They also help with wound healing and recovery. Lin28A has been shown to promote regrowth of cartilage and bone.
RBM3: This protein may help prevent brain damage. Researchers have linked higher levels of RBM3 with better outcomes in stroke patients. But wait! There’s more! This amazing little protein also helps preserve and protect muscle mass when you have to take a break from training.
CIRP: This does everything above as well as helping to regulate your circadian rhythm. That’s a fancy way of saying it can help you get better sleep.
Cold shock response: A term coined by Danish Scientist Dr. Susanna Søberg to describe the endorphin rush that comes with exposure to cold temperatures. Cold shock response positively impacts your circulation, heart, lungs, and skin, along with your immune system.
Cold water immersion: The act of submerging your body in water 59 degrees or lower for a few minutes. Also known as cold plunge or ice bath.
Cortisol: Another stress hormone released by the adrenal glands. Cortisol helps control and reduce inflammation in the body, including arthritis and atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). It also boosts metabolism.
Doodip: The best cold plunge tub on the market. (We may be biased, but probably not.).
Doodipper: An exceptionally smart and fabulously attractive person who uses a Doodip cold tub to increase their mental and physical health. Not only do they cold plunge, they cold plunge in style. (See, we told you they were smart.)
Dopamine: Part of your brain’s reward system. Dopamine is a hormone and neurotransmitter that produces happiness. It’s what makes cold water immersion addictive — you’ll keep doing it because it makes you feel good! Dopamine plays a part in memory, motivation, attention, learning, sleep, pain processing and more. Yes. Cold water plungers really are smarter.
Endorphins: Feel-good hormones your brain produces to block pain and increase feelings of well-being. Also known as endogenous morphine, endorphins are released when the body experiences stress or pain or during pleasurable activities like massage, eating, and sex.
Epinephrine: Also known as adrenaline, cold water immersion raises your levels of this hormone, along with its buddy norepinephrine. They increase focus, reduce pain and tell your body to start burning fat.
Free Radicals: Free radicals are unstable atoms in your body and make you sick. They are also big players in the aging process. Cold Plunge helps your body flush out these free radicals.
Glycation: The attachment of a sugar to a protein, lipid or nucleic acid molecule, which doesn’t sound all that bad. But the result is more free radicals, more oxidative stress and more damage to cells. It contributes to skin aging, which you see and more importantly, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, and cancer, which you don’t see but definitely want to avoid.
Habituation: The waning of your physiological fear response after repeated exposures to a stimulus. Habituation is what makes you need to lower the water temperature after you’ve been taking cold plunges for a while. It’s also why it’s a good idea to use a tub and chiller that will regulate the temperature for you, rather than relying on ice. Cold plunging safely requires that you take it slow and habituate yourself to colder water.
Ice plunge: This usually refers to a cold water immersion system that requires bags of ice to chill the water. Honestly, it’s a pain to keep getting bags of ice and it’s hard to regulate the temperature. On the plus side, a lot of dudes enjoy looking super tough with their heads sticking up out of a bunch of floating ice cubes.
Metabolism: The process that turns the food you eat into energy. Ever notice how some people eat and eat and never gain an ounce while others keep tight calorie control and can’t seem to take the pounds off? That’s because their metabolisms are different. Cold exposure helps boost your metabolism, making your body more efficient at using food for energy instead of storing it up as fat.
Neurotransmitters: Your body’s natural chemical communicators. These chemicals, including the catecholamines and things like serotonin, help cells and neurons communicate.
Non-shivering thermogenesis: A metabolic process that increases heat production without muscle activity (shivering). It activates brown fat.
Norephedrine (noradrenalin): Usually secreted along with adrenaline. It is the hormone that signals brown fat to increase heat and metabolism during cold exposure.
Oxidation: You need oxygen to live but excess oxygen turns into free radicals. Too many free radicals cause oxidative stress which can lead to things like cancer and diabetes. Fortunately, cold water therapy can help raise the levels of antioxidants in your body. Oddly enough, when you start cold plunging, you will raise your oxidation but keep it up and your body will wisely start pumping out those antioxidants.
Oxytocin: Also known as the “love hormone.” Cold plunge raises oxytocin levels which may be why some people say getting cold with someone helps strengthen your bond. Like dopamine, it also is one of your body’s natural pain relievers.
Plunge tub: Anything from a literal barrel filled with water and ice to a super sleek, high-tech tub with a chiller, filtration, and the ability to set a temperature.
Serotonin: When you feel happy and content, serotonin is doing its job. It’s a chemical messenger that regulates everything from mood, behavior, and memory to your digestive system. Serotonin is critical in regulating satisfaction, happiness, and optimism. Low levels are linked to depression.
Thermogenesis: Heat production in warm-blooded creatures.A byproduct of metabolism.
White fat: The most prevalent type of fat in your body. It insulates and protects your organs. Too much white fat results in obesity.
