#132 - AMA #16: Exploring hot and cold therapy

The Peter Attia Drive

In this “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) episode, Peter and Bob explore the quality of evidence for hot and cold therapy. In the discussion, they evaluate the safety, efficacy, and opportunity costs of various hot and cold therapy protocols, and Peter ultimately considers the addition of dry sauna to his longevity toolkit. Once again, Bob Kaplan, Peter’s head of research, will be asking the questions. If you’re not a subscriber and listening on a podcast player, you’ll only be able to hear a preview of the AMA. If you’re a subscriber, you can now listen to this full episode on your private RSS feed or on our website at the AMA #16 show notes page. If you are not a subscriber, you can learn more about the subscriber benefits here.

We discuss:

• How stress can show up as physical pain, and tips for changing time zones [1:45];
• Literature overview of heat and cold therapy [7:15];
• Cold therapy for delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) [12:00];
• Quality of evidence for cold therapy for depression or immune enhancement [19:30];
• Cold therapy and brown adipose tissue (BAT) [21:15];
• Weighing the safety, efficacy, and opportunity cost of cold therapy [28:45];
• An overview of heat therapy benefits [40:00];
• Longevity benefits of sauna—reviewing the studies [41:30];
• Limitations in the sauna literature—Where might we be fooled? [54:30];
• Possible mechanisms conferring the longevity benefits of sauna, and how it compares to exercise [1:02:15];
• Parting thoughts on sauna, opportunity costs, and Bob’s personal regimen [1:06:30]; and
• More.

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