Heat
Heat is ambient or body temperature elevation. Humans need heat to run enzymes at full rate. Warmth as therapy means using ambient heat, warm food, clothing, and baths to support metabolism instead of chronic cold exposure.
Peat's view
[edit]Warmth is pro-metabolic relative to chronic cold-exposure fashion; safe heating differs from fever or burns. Hypothyroid people already fail to generate heat, so ice baths as status symbols work against the goal. Safe sauna, infrared, and warm rooms are closer allies.
A single session of whole-body hyperthermia (raising core body temperature to 38.5°C via infrared heat) produced a significant reduction in depression symptoms that persisted for six weeks in a randomized, sham-controlled trial of adults with major depressive disorder, an effect notably fast compared to the weeks-long lag typical of SSRIs.[1]
Post-exercise hot bathing may enhance strength gains from resistance training: in a short-term high-intensity leg-training program, participants who immersed their lower body in 40C (104F) water for about 10 minutes after each session gained roughly twice the leg strength improvement of a hot-shower control group, without adverse cardiovascular effects.[2]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ Janssen CW, Lowry CA, Mehl MR, Allen JJI, et al. "Whole-Body Hyperthermia for the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial," JAMA Psychiatry. 2016;73(8):789-795. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.1031. PMID 27172277.
- ↑ "Post-exercise home-based hot-bathing with/without light exercise: effects on physiological adaptations to short-term high-intensity resistance training in healthy young men," Eur J Appl Physiol. 2025. PMID 41094175.