Cryostimulation (exposure to extreme cold for a short period of time) could fight obesity: research presented at the European Obesity Congress (ECO) in Dublin suggests it. Cold improves levels of cholesterol and other fats in the blood; moreover, the obese subjected to extreme cold also recorded a greater reduction in waist size and blood sugar levels. The study was conducted by Jacopo Fontana of the Istituto Auxologico Piancavallo IRCCS, who explains: “We know from previous research that cryostimulation can have powerful effects on the body. It can act as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant treatment, with beneficial effects on body composition, including fat percentage”. A growing body of work suggests that the method is a useful adjunctive therapy, for a range of conditions, notably rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory musculoskeletal conditions and long Covid.
In the new study, 29 obese participants were admitted for a program that included a personalized diet plan, psychological support and physical activity; moreover, a part of them received 10 cryostimulation sessions of 2 minutes at minus 110°C in a cryochamber over two weeks; the others a placebo intervention at non-cryostimulant temperatures of minus 55 degrees.
Patients, well monitored, wore minimal clothing, t-shirt, shorts and slippers. Well, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and HDL and LDL cholesterol levels decreased in both groups, but the reduction was double with cryostimulation. For them after two weeks, mean triglyceride levels had decreased by 17% compared to 8.7% in the placebo group, total cholesterol by 20.2% compared to 9.4%, bad cholesterol, LDL, by 24%. .7% versus 10.5%.
Similarly, blood glucose levels decreased by 10.3% compared to 2.8% in the placebo group and waist circumference by 5.6% compared to 1.4%.
“Our results indicate that cryostimulation is useful in the treatment of obesity – concludes Fontana. But larger and longer-lasting studies are needed to confirm these preliminary results”.