Who wouldn’t want to live longer? And if you could extend your life in a completely natural way, that would be brilliant. The question is: can exposure to cold, such as cold plunges, actually help? Using scientific studies, we’ll explore how cold can have a surprisingly positive impact on longevity.
Table of contents
What Is The Current Average Service Life?
The average lifespan depends on region, lifestyle, medical care, and other factors. In general, life expectancy has increased in many parts of the world in recent decades thanks to advances in medicine, improved nutrition and living conditions.
Worldwide, the average life expectancy is about 72–73 years. In Germany, the numbers are slightly higher, but in recent years they have declined again. For example, after the coronavirus pandemic, German life expectancy dropped from 78.7 to 78.1 years for men, and from 83.5 to 82.8 years for women (2023, Federal Institute for Population Research). Similar trends have been observed across Europe.
What Factors Influence Lifespan?
- Healthcare: Access to a high-quality healthcare system plays a significant role in life expectancy. Countries with well-developed healthcare systems and comprehensive medical care usually report longer life expectancies.
- Lifestyle and behavior: A healthy lifestyle, regular physical activity, a balanced diet, and avoiding tobacco, drugs, and excessive alcohol positively impact life expectancy.
- Socio-economic status: Education, income, and social status also influence life expectancy. People with a higher socio-economic status often have a longer life expectancy.
- Environmental factors: Clean air, safe drinking water, and good sanitation support longer life expectancy.
- Genetics: Our genetic predisposition plays a role in our susceptibility to certain diseases.
- Infectious diseases: The prevalence of infectious diseases in a region can also affect life expectancy.
- Living conditions in old age: Social support, access to care, and safe housing in later life are important.
- Nutrition: Adequate, balanced nutrition strongly supports health and longevity.
How Are Cold and Lifespan Related?
There is increasing evidence that exposure to cold could also have a positive influence on lifespan. As part of their research at the CEDAD Cluster of Excellence for Ageing Research, scientists at the University of Cologne studied nematodes that carried genes for two neurodegenerative diseases. Although nematodes normally thrive at room temperature, they were deliberately supercooled for this experiment.
The results of the study were striking: the nematodes kept under cool conditions were not only more active, but also had a longer lifespan compared to their conspecifics that were kept at room temperature. Earlier studies had already shown that cold also increases their fertility. The researchers interpret these findings as an indication that the cold may activate cellular cleansing processes, which in turn lead to an accelerated breakdown of harmful protein clumps.
The head of the study, David Vilchez, highlighted the potential of these findings to inform treatments for human neurodegenerative conditions. If cooling stimulates such beneficial cellular processes, it could become a promising therapeutic approach.
More Studies Supporting Cold and Longevity
Other experiments with mice found the lifespan was extended by a fifth by lowering their body temperature. Dr. David Vilchez is enthusiastic about the results, which show similarities to the experiments with threadworms. Increased activity of the cellular cleansing process was observed in the mice at colder temperatures.
In an interview with SWR2 Wissen, Vilchez says:
“We were thrilled, it was just like with the worms. The cellular cleaning process was more active at a colder temperature.”
In further studies, the researchers took human cells and focused on the main protein that causes Huntington’s disease. By lowering the temperature by just one degree, researchers prevented the formation of harmful protein clumps associated with Huntington’s disease. The same approach showed positive effects in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), another neurodegenerative condition.
Conclusion
Not every animal study can be applied directly to humans, but the evidence so far is encouraging. Current research indicates that exposure to cold, such as cold plunges or ice bath tubs, could have positive effects on the lifespan of living beings, including humans. This is often due to mechanisms based on calorie restriction, activation of metabolic processes, and hormonal changes triggered by extreme cold stimuli.
While more research is needed, the idea that cold plunging could help extend human lifespan, and possibly reduce the risk of neurodegenerative diseases, offers fascinating insights into how our bodies respond to the power of cold
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