I recently heard someone speaking about breath holding and how it can lower inflammation. They were also talking about cold plunges. I think they were inferring that the mechanisms were very similar, using the fight flight response chemicals to blunt the inflammation.
I know there is the wim hof strategy but has anyone tried something else?
Also l haven’t run this question through any of the “A.L.” programs because T-Rex hands don’t work good.
I think the answer is no. A lot of what’s spread on social media is just nonsense. I’ve heard people on TikTok claim that sticking your tongue out for 40 seconds lowers cortisol, but I looked into it and found no literature at all. That’s the world we live in now.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41222681/
Methods: In this prospective, single-group study, 24 experienced breath-hold divers participated in repeated depth training (13 participants practiced the same discipline for two consecutive days, while 11 others did so for three consecutive days). Salivary IL-6, TNF-α, and ROS were measured before and after each session. Secondary assessments included lung ultrasound (B-lines) at 15, 30, and 45 min post-dive, hydration measured with multifrequency bioimpedance, and screening for vascular gas emboli (VGE).
Results: ROS levels significantly increased post-dive (Day 1: 0.23 ± 0.03 to 0.45 ± 0.16 μmol·min⁻1; p < 0.01), along with IL-6 (Day 1: 2.5 ± 1.07 to 6.5 ± 3.4 pg·mL⁻1; p < 0.0001) and TNF-α (Day 1: 1.32 ± 0.6 to 2.01 ± 1.4 pg·mL⁻1; p < 0.05). B-lines significantly increased at 15 min post-dive (p < 0.001), returning to baseline by 45 min. No significant changes in hydration or detection of VGE were observed.