---
title: Cold Exposure Increases Metabolism By 300%
date: 2025-08-18T03:59:32.548812
author: Charlie M.
category: SIGNAL
---
So, this morning, I was sipping my lukewarm coffee, wondering if I should finally delete Instagram again because I keep getting sucked into an endless scroll of dogs doing yoga (which is weirdly fascinating). And it hit me—like this thought out of nowhere—what if I stopped trying to force myself to run every day and just sat in a bathtub full of ice cubes? I mean, there’s this stuff floating around about cold exposure and metabolism, and maybe I stumbled across it while getting lost down a YouTube wormhole last night. Something about cold showers and brown fat and how it can boost your metabolism by, like, a crazy 300%. Or was it 200%? I don't know—numbers are slippery.
Anyway, I think the idea is that freezing your butt off somehow flips the switch on this brown adipose tissue. I guess it’s one of those things we all have hidden somewhere inside us. Not like a hidden superpower, but more like an underused button on a remote control. And supposedly, when you activate this brown fat, it ramps up thermogenesis. That’s a fancy word for heat production. So, what, maybe our bodies start burning more calories just to keep us from turning into human popsicles? Makes sense, I guess.
But is it real or just another one of those Instagram health hacks everyone swears by until they quietly stop talking about it? I tried cold showers once. I lasted a whole two days. I’d tell myself, “This is for science!” but my brain would just scream, “Nope, too cold, abort!” and I’d crank the hot water back up. Maybe I’m missing something, like the Huberman cold protocol—some kind of step-by-step guide I never actually read but have heard people swear by.
And then there’s the question of adaptation. We always hear about metabolic adaptation, like your body adapting to your workout routine, eventually requiring you to change it up. Does that mean if I did take the plunge (literally), would my metabolism just adapt and flatline again eventually? Or maybe I made that up—sometimes I mix up podcast chats and dreams.
Back to the cold thing. I can't help but think of all those times I'd jump into a freezing pool in the summer—memories of childhood where I didn't know what metabolism was, just that cold was a shock that left me breathless and alive. Did that help my metabolism back then? Or was it just the youthful energy of playing tag later? I don’t know if cold exposure is a shortcut or just another hill of beans.
I guess what I’m saying is, I don’t really know if it works. Part of me wants to try again because, who knows, maybe it’ll be that one small change that makes a difference. Or maybe it's just another trend, like when everyone was suddenly obsessed with drinking butter coffee.
For now, though, I’ll finish my coffee (sans butter), maybe scroll a little less today, and just think about the next time I might brave an icy shower. Because, let’s be real, sometimes just thinking about doing things feels like almost doing them, right?