Secret of Iceman

Wim Hof ​​- a Dutchman called Iceman - became famous thanks to its extraordinary cold strength. Thanks to meditation, his body is able to generate so much heat that the man could get Kilimanjaro in boxers, climb 7 kilometers on the slopes of Mount Everest in the same dress and immerse himself in the ice for an hour and thirteen minutes. And now the scientists at Wayne State University have devoured his secret.

It has long been known that Hof in his method (or, as its proponents call it - Method), is based on Tibetan practice of tummo (also called the meditation of internal fire) - this is a meditation based on precise breathing, controlled hyperventilation, which allow it to significantly increase body temperature.

Are these just tricks or are there any biological mechanisms behind it? This question was answered by scientists from Wayne State University, who looked closely at Hof's body when he performed his breathing exercises and was subject to variable temperatures (for which he was in a special outfit, through which scientists could pump water at different temperatures). At that time, his brain was examined with the help of functional magnetic resonance and muscles with positron emission tomography.

And this study showed that when cold water poured through the outfit, Hof could keep the skin temperature constant. It was noticed that at that time he had increased activity in the sympathetic system and increased glucose consumption by the intercostal muscles, which heats the blood in the capillary vessels in his lungs, which then spread heat over the body.

The activity in one of the areas of his brain that is related to pain control has also increased.

It turns out, therefore, that this madness may actually be a method, and the Buddhist monks and later the Hof were able to discover and use the physiological mechanism that Western medicine did not know about. And now, when it has been confirmed, you can try to use it on a wider scale to help both those who have health problems and prophylactic.