If you’re willing to do whatever it takes to improve your sleep quality, here are some new ideas. It consists of daily 5-minute sessions in a cryostimulation chamber that cools the body down to a fairly chilly -90 °C (-130 °F). .
A new study led by researchers at the University of Poitiers in France shows that deep freezing practices improved both sleep quality and mood, but the effects took several days to show. .
Most of us aren’t planning on installing a freezer in our homes, but this research could lead to better treatments for people with sleep disorders and help with chronic inflammation and early signs of dementia. It could also help elite athletes recover from events.
Participants’ mood improved and their anxiety decreased. (Arc-Chagnaud et al. cryobiology2024)
“Our sleep structure analysis revealed that the duration of slow-wave sleep was significantly increased on nights after cryostimulation compared to nights without cryostimulation.” say Olivier Dupuis, a kinesiologist at the University of Montreal in Canada.
”slow wave sleepconsidered the most restorative sleep stage, gained an average of 7.3 minutes over the first two sleep cycles. ”
Researchers studied 20 healthy participants with an average age of 23 over five days. After their daily 5-minute cryostimulation chamber session, they spent the rest of the day as usual, except for abstaining from alcohol. caffeinesports.
Overnight, the volunteers were fitted with various brain and heart sensors to monitor their biological activity and interpret their sleep quality. The next day, they also completed a questionnaire about how well they slept.
In addition to increasing slow wave sleep, is known to be Because it’s important for memory function, researchers also found improved mood and reduced anxiety. The effect was particularly pronounced for women.
“Women and men didn’t react the same way.” say Dupuis. “This suggests that cold doses may need to be adjusted according to gender, but this requires further research.”
Some aspects of sleep, such as how quickly participants fell asleep and how much time they spent sleeping, were unaffected by the cold treatment. REM sleep (This is the period when dreams are usually seen and is associated with memory consolidation).
The sample size here was small, and the researchers did not attempt to determine in detail what was associated with extreme cold and improved sleep quality. Therefore, there is ample scope for future research to build on these findings. There are also many variables that can be changed, such as the time spent in the cryochamber.
Existing evidence indicates that whole body cryostimulation (WBC) has the following effects: calm the mind After exercise, reduce inflammationimprove general happiness. It now appears that these biological benefits may extend to sleep quality as well.
“The use of cold for therapeutic purposes dates back to ancient Greece.” say Dupuis.
“One thing is clear: this is not a problem. placebo effect. Other research Similar positive effects have been demonstrated in elite athletes. ”
This research cryobiology.
