Levels of Uric Acid and Glutathione During Brief Exposure Whole Body Cold exposure

The study looked at ten healthy people who regularly swim in ice-cold water during the winter. They were tested before and after being exposed to the cold. The researchers found that the participants had much lower levels of uric acid during and after the exposure to the cold. This might be because the uric acid was being used up to fight off harmful oxygen particles. The researchers also found that the levels of a substance called glutathione increased in the participants after being exposed to the cold. This supports the idea that the body is adapting to the stress caused by the cold exposure. The researchers think that this adaptation might help the body to better handle stress and disease in the future. They also suggest that repeated short-term exposure to cold, like swimming in ice-cold water, might be helpful for this adaptation. This is sometimes used in physical therapy to help people build up resistance to stress.

Read the entire article here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8063192/