Trying to stay healthy can seem like a full-time job sometimes,

especially with all the conflicting information that's out there.

But I'm here to make that job a little easier.

Welcome to the Nutrition Facts podcast.

I'm your host, Dr. Michael Greger.

I knew next to nothing about cold bunches when I started researching them, and, honestly,

it turned out to be much more interesting than I thought.

In our first story, we look at the effects of cold water immersion on the recovery of athletic performance.

In the last decade, cold water immersion has emerged as one of the most popular post-exercise recovery strategies

utilized among athletes during training and competition.

This primarily stems from the belief that cold water immersion facilitates aspects of recovery

and regeneration, thereby conferring a potential training and performance advantage.

But is it a friend, foe, or just futile?

The cold truth is that local cryotherapy, meaning like an ice pack, does not appear to diminish

soreness or accelerate the recovery strength.

Local cryotherapy does not seem to contribute to the improvement of delayed onset muscle soreness or muscle weakness associated with exercise-induced muscle damage.

But what about cold plunges?

If you look at the largest systematic review in meta-analysis of the effects of cold plunges

on the recovery of physical performance, compiling the results of more than five dozen

randomized controlled or crossover studies, after cold water immersion, people felt less

sore after a workout, at one hour later, six hours later, one day, two days, and three

days later, but not after four days. They also felt less fatigued, particularly in the

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