Hot Baths and T2D... and More Interesting Stuff
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canadjineh
Posts: 5,396 Member
From an email subscription I have. Christopher Kelly (Functional Diagnostic NP) and Tommy Wood MD PhD.
nourishbalancethrive.com/
"Hey Everybody!
It’s NBT highlights time! Every week we’ll send you a short email containing the following:
One piece of simple, actionable advice to improve your health and performance.
Something we would like to give a different perspective on, and why.
One awesome thing that we think you’ll enjoy!
One action to add to your health routine this week:
Take a hot bath to improve glycaemic control!
Exposing the body to extremes of temperature is currently a bit of a hot topic. We think the science behind temperature manipulation is really cool, and it will certainly appear in the highlights section more than once!
We first read about the effect of a hot bath on glucose control when this conference abstract came out in 2016. Since then, the authors have published a full paper of that data. They compared an hour of cycling with an hour of “passive heating” (sitting in a bath immersed up to the waist at 40°C/104°F) on post-prandial glucose control, overall glucose control for the following 24h, and heat-shock protein (HSP) activation. Both protocols were designed to increase core body temperature by 1°C, but in the end the bath produced a greater increase in body temperature, and a lower blood glucose peak after a subsequent meal. This is despite participants expending significantly less energy in the bath than they did during exercise. It may be that the greater heat stress during the bath resulted in more prolonged activation of insulin-independent glucose disposal, but there could also be some mechanisms at play that we’re yet to fully-understand. Total blood glucose for 24h after each intervention, as well as activation of HSP-70 (thought to underlie many of the metabolic benefits of exercise and heat exposure), was similar after both exercise and passive heating. Interestingly, and more easily seen in the poster than the paper, HSP activation seemed to be greater in lean individuals than overweight individuals. This doesn’t prevent a benefit in overweight people, but the benefits of heat stress may be different in different people based on their underlying physiology.
If you’re going to treat yourself to a nice carb-rich meal, maybe go even further and indulge in a soothing hot bath (or hot tub?) beforehand. Win-win!
A different perspective:
In a similar vein (but potentially contradictory) to our tip of the week, there was a recent paper suggesting that, as outdoor temperature increases, the incidence of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) also increases. Based on average annual temperatures in the US (across all 50 states) and across the world, they found that hotter places, and hotter years within an individual place, were associated with a higher incidence of T2DM. This association was greater (almost double the effect of increased temperature on T2DM risk) in the US compared to the rest of the world.
Why might this be? As this is epidemiological data, we cannot prove a particular theory, but the study authors suggest that increased ambient temperature means people need to produce less of their own heat. This leads to less brown fat (brown adipose tissue, or BAT) production, and less mitochondrial uncoupling as a way to dispose of excess energy. While certainly an important possibility, we question the likelihood of this particular association for one very important reason:
We don’t spend a significant amount of time outdoors anymore.
In a world where we often discuss the downstream problem of being indoors (and sat down) most of the time, it’s hard to see how a warmer outdoor temperature directly decreasing BAT is to blame here. We do have a couple of other thoughts that could explain the result:
Across the world, the real outliers (with both high a ambient temperature and high rates of glucose intolerance) are in the Western Pacific region, likely the Pacific islands. These guys are genetically very susceptible to T2DM, especially when exposed to a Western diet. Genetic factors may well play a role across other areas too.
Perhaps it’s how we respond to increasing outdoor temperature, i.e. by turning up the air-conditioning. It’s interesting to note that household rates of air-conditioning have increased in line with the obesity and T2DM epidemic that is often blamed on the US dietary guidelines. Am I saying that air-conditioning causes obesity? No. But having a constantly comfortable thermal environment is increasingly associated with metabolic disease. Slightly cool ambient environments may even result in relative overeating, and contribute to an increased risk of T2DM. This is in contrast to more dramatic cold exposure, which can increase BAT production and improve insulin sensitivity.
As local and worldwide temperatures increase, most people would agree that manmade air pollution is a major contributor. Importantly, certain aspects of air pollution, especially particulate matter (small particles in the air), are increasingly linked to metabolic disease, and could certainly account for both an increase in local temperature and an increase T2DM.
Eating an ancestrally-appropriate diet that is specific to your heritage, getting truly hot and cold occasionally, and mitigating the effects of air pollution as much as possible, are probably all far more important than worrying about how hot it is outside. Unless you are actually outside, which would probably put you in a happy (and healthier?) minority!
Something awesome:
We really enjoyed this recent blog post from Denise Minger about how our own mind is often our worst enemy, including a very open and honest description of her personal struggles. We love Denise because she likes to put the cat amongst the dietary theory pigeons; there’s nothing more dangerous than surrounding yourself with people who only agree with you! Towards the end of the post she mentions a recent trip to Iceland, where it was our pleasure to see her speak. You can watch a video of that thought-provoking talk here.
Thanks for reading!
Tommy Wood, MD, PhD"
Sorry, links were embedded in the email but obviously they didn't get copied here. I'm sure you can go to the blogsite and find them if you want more rabbithole reading
nourishbalancethrive.com/
"Hey Everybody!
It’s NBT highlights time! Every week we’ll send you a short email containing the following:
One piece of simple, actionable advice to improve your health and performance.
Something we would like to give a different perspective on, and why.
One awesome thing that we think you’ll enjoy!
One action to add to your health routine this week:
Take a hot bath to improve glycaemic control!
Exposing the body to extremes of temperature is currently a bit of a hot topic. We think the science behind temperature manipulation is really cool, and it will certainly appear in the highlights section more than once!
We first read about the effect of a hot bath on glucose control when this conference abstract came out in 2016. Since then, the authors have published a full paper of that data. They compared an hour of cycling with an hour of “passive heating” (sitting in a bath immersed up to the waist at 40°C/104°F) on post-prandial glucose control, overall glucose control for the following 24h, and heat-shock protein (HSP) activation. Both protocols were designed to increase core body temperature by 1°C, but in the end the bath produced a greater increase in body temperature, and a lower blood glucose peak after a subsequent meal. This is despite participants expending significantly less energy in the bath than they did during exercise. It may be that the greater heat stress during the bath resulted in more prolonged activation of insulin-independent glucose disposal, but there could also be some mechanisms at play that we’re yet to fully-understand. Total blood glucose for 24h after each intervention, as well as activation of HSP-70 (thought to underlie many of the metabolic benefits of exercise and heat exposure), was similar after both exercise and passive heating. Interestingly, and more easily seen in the poster than the paper, HSP activation seemed to be greater in lean individuals than overweight individuals. This doesn’t prevent a benefit in overweight people, but the benefits of heat stress may be different in different people based on their underlying physiology.
If you’re going to treat yourself to a nice carb-rich meal, maybe go even further and indulge in a soothing hot bath (or hot tub?) beforehand. Win-win!
A different perspective:
In a similar vein (but potentially contradictory) to our tip of the week, there was a recent paper suggesting that, as outdoor temperature increases, the incidence of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) also increases. Based on average annual temperatures in the US (across all 50 states) and across the world, they found that hotter places, and hotter years within an individual place, were associated with a higher incidence of T2DM. This association was greater (almost double the effect of increased temperature on T2DM risk) in the US compared to the rest of the world.
Why might this be? As this is epidemiological data, we cannot prove a particular theory, but the study authors suggest that increased ambient temperature means people need to produce less of their own heat. This leads to less brown fat (brown adipose tissue, or BAT) production, and less mitochondrial uncoupling as a way to dispose of excess energy. While certainly an important possibility, we question the likelihood of this particular association for one very important reason:
We don’t spend a significant amount of time outdoors anymore.
In a world where we often discuss the downstream problem of being indoors (and sat down) most of the time, it’s hard to see how a warmer outdoor temperature directly decreasing BAT is to blame here. We do have a couple of other thoughts that could explain the result:
Across the world, the real outliers (with both high a ambient temperature and high rates of glucose intolerance) are in the Western Pacific region, likely the Pacific islands. These guys are genetically very susceptible to T2DM, especially when exposed to a Western diet. Genetic factors may well play a role across other areas too.
Perhaps it’s how we respond to increasing outdoor temperature, i.e. by turning up the air-conditioning. It’s interesting to note that household rates of air-conditioning have increased in line with the obesity and T2DM epidemic that is often blamed on the US dietary guidelines. Am I saying that air-conditioning causes obesity? No. But having a constantly comfortable thermal environment is increasingly associated with metabolic disease. Slightly cool ambient environments may even result in relative overeating, and contribute to an increased risk of T2DM. This is in contrast to more dramatic cold exposure, which can increase BAT production and improve insulin sensitivity.
As local and worldwide temperatures increase, most people would agree that manmade air pollution is a major contributor. Importantly, certain aspects of air pollution, especially particulate matter (small particles in the air), are increasingly linked to metabolic disease, and could certainly account for both an increase in local temperature and an increase T2DM.
Eating an ancestrally-appropriate diet that is specific to your heritage, getting truly hot and cold occasionally, and mitigating the effects of air pollution as much as possible, are probably all far more important than worrying about how hot it is outside. Unless you are actually outside, which would probably put you in a happy (and healthier?) minority!
Something awesome:
We really enjoyed this recent blog post from Denise Minger about how our own mind is often our worst enemy, including a very open and honest description of her personal struggles. We love Denise because she likes to put the cat amongst the dietary theory pigeons; there’s nothing more dangerous than surrounding yourself with people who only agree with you! Towards the end of the post she mentions a recent trip to Iceland, where it was our pleasure to see her speak. You can watch a video of that thought-provoking talk here.
Thanks for reading!
Tommy Wood, MD, PhD"
Sorry, links were embedded in the email but obviously they didn't get copied here. I'm sure you can go to the blogsite and find them if you want more rabbithole reading
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Replies
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I'm heading to mountains this week. I see this as a good excuse to stop in at the Banff hot springs. 4
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I'm heading to mountains this week. I see this as a good excuse to stop in at the Banff hot springs.
One problem.... this is this afternoon's news:
calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/wildfire-blazing-near-albertas-border-forcing-closures-in-banff-national-park
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canadjineh wrote: »I'm heading to mountains this week. I see this as a good excuse to stop in at the Banff hot springs.
One problem.... this is this afternoon's news:
calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/wildfire-blazing-near-albertas-border-forcing-closures-in-banff-national-park
I suppose the heat from the fire might work...
We're not going that far west. We should be fine. Thanks for sharing that though!
The smoke will make for some fantastic sunsets... It won't help with seeing the auroras on Sunday that are expected from the solar flares though. Bummer on that.
Yep. Going camping for all that fresh mountain air.
This happened to us a couple of years ago too while camping with the same friends. We were in the Kootenays and had to leave early due to the poor air quality from massive fires in the States and BC. They were advising people to stay indoors and we were camping, hiking and biking. LOL It was so smoky we could not see the mountains and we were in the midst of them.1 -
I just like a hot batch with some good Epsom
Salts mix
I will just call it a healthy thing instead of an indulgent time!
Thanks !3 -
Any excuse for a good hot tub/jacuzzi. 1
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The hot weather angle is interesting.
When I lived up north, I ate less and lighter and drank more when the weather was hot. I only used a/c when it was 90+ out. Grilled meat and a cold salad were summer staples.
Now, I live in Florida. Hot and humid most of the year and only a few weeks without the a/c. I eat the same way all year round. If I eat out, I always want hot and heavy food to combat the subzero temps in restaurants. I don’t want light and cold, my body wants something to generate heat.
I wonder if some of the increased diabetes has to do with not having a feast-fast cycle according to the seasons.1 -
Yeah, I eat more crap when it's cold out (and I'm always cold inside the house in winter anyhow). I hate taking a bath in my house though - I always go for showers as the tub cools down too fast, and I can't get comfortable in it as I am 5'8" and always have either my upper body or most of my legs out of the water. I just need a personal hot springs, lol.1
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canadjineh wrote: »Yeah, I eat more crap when it's cold out (and I'm always cold inside the house in winter anyhow). I hate taking a bath in my house though - I always go for showers as the tub cools down too fast, and I can't get comfortable in it as I am 5'8" and always have either my upper body or most of my legs out of the water. I just need a personal hot springs, lol.
I'm 5'9.5". I look like I'm a giant trying to relax in a Lilliputian bath...
Brrrrrrrr!
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Re: higher temps = more T2
My guess is ice cream, icee, slushees, snow cones, etc. are all consumed at a MUCH higher rate as the temps go up. Maybe the ridiculously high sugar treats associated with summer/high temps has more to do with the increased T2. Combine that with the fact as the temp goes up most spend less time outside and more time in the A/C. That seems like a bad combo for blood sugar control to me. Just my 2 cents.3 -
I wonder if this is another factor in why most Japanese are slimmer -- the tradition (in my family here and for many people still) is to heat a deep (neck-high while sitting crosslegged) ofuro bath at night, and the family takes turns soaking (after washing off before getting in). It is usually 40 deg Celsius, and most tubs have automatic warm-ups to reheat the water if you sit too long. I love my bath--but never imagined it was good for lowering blood sugars. Sugoi!3
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canadjineh wrote: »Yeah, I eat more crap when it's cold out (and I'm always cold inside the house in winter anyhow). I hate taking a bath in my house though - I always go for showers as the tub cools down too fast, and I can't get comfortable in it as I am 5'8" and always have either my upper body or most of my legs out of the water. I just need a personal hot springs, lol.
same issue. dreaming of a very deep bath or my own hot tub! just found two gyms that have these but they are kind of far. debating whether i should join.0 -
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