Effects of whole body cryotherapy at -130℃ on body metabolism
Objective To explore the changes of body energy metabolism after a one-time intervention of-130℃whole body cryotherapy(WBC)and its physiological mechanism.Methods Eleven healthy adult males were randomly selected to undergo a WBC intervention(WBC group,-130℃)and a blank control test(CON group).Outcome measures in WBC group and CON group were randomly ar-ranged.Venous blood,body temperature,heart rate variability,resting metabolism and other indicators were collected before and after the intervention,and related indicators were compared and analyzed within and between groups.Results In WBC group,fat expenditure decreased by 9.27%after cryothera-py,which was significantly different from CON group(P<0.05).Carbohydrate(Cho)consumption in-creased by 1.46%and energy expenditure(EE)decreased by 6.20%(P<0.05)after cryotherapy in WBC group,without significant differences when compared with those of CON group.The blood test of WBC group showed that leptin(Leptin)decreased by 12.74%(P<0.05),while thyroxine(T4),thyroid stimulating hormone(TSH)and growth hormone(GH)significantly increased by 3.89%(P<0.05),9.69%(P<0.05)and 107.69%(P<0.05),respectively.However,no significant differences were observed in the changes of Leptin,T4,TSH and GH between WBC group and CON group.In WBC group,the skin temperature and core temperature decreased by 15.55%and by 0.27%,and no significant differ-ences were found between the two groups.Heart rate variability analysis showed that heart rate(HR)and low-high frequency ratio(LF/HF)decreased by 7.41%and 40.17%(P<0.05 for both),while the time domain(SD)index and frequency domain(HF)index increased by 8.43%and 23.25%(P<0.01,P<0.05).Except for HF,significant differences were observed in other heart rate variability indicators like HR,SD,and LF/HF between WBC group and CON group.Conclusions A single-130℃cryo-therapy cannot be used for fat reduction,but will reduce expenditure of fat and energy expenditure.A single-130℃cryotherapy may affect the secretion level of metabolism-related endocrine hormones.To a certain extent,it can be applied to prevent the reduction of exercise performance due to overheating of core body temperature during exercise,and improve sleep quality and promote fatigue recovery by affecting the autonomic nervous system.