Part 1: Women, Cold Plunges, and the Viral Misconception
Exclusive Member Article
Over the past few months, a wave of misinformation has been spreading across social media: "Women shouldn't do cold plunges," or "Cold plunges raise cortisol and disrupt female hormones." These claims are often paired with just enough scientific language to sound convincing—but as usual, they fall apart under scrutiny.
The go-to piece of "evidence" used to support these claims is a study from 2014, conducted by Solianik et al. This research is being cited to argue that women have a diminished ability to tolerate cold compared to men. But there’s one glaring issue: this study involved immersing men and women in 14°C (57°F) water for 170 minutes—nearly three hours.
Let’s be clear: that is not a modern cold plunge.
Most therapeutic cold exposures used today are short—typically 2 to 3 minutes. They're designed to stimulate the nervous system, not freeze it into submission. The goal isn’t to push the body to its absolute limit. It’s to introduce short, adaptive stress that the body can recover and grow from. This is where most of the wellness benefits are found: improved mood, reduced inflammation, increased dopamine and norepinephrine, and enhanced stress resilience.
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So what did the Solianik et al. study actually find?
Core temperature defense was effective in both sexes. Neither group became hypothermic. That alone tells you that both men and women handled the cold well.
Men responded with earlier increases in oxygen consumption, a signal of earlier shivering (metabolic thermogenesis).
Women maintained core temperature through greater vasoconstriction, especially in the extremities. This means they conserved heat by reducing blood flow to the skin and limbs.
Importantly, metabolic activation was equal in both groups. The energy systems that kick in to keep you warm were fully engaged in both men and women.