Nathan McKen is making a straightforward argument: vaporized liquid nitrogen cryotherapy delivers results faster than ice packs, more comfortably than ice baths, and in a fraction of the time. Three minutes versus twenty. Localized or full-body. A premium recovery tool wrapped in accessible science.
That's the pitch. And parts of it are genuinely supported by the research. But there's a more interesting conversation underneath it — one that most cryotherapy marketing glosses over entirely.
The norepinephrine cascade Nathan describes is real. Cold exposure — whether from liquid nitrogen mist, ice water, or a cold plunge — triggers a sympathetic nervous system response that floods the body with catecholamines. Norepinephrine rises dramatically. That's the signal driving reduced inflammation, pain relief, and the mood elevation people feel after cold exposure. Huberman's work on this is precise: a two to three minute cold water exposure at roughly 10 to 15 degrees Celsius can spike norepinephrine by 200 to 300 percent.
Here's where it gets nuanced. Whole-body cryotherapy chambers — the kind Nathan is describing — operate at temperatures around negative 110 to negative 160 degrees Celsius. Extreme, yes. But the exposure is through nitrogen mist, not water. And water transfers heat roughly 25 times more efficiently than air. That matters. A two-minute cold water immersion at 15 degrees Celsius actually extracts more heat from your body than a three-minute cryotherapy session at minus 130 degrees Celsius.
The research comparing the two modalities is mixed. For acute muscle recovery, cold water immersion has more robust evidence behind it. For comfort and compliance — getting people to actually do the protocol consistently — cryotherapy wins handily.
There's broad consensus on the anti-inflammatory effects of cold exposure. The vasoconstriction-vasodilation cycle Nathan describes — cold narrows blood vessels to reduce swelling, warmth brings oxygen-rich blood rushing back — is well established. Rhonda Patrick's work on cold and inflammation markers aligns with this. The disagreement is about dose, modality, and timing.
The Alzheimer's and dementia angle is intriguing but genuinely preliminary. The hypothesis runs through anti-inflammatory pathways and norepinephrine's neuroprotective effects. There are studies showing cold water swimming correlates with reduced dementia markers, and cold exposure does appear to upregulate BDNF — brain-derived neurotrophic factor. But we're early. Nathan is honest about this. "Still a brand new thing" is the right framing.
If you have access to a cryotherapy chamber, it's a legitimate recovery tool — particularly for acute injuries, post-training inflammation, or simply building a consistent cold exposure habit. Three minutes, two to three times per week. Localized treatment for specific injuries. Full-body for systemic recovery.
If you're choosing between a cryotherapy membership and a cold plunge at home, the physiology favors cold water. But the psychology may favor cryotherapy. Know which obstacle you're solving for.
The most underappreciated thing about cryotherapy isn't the cold itself — it's the controlled discomfort. Three minutes in a chamber at minus 130 degrees Celsius requires deliberate presence. You cannot distract yourself. You are simply there, in the cold, managing your response. That practice — learning to stay calm inside acute physiological stress — transfers. The equanimity you build in the chamber shows up elsewhere. It's the same principle behind breathwork, cold plunges, and sauna: the body learns that stress is survivable, and the nervous system recalibrates accordingly.
Cryotherapy isn't magic. But practiced consistently, it's a reliable signal to your body that it can handle more than it thinks it can.