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Examining the mechanisms responsible for compensatory eating behaviours following cold water immersion.
Secondary Supervisor(s): Dr Tom Cullen, Dr Doug Thake
University of Registration: Coventry University
BBSRC Research Themes:
Project Outline
Cold-water immersion (CWI) participation is becoming more popular with the general public. Regular CWI can reduce exercise induced muscle damage, strengthen the immune system and improve overall health and wellbeing. It is therefore important for researchers to further our understanding of the impact of CWI on health, wellness, and well-being alongside its mechanism(s) of action (Allan et al, 2022; Reed et al, 2023).
Despite ongoing research supporting the health and exercise recovery benefits of CWI, no studies, prior to our recent work (Grigg et al, 2025), had determined or characterised the effects of CWI on appetite and energy intake. It was hypothesised that CWI would lead to compensatory overeating because appetite may be stimulated after exposure to cold-water, as thermoregulation requires energy, which requires fuel.
Indeed, our recent study (Grigg et al, 2025) supported the compensatory eating hypothesis by demonstrating that ad-libitum food intake was significantly increased after 30 minutes of cold (16 °C) water immersion compared to thermoneutral water or ambient air (26 °C).
Interestingly, despite change in energy intake there was no change in self-reported appetite. Owing to the potential implication of these findings for weight gain these findings received considerable attention in the media with articles published in 'Mens Health', 'The New York Times' and many others.
Previous work from Professor Broom demonstrates the importance of gut peptide hormones on satiety in other states of energy demand, such as during and following physical activity and exercise. As such, the primary aim of the proposed programme of research will be to investigate the role of gut peptide hormones in the regulation of energy intake following cold water immersion.
This programme of research as part of the PhD will further our understanding of the physiological mechanisms by which environmental stressors regulate our appetite and energy intake.
