Cold Thermogenesis Boosts Vitamin D via Biophotons
- Thomas P Seager, PhD
- Jun 15
- 2 min read
Summary
Polish researchers measured significant increases in a cohort of women with multiple sclerosis who participated in ten session of whole-body-cryotherapy.
An American woman with multiple sclerosis (MS) discovered her blood serum levels of Vitamin D more than doubled after adopting a regular ice bath practice.
How Your Body Makes Vitamin D In The Cold
In Cold Makes Vitamin D I explained the process by which mitochondria produce inside brown fat cells during the cold thermogenesis. Because some of that light is in the ultraviolet B (UVB) range that produces previtamin D, cold thermogenesis can boost blood serum levels of Vitamin D -- even in the absence of sunshine.
When a research team in Poland tested blood serum levels of Vitamin D in women with multiple sclerosis (MS), they measured a significant boost following ten session of whole body cryotherapy. No changes in diet. No changes in sunshine.
Just cold (Ptaszek et al. 2025).
An MS patient in the United States who read my articles Multiple Sclerosis Relief and Cold Plunge Therapy for MS decided to try the Morozko Forge to help manage her MS, and measure her Vitamin D along the way. The results were even more profound for her than the Polish subjects. After less than one year of regular ice bath practice, her blood serum levels of Vitamin D more than doubled. Prior to ice bath, her physician had her taking a Vitamin D supplement. As I wrote in Re-ordering Autoimmune Disorders, Vitamin D is critical to the development and function of the immune system. Because MS is an autoimmune disorder, it's very common for physicians to recommend Vitamin D supplements to their MS patients. However, in this case her physician advised her to deprescribe -- that is, to discontinue taking her Vitamin D supplement.
The fact that she increased her blood serum levels of Vitamin D with cold plunge is not so surprising, given what we know anout the mechanisms and the Polish clinical trial. Besides, it probably seems quite natural for the human body to have a built-in mechanism that compensates for a lack of sunshine during the winter months for from the Equator.
The most surprising think about this case study is that the physician wasn't the least bit curious about how the patient more than doubled her Vitamin D without changing supplements or sun exposure.
References
Ptaszek B, Podsiadło S, Czerwińska-Ledwig O, Teległów A. Whole-Body Cryotherapy Affects Blood Vitamin D Levels in People with Multiple Sclerosis. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2025 Apr 29;14(9):3086.
About the Author
Thomas P Seager, PhD is an Associate Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering at Arizona State University. Seager co-founded the Morozko Forge ice bath company and is an expert in the use of ice baths for building metabolic and psychological resilience.
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