What Doesn't Kill Us

What Doesn't Kill Us Plot Summary

Introduction

Throughout human history, our bodies evolved to thrive amid environmental challenges – from freezing winters to scorching summers, from mountain heights to ocean depths. Yet in just the last century, technological advances have insulated us from these natural stressors. We've created a world of perpetual comfort with climate-controlled buildings, on-demand food, and protection from elements that once forced our ancestors to adapt or perish. This unprecedented environmental bubble has silently altered our physiology in profound ways. What if many modern ailments – from obesity and autoimmune disorders to chronic inflammation and diminished mental resilience – stem from this disconnection from our evolutionary heritage? This investigation explores how intentional exposure to environmental stress can reawaken dormant biological pathways within us. Through cold exposure, controlled breathing, and other environmental conditioning methods, we can tap into the body's remarkable ability to adapt and strengthen itself. Rather than simply accepting comfort as the ultimate goal, readers will discover how strategic discomfort can activate powerful healing mechanisms, improve metabolic health, enhance immunity, and unlock capabilities we never knew we possessed.

Chapter 1: The Search for Hidden Human Biology

In July 2012, a pivotal moment occurred in Long Beach, California, when a journalist sat at his desk, feeling that middle age was taking its toll. With aching legs, back pain, and a stomach sagging over his belt, he resigned himself to the inevitable physical decline that comes with aging. That was until an internet search revealed a striking image: a bearded, middle-aged man sitting nearly naked on a glacier north of the Arctic Circle, showing no signs of discomfort or fear of freezing to death. This man was Wim Hof, nicknamed "The Iceman," a Dutch guru who claimed to control his body temperature and immune system through the power of his mind. Hof ran training camps in Poland, teaching people to survive Arctic environments with minimal gear through a combination of breathing techniques, cold exposure, and meditation. Initially skeptical, the journalist decided to investigate, hoping to debunk Hof as yet another false prophet selling miracle cures. What followed was an extraordinary transformation. Within a week of training with Hof in Poland, the journalist found himself capable of physical feats he hadn't thought possible. The routine made tangible changes to his body seemingly overnight, enabling him to perform acts of endurance that seemed impossible, while also losing seven pounds of fat. The culmination of this training was an arduous eight-hour climb up a snow-covered mountain wearing nothing but shorts and hiking boots – an experience that would challenge conventional understanding of human physical limitations. This experience would spark a four-year journey exploring how environmental conditioning can access dormant biological capabilities. The journalist discovered that humans possess evolutionary adaptations that remain largely untapped in our comfort-oriented society. Our ancestors traversed freezing mountains and parched deserts long before inventing basic footwear or animal-skin coats. The underlying biology that enabled this resilience still exists within us, waiting to be reactivated through exposure to similar environmental challenges. The key insight was that when humans outsource comfort and endurance to technology, our bodies inadvertently become weaker. By reintroducing common environmental stressors to our daily routines, we can potentially revive evolutionary vigor that has been suppressed by our modern lifestyles. This journey would ultimately reveal that beyond breathing techniques and cold exposure lies a fundamental reconnection with our biology – one that challenges our understanding of human capability and adaptation.

Chapter 2: Environmental Stress as Evolutionary Programming

For the vast majority of human history, comfort was a fleeting luxury, not a constant state. Our ancestors faced an ever-changing array of environmental challenges that forced continuous adaptation. The human nervous system evolved to maintain homeostasis – an effortless state where the environment meets every physical need. But paradoxically, this system functions optimally when regularly exposed to manageable stressors that trigger adaptive responses. Around 5,000 years ago, at the dawn of recorded history, humans began creating technologies that made life incrementally easier – domesticating animals, building better shelters, and carrying more sophisticated gear. Each innovation allowed us to depend more on our ingenuity and less on our basic biology. But the truly dramatic shift occurred in the early 1900s, when technological prowess broke our fundamental biological links to the world. Indoor plumbing, heating systems, grocery stores, cars, and electric lighting enabled unprecedented environmental control. For the first time since jellyfish, humans could almost completely ignore natural obstacles to survival. Modern humans in developed countries can wake long past sunrise, eat fruits flown in from halfway across the globe, commute in temperature-controlled vehicles, and return home without feeling the outside air for more than a few minutes. This constant comfort comes at a biological cost – we've become overstuffed, overheated, and understimulated. The diseases of deficiency that plagued our ancestors have been replaced by diseases of excess – obesity, diabetes, hypertension, chronic pain, and autoimmune conditions. Our bodies need environmental oscillation to thrive. Muscles, organs, nerves, fat tissue, and hormones all respond and adapt to input from the outside world. Particularly important are external signals that trigger fight-or-flight responses, connecting to physiological systems that operate independently of conscious control. A plunge into ice-cold water, for example, not only activates warming mechanisms but also tweaks insulin production, tightens the circulatory system, and heightens mental awareness. This realization has sparked a counterculture pushing back against technological overzealousness. People have abandoned fancy footwear for minimal shoes, traded climate-controlled gyms for outdoor obstacle courses, and adopted dietary practices reminiscent of our ancestors. Millions participate in events designed to introduce environmental stress and physical challenge – not for the exhilaration, but for the suffering. The popularity of these "sufferfests" raises an intriguing question: Why has pain become a luxury good? The answer may lie in our evolutionary programming. Throughout history, humans who straddled the line between biology and technology found strength in environmental adaptation. From ancient Spartan soldiers who wore only simple cloaks regardless of weather, to Himalayan monks enduring mountain extremes, to Native Americans of pre-colonial Boston wearing minimal clothing during icy winters – these practices tapped into the body's innate capacity to adapt. By embracing environmental challenges rather than avoiding them, these groups unlocked a wellspring of resilience that modern humans are now rediscovering.

Chapter 3: The Scientific Evidence: Cold Exposure and Immunity

The scientific understanding of how environmental conditioning affects human physiology has advanced dramatically in recent years. A turning point came in 2011, when Dutch immunologists Peter Pickkers and Matthijs Kox at Radboud University investigated Wim Hof's outrageous claim that he could consciously control his immune system – something medical science considered impossible. The prevailing wisdom held that there was an impenetrable firewall between the autonomic nervous system (controlling unconscious bodily functions) and the somatic nervous system (controlling conscious movement). The experiment was simple but profound: they injected Hof with endotoxin, a component of E. coli bacteria that tricks the body into mounting an immune response. Typically, 99% of healthy people experience flu-like symptoms when exposed to endotoxin. Remarkably, Hof showed almost no reaction at all. Blood tests revealed unprecedented levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, and his blood remained resistant to endotoxin for six days after leaving his body. While skeptics suggested Hof might simply be a genetic anomaly, a follow-up study proved otherwise. In this groundbreaking second experiment, Pickkers and Kox recruited volunteers with no prior experience in Hof's techniques. Half the group trained with Hof in Poland for ten days, learning cold exposure, focused meditation, and breathing exercises. The other half went about their normal lives. When both groups were injected with endotoxin, those who had trained with Hof showed similar immune suppression abilities – higher levels of epinephrine, increased anti-inflammatory molecules, fewer fever-like symptoms, and faster cortisol normalization. The implications were revolutionary. As stated in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: "Hitherto, both the autonomic nervous system and innate immune system were regarded as systems that cannot be voluntarily influenced. The present study demonstrates that, through practicing techniques learned in a short-term training program, the sympathetic nervous system and immune system can indeed be voluntarily influenced." This finding forced the scientific community to completely reevaluate their understanding of the immune system. Complementing this research, studies on cold exposure have revealed equally impressive physiological adaptations. In 2015, Dutch researcher Wouter van Marken Lichtenbelt found that exposing overweight men with type 2 diabetes to mild cold (57°F) for six hours daily over ten days improved their insulin sensitivity by 43%. The cold apparently activated dormant metabolic pathways that helped clear sugar from their blood more efficiently – effectively reversing diabetic symptoms in just two weeks. Perhaps most exciting is research into brown adipose tissue (BAT), or "brown fat." Unlike ordinary white fat that stores excess calories, brown fat burns calories to generate heat. Long thought to disappear after childhood, studies now show that cold exposure can increase brown fat levels in adults, potentially helping combat obesity. When regularly exposed to cold, the body builds up BAT deposits that passively burn white fat for warmth – essentially turning the body into a more efficient metabolic machine. These scientific breakthroughs converge on an extraordinary conclusion: environmental conditioning is not merely about building tolerance to discomfort; it fundamentally alters our physiology at the deepest levels. Through intentional exposure to cold and other environmental stressors, we can access dormant pathways of adaptation that modern living has suppressed, potentially addressing conditions from inflammation to metabolic disorders through natural biological mechanisms rather than pharmaceutical interventions.

Chapter 4: Breathing Methods and Autonomic Control

The bridge between conscious control and involuntary bodily functions begins with something we rarely think about: breathing. Unlike most autonomic processes, breathing occupies a unique middle ground – we can consciously control it when we choose, but it continues automatically when our attention shifts elsewhere. This duality makes breathing the perfect gateway for accessing deeper biological control systems. The Wim Hof Method and similar approaches utilize this gateway through specific breathing protocols. One fundamental technique involves rounds of 30-40 deep, rapid breaths followed by breath retention – essentially controlled hyperventilation. This seemingly simple practice produces profound physiological changes. Hyperventilation increases blood pH (making it more alkaline), saturates the blood with oxygen, and temporarily reduces carbon dioxide levels. This altered biochemistry creates a window where practitioners can influence systems normally beyond conscious control. During breath retention, especially when preceded by hyperventilation, the body encounters a novel situation. The normal breathing reflex is triggered by rising carbon dioxide levels, not falling oxygen. By intentionally altering this balance, practitioners create a wedge between stimulus and response – what might be called "the wedge" into autonomic function. This gap allows for extraordinary physical performances, such as doing significantly more push-ups without breathing than would normally be possible. Scientific measurements confirm these effects. During controlled breathing sessions, practitioners show measurable changes in stress hormone levels, immune markers, and brain activity. Brain imaging studies reveal altered activity in regions controlling autonomic functions. The mechanism involves a complex interplay between the brain's respiratory control centers, the vagus nerve (a primary communication pathway between brain and body), and various endocrine and immune systems. Importantly, these techniques produce both immediate and cumulative effects. In the short term, practitioners experience heightened physical capabilities, altered pain perception, and improved focus. With regular practice over weeks and months, the nervous system appears to become more responsive to conscious control. The body becomes more efficient at transitioning between sympathetic (fight-or-flight) and parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) states, developing what might be called "autonomic flexibility." This flexibility has practical applications beyond extreme feats. For instance, controlled breathing can help manage stress responses in everyday situations. Where an untrained person might experience a prolonged fight-or-flight reaction to a stressful event, someone trained in these techniques can more quickly return to homeostasis. This ability to modulate autonomic responses may explain why practitioners report improvements in conditions ranging from anxiety to inflammatory disorders. Perhaps most intriguing is what these techniques reveal about human potential. For centuries, Eastern traditions like yoga and various meditation practices have claimed that breath control (pranayama) could lead to mastery over bodily functions. Modern science is now confirming aspects of these ancient teachings, suggesting that the boundary between voluntary and involuntary control may be more permeable than previously thought. Through dedicated practice of specific breathing protocols, ordinary people can access extraordinary levels of physiological control – not through mystical powers, but through intentional engagement with innate biological mechanisms.

Chapter 5: Case Studies: Recovery from Chronic Conditions

The transformative potential of environmental conditioning becomes most evident in the stories of those who have used these methods to reclaim their health after conventional approaches failed. These cases, while anecdotal, provide compelling glimpses into how reawakening dormant biological responses can address seemingly intractable conditions. Consider Hans Spaans, a Dutch IT executive diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2003. By 2011, his condition had deteriorated to the point where he sometimes became completely immobilized, frozen in pain like "a noodle of pain." Conventional treatments were losing effectiveness, and doctors suggested deep brain stimulation as a last resort. Instead, Spaans turned to environmental conditioning. He began tracking his medication use and "up-time" (functional hours) while implementing daily cold showers, ice baths, and breathing exercises. Within months, he noticed remarkable improvements. "Having a condition like this makes you intensely aware of your body," he explained. The environmental stimuli seemed to create pathways around his neurological roadblocks, allowing his brain to communicate more effectively with his muscles. By 2015, he was enjoying 11.5 daily "good hours" on a lower drug regimen, compared to fewer than 7 hours in 2011. Hans Emmink's story reveals similar potential for autoimmune conditions. Diagnosed with Crohn's disease, Emmink suffered from painful ulcers throughout his digestive tract, with blood in his stool and debilitating joint pain. Steroid treatments initially helped but quickly lost effectiveness. After beginning breathing exercises and cold exposure, Emmink reported feeling better "from day one." The breathing helped manage pain, while cold exposure seemed to reset his inflammatory responses. Fifteen months later, a colonoscopy revealed no ulcers where hundreds had previously existed. While his doctor attributed this to spontaneous remission, Emmink believes the environmental training played a crucial role. Even more dramatic is Henk van den Bergh's recovery from crippling rheumatoid arthritis. The condition had progressed to the point where he could barely move, mirroring his mother's fate who had died from the same disease. Conventional wisdom suggested his only option was immunosuppressive drugs that would leave him vulnerable to infections. After learning breathing techniques and regular cold water immersion, van den Bergh experienced profound improvements. The pain subsided, joint swelling decreased, and he regained mobility. So transformed was his condition that he later climbed Mount Kilimanjaro shirtless with a Wim Hof expedition – an unimaginable feat given his prior state. Kasper van der Meulen's experience highlights accelerated healing potential. After breaking his arm when kicked by a horse, van der Meulen refused pain medication and instead focused intensely on breathing and visualization. He spent hours directing his attention to the injury, breathing and mentally "sending light" to his arm. When he returned to the hospital for his scheduled follow-up, the nurse couldn't tell which arm had been injured without asking. The doctor declared him "a medical anomaly," astonished by the rapidity of his healing. What connects these diverse cases is a fundamental principle: by intentionally engaging with environmental stressors in controlled ways, these individuals accessed healing responses that conventional approaches had failed to activate. Their experiences suggest that many chronic conditions – particularly those involving inflammation, autoimmunity, or neurological dysfunction – may respond to strategically applied environmental conditioning. The body seems to possess healing capabilities that remain dormant unless specifically triggered by environmental stimuli that our comfort-oriented lifestyle typically avoids. While scientific skeptics might attribute these recoveries to placebo effects, even this explanation acknowledges the body's remarkable ability to heal itself when given the right signals. The distinction may ultimately matter less than the practical results: people regaining function, reducing medication, and reclaiming lives they thought were lost to chronic illness.

Chapter 6: Extreme Testing: Kilimanjaro Without Acclimatization

The ultimate test of environmental conditioning methodology came in the form of a seemingly reckless expedition: climbing Mount Kilimanjaro – Africa's tallest peak at 19,341 feet – in just 48 hours with minimal clothing and no acclimatization. Conventional wisdom made the danger clear; most climbers take 5-10 days to reach the summit, allowing their bodies to gradually adjust to decreasing oxygen levels. Even with proper acclimatization, about 55% of attempts fail, and 5-10 people die on the mountain annually. The rapid ascent plan deliberately courted acute mountain sickness (AMS), a potentially fatal condition where insufficient oxygen leads to headaches, dizziness, pulmonary edema, and potentially death. When a U.S. Army scientist calculated the risk, his prediction was grim: approximately 75% of the expedition members would develop serious altitude sickness. The assessment wasn't merely theoretical – previous research on 312 hikers attempting a 5-day Kilimanjaro ascent showed 77% developed AMS, with some progressing to severe hypobaric hypoxia. The expedition's doctor, Geert Buijze, faced ethical concerns about the mission. When seeking advice from a mountaineering club, they didn't mince words: "They told me everyone would die." His medical training reinforced these fears – rapid altitude changes inevitably lead to oxygen deprivation as the lower atmospheric pressure reduces oxygen absorption, regardless of mental fortitude or physical conditioning. Despite these warnings, Wim Hof led a group of 26 people up the mountain in January 2016. The participants were diverse – from elite athletes to office workers, including individuals with chronic health conditions. Their preparation included months of cold exposure, breath training, and occasional group ice baths. The underlying theory was simple but revolutionary: the rapid breathing technique would compensate for decreased atmospheric oxygen by increasing ventilation rate, similar to how the altitude medication Diamox works but through conscious control rather than pharmaceuticals. The ascent began with breathwork and minimal clothing, participants focusing on maintaining elevated oxygen levels through continuous conscious breathing. As they climbed higher, portable oxygen meters monitored blood saturation levels, with participants intensifying their breathing whenever levels dropped below 90%. The group spread out as some members struggled more than others, a few developing symptoms and turning back. What makes this story remarkable isn't just that most participants reached the summit in record time – approximately 28 hours – but that they achieved a 75% success rate, far higher than typical expeditions taking three times as long. Follow-up tests showed the participants maintained healthy oxygen saturation through conscious breathing techniques, effectively preventing AMS despite the extreme conditions. This expedition demonstrated something profound about human physiology: through specific training, the body can adapt rapidly to environmental challenges that would typically cause serious illness or death. The conventional wisdom about altitude acclimatization assumes the body must slowly produce more red blood cells over days or weeks. The expedition suggested an alternative pathway – that conscious control of breathing patterns can provide immediate physiological compensation for environmental extremes. Beyond mountaineering implications, this achievement raises questions about other "established" limitations of human physiology. If people can consciously influence oxygen processing at extreme altitudes, what other supposedly automatic functions might be accessible to trained awareness? The expedition represents not merely a physical achievement but a conceptual breakthrough in understanding the relationship between conscious control and autonomic function during environmental stress.

Chapter 7: Metabolic Transformation Through Environmental Training

The measurable physical changes that occur through environmental conditioning extend well beyond temporary adaptations. When systematically exposed to controlled stressors like cold, heat, and altitude over time, the human body undergoes remarkable metabolic reprogramming that fundamentally alters how it processes energy and responds to challenges. Rob Pickels, lead exercise physiologist at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine, documented these changes through precise before-and-after metabolic testing on subjects who undertook environmental conditioning programs. The results were striking: after several months of regular cold exposure and breathing practices, test subjects demonstrated dramatic shifts in their metabolic profiles without increasing conventional exercise routines. The data showed they continued burning primarily fat through significantly higher exertion levels before switching to carbohydrate metabolism – essentially, their bodies became more efficient at utilizing stored fat for energy. As Pickels noted: "It's like you've added seven hours of exercise to your routine every week." This metabolic transformation stems from several parallel adaptations. Cold exposure stimulates the development of brown adipose tissue (BAT), which unlike ordinary white fat, burns calories to produce heat. Regular cold exposure increases BAT volume and activity, creating a metabolic furnace that continues burning calories even after warming up. Simultaneously, cold triggers mitochondrial biogenesis – the creation of new cellular power plants throughout the body – increasing overall metabolic capacity. Beyond fat metabolism, environmental conditioning radically improves cardiovascular efficiency. The blood vessels of regular cold-exposure practitioners develop greater elasticity and control. Their vascular muscles – which line miles of blood vessels and control blood flow to different body regions – become stronger and more responsive. This enhanced circulatory control enables more efficient oxygen delivery and waste removal during physical exertion, contributing to improved endurance without additional training. The impact on hormonal systems is equally profound. Environmental stress triggers beneficial hormetic responses – where moderate stress stimulates adaptive processes that strengthen the organism. Regular cold exposure optimizes cortisol patterns, improves insulin sensitivity, and enhances thyroid function. These hormonal improvements contribute to better energy regulation, reduced inflammation, and improved recovery from exertion. What makes these adaptations particularly valuable is their comprehensive nature. While conventional exercise primarily targets specific muscle groups or energy systems, environmental conditioning activates whole-body adaptive responses. This comprehensive stimulation explains why practitioners often report improvements across multiple health parameters simultaneously – from weight loss and improved endurance to reduced inflammation and enhanced mental clarity. Perhaps most remarkable is the minimal time investment required to achieve these results. While conventional wisdom suggests that significant metabolic improvements require many hours of weekly exercise, environmental conditioning protocols often involve just 15-20 minutes daily of breathing exercises, cold exposure, and visualization techniques. This efficiency stems from directly targeting regulatory systems rather than simply burning calories through movement. The implications extend beyond personal fitness. Medical researchers are increasingly investigating these methods for addressing metabolic disorders like diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. By activating innate adaptive mechanisms through environmental conditioning, these approaches may complement or in some cases replace conventional treatments that focus on symptom management rather than systemic adaptation. As our understanding of environmental conditioning advances, it suggests a new paradigm for human health optimization – one that recognizes our bodies evolved to thrive not despite environmental challenges, but because of them. By systematically reintroducing these evolutionarily familiar stressors, we can potentially unlock metabolic capacities that remain dormant in our comfort-oriented modern lives.

Summary

Throughout human history, our species has demonstrated remarkable adaptability to environmental challenges – from traversing frozen mountains to surviving scorching deserts. Yet modern life has insulated us from these evolutionary stimuli, contributing to unprecedented rates of metabolic, inflammatory, and autoimmune disorders. The core insight uniting all the evidence presented is that humans exist in a biological continuum with our environment. Our bodies are not discrete, isolated entities, but dynamic systems that develop and function optimally when exposed to appropriate environmental signals. When we eliminate all discomfort from our lives, we inadvertently suppress the very stimuli that maintain our physiological resilience. This understanding offers a powerful framework for reclaiming our biological birthright. By strategically reintroducing environmental challenges – cold exposure, conscious breathing, and intentional discomfort – we can reactivate dormant adaptive mechanisms that strengthen rather than weaken us. The evidence suggests that these approaches can address a remarkable range of modern ailments, from metabolic disorders to chronic inflammation. More fundamentally, they reconnect us with our evolutionary heritage, reminding us that we are not separate from nature but part of it. The journey toward optimal health may not lie in ever-increasing comfort and technological insulation, but in a mindful reconnection with the environmental forces that shaped our biology. By finding the balance between comfort and challenge, between technological convenience and biological necessity, we can potentially resolve the mismatch between our ancient physiology and modern lifestyle – and in doing so, awaken capabilities we never knew we possessed.

About Author

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Scott Carney

Scott Carney is an investigative journalist and anthropologist whose stories blend narrative non-fiction with ethnography. He has been a contributing editor at Wired and his work also appears in Mother Jones, Foreign Policy, Playboy, Details, Discover, Outside, and Fast Company. He regularly appears on variety of radio and television stations from NPR to National Geographic TV. In 2010 he won the Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism for the story “Meet the Parents” which tracked an international kidnapping-to-adoption ring . His first book, “The Red Market: On the Trail of the World’s Organ Brokers, Bone Thieves, Blood Farmers and Child Traffickers” was published by William Morrow in 2011 and won the 2012 Clarion Award for best non-fiction book. He first traveled to India while he was a student at Kenyon College in 1998 and over the course of several years inside and outside the classroom he learned Hindi. In 2004 he received a MA in anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. All told, he has spent more than half a decade in South Asia. He lives in Long Beach, CA.Source: http://www.scottcarney.com/

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