Can ice packs improve male fertility? Why Brian Johnson’s latest biohacking experiment has half a million Reddit users following suit

Brian Johnson is a longevity influencer who claims to have spent millions of dollars tracking and simplifying nearly every aspect of his biology in order to slow or reverse aging. At 48, he is undeniably fit, sleeps more than eight hours, and is of child-bearing age, or so he claims.Over the years, he’s tracked his erections, injected himself with his son’s plasma, and monitored his girlfriend Kate Tolo’s vaginal microbiome, all to prove a point. Now, VICE reports, his latest experiment involving ice packs and male testicles has inspired half a million Reddit users to follow suit.Johnson, the billionaire biohacker behind Project Blueprint, claims that performing 27 saunas a day with an ice pack tied to his groin increased the total number of motile sperm by 57%, their concentration by 26%, and their morphology and motility improved. He personally posted these numbers to X and described the ice regimen as the single most important variable in his sauna routine. He also said his sperm count was four times higher than average. These are his own data, from his own experiments.Reddit users are considered to be some of the most unique people on the planet, skeptical of everything yet willing to believe most things. The Reddit biohacking community, which has more than 555,000 weekly visitors, has been conducting its own informal experiments. “My regimen is simple: Apply ice to your boxers for 15 minutes, three to four times a day,” one user wrote on Metro. A year later, he reported his highest testosterone levels ever in a blood test, his ejaculations were more powerful, and his libido was, in his words, “through the roof.”“

Is frosting really refreshing? male fertility?

A 2005 study of 8 to 12 weeks of nocturnal scrotal cooling produced significant increases in sperm concentration and total numbers.

Experiments do have a basis. The testicles hang outside the body because sperm production requires a temperature a few degrees below core body temperature, which is around 95 degrees Fahrenheit. A 2005 study of men with fertility problems was published in International Journal of Andrology, A significant increase in sperm concentration and total number was found after 8 to 12 weeks of nocturnal scrotal cooling. A 2013 systematic review was published in journal of obstetrics and gynecology Scrotal cooling has also been found to benefit male fertility, but with an important caveat. These studies used gentle wearable cooling devices that were worn at night rather than ice packs that were used multiple times a day.The science behind this is more complicated than Johnson’s claims. Lye Diwa, a urologist, told VICE, “While there are small studies demonstrating that hypothermia improves sperm quality, there are no large clinical trials that recommend ice as a way to improve sperm count.” Another expert, Martin Gross, an associate professor of surgery at Dartmouth University, told Verywell Health that there is no evidence that ice improves testosterone or sperm production. He suggests sleep, exercise, weight management and cutting back on alcohol consumption to be more effective.

Brian Johnson and Biohacking

Biohacking is the practice of using science, data, and self-experimentation to optimize physical and mental performance, longevity, and overall well-being. Interest in the area has grown over the years, to the point where tech giants have launched products like rings and watches that track people’s health, and food companies have launched diet-specific condiments.As the human ecosystem becomes symbiotic with the internet, influencers like Johnson who specialize in biohacking have also gained massive followings and trust. However, health is still individual for all people and cannot be the same or similar to each other.For example, despite being in good health and spending heavily to track his health, Johnson recently announced that he suffers from a chronic autoimmune disease called autoimmune gastritis. The disease causes “irreversible damage” to the stomach lining and often develops silently and without symptoms over a period of years, he said. He was diagnosed with the disease in May after years of persistently low levels of ferritin, a protein that stores iron within cells, that his team struggled to explain, he wrote. Dr. Gian Corrado says autoimmune diseases are fairly common, even in apparently healthy and healthy individuals. So despite the care and testing, Johnson developed one.In terms of male fertility, testosterone levels fell 54% between 1972 and 2019 due to environmental factors such as heat exposure and microplastics. Men often express their anxieties about this in online forums. Regardless, the effectiveness of applying ice packs to the testicles remains controversial and not entirely practical.

Tags:

autoimmune gastritisBiohackingBrian Johnsonice pack sperm countmale fertilityProject BlueprintReddit biohacking communityScrotal cooling studyTestosterone dropTestosterone levels