Cold Exposure

Aajonus was direct about the sole legitimate use of cold application in his framework: numbing pain. He stated explicitly that cold is "only good to numb pain, and never exceeding a 2 minute application." Beyond pain relief, he found no therapeutic value in cold exposure. He was equally direct that heat is always the correct method when the goal is to increase circulation of nutrients to an area for increased detoxification and healing.

Even for pain relief, the two-minute limit was firm. There is no context in the source material where Aajonus endorsed cold application for longer than two minutes on a body part. This constraint applies whether the cold is an ice pack, cold water, or any other cold medium.

The practice of alternating hot and cold showers, which is promoted in various natural health traditions as a way to stimulate circulation, was addressed by Aajonus under the heading of cold applications. His position was that the cold portion is only acceptable for up to two minutes at a time. He did not endorse the cycling practice as a meaningful therapeutic protocol, because his view was that cold constricts and limits circulation rather than enhancing it in any lasting or beneficial way. The value of cycling, to whatever extent he acknowledged it at all, was bounded entirely by the two-minute cold limit.

The one specific and positively described use of cold in the source material is a very targeted application during hot baths or hot tub sessions, used not as a general cold therapy but as a means of allowing the person to remain in the hot water longer than they otherwise could. The brain dislikes overheating. When a person has been soaking in water at 102 to 110 degrees for an extended period, the brain can reach a point where it signals intolerable discomfort and the person feels they must get out. At that point, Aajonus recommended two simultaneous cold interventions.

The first is to place a cold wet washcloth on top of the head. The second, and more specific, is to immerse the hand, held open and not clenched tightly, wrist-deep into a bowl of cold water with ice cubes floating in it, for exactly two minutes, no more and no less. This chills the bone through the wrist and carries that cold sensation up to the brain, relieving the sensation of dangerous overheating and allowing the person to remain in the hot bath. Aajonus described this as completely changing the experience: "everything will change. The brain does not" want to get out once this is done. The bowl of cold water and the ice pack on the head are tools for extending the hot bath session, not independent cold therapies.

A related technique for cooling the brain during hot baths involves holding cold water in the mouth. Because swallowing cold water sends the cold into the digestive tract rather than to the brain, and because the digestive tract requires warmth to properly digest and absorb nutrients, swallowing cold water while in a hot bath is counterproductive. Instead, Aajonus described holding cold water in the mouth, doing this five times, to chill the brain from that route without chilling the gut. Honey on the lips prevents dryness during bath sessions.

Aajonus addressed cold sweats in the context of people on the raw diet. Waking soaked in sweat while feeling cold was described as indicating that the body is reproducing cells overnight and that by morning the person is sufficiently fat and protein deficient to feel cold. This was not framed as a detox crisis requiring cold intervention; it was a nutritional signal pointing toward the need for more fat and protein in the diet.

Aajonus described the physiological response to cold in considerable detail across several workshop sessions. When the body encounters cold, the spleen releases stored red blood cells into the bloodstream, thickening it and generating heat. The kidneys simultaneously pull H2O out of the blood to further thicken the bloodstream, because a lower water content in the blood reduces the risk of the blood cooling too quickly, since water freezes at a much lower threshold than whole blood. This combination of spleen and kidney action allows the body to withstand temperature changes of up to 30 degrees in an hour, according to Aajonus. Without the spleen, the body would struggle to survive even a five-degree temperature change.

The increase in urination when cold is a direct result of this process: the kidneys are dumping fluids out of the blood to thicken it. When the body warms, the spleen draws red blood cells back out of the bloodstream to thin the blood and cool the body, and the kidneys stop pulling water, allowing blood to become thinner again. Aajonus noted that ideally this should be handled entirely by the spleen, with the kidneys not needing to participate. The kidney involvement is a consequence of the body's toxic load and departure from a fully raw diet and clean environment. People without a spleen were specifically cautioned to ease into hot baths gradually and to drink more fluids before entering.

Cold is entirely counterproductive in the context of lymphatic decongestion, which is the central therapeutic concern in Aajonus's hot bath protocols. The lymphatic system, in his framework, becomes clogged with hardened plastic fats from cooked oils and industrial chemicals. These hardened fats can only be melted and moved with sustained heat at 102 to 108 degrees Fahrenheit, maintained over 40 to 90 minutes depending on the depth of congestion being targeted. Cold does nothing to melt these fats. Exercise, even vigorous exercise, cannot raise the body's internal temperature high enough, with marathon runners and athletes never exceeding 100.8 to 101 degrees even at maximum exertion. The only way to reach and sustain the temperature necessary to move lymphatic congestion is immersion in hot water.

Cold, by contrast, would keep the lymphatic fats hardened and further constrict flow. There is no context in the sources where cold is suggested as a lymphatic tool.

One passing reference to cold water at a natural hot springs appears in the sources. Aajonus was asked whether both the hot and cold pools at a mineral hot springs were beneficial. His answer was affirmative but qualified: "Just don't stay in the cold too long. Stay in the cold maybe three minutes at a time." This echoes his general two-minute cold rule, extending it slightly to three minutes in the specific context of naturally cold mineral water at a springs. The hot springs themselves, at temperatures of 108 to 110 degrees without chemical additives, were viewed positively as a substitute for hot tub baths when access to a home hot tub was not available. The recommendation was that visiting a hot springs three to four times daily for a week could provide a significant boost to lymphatic function.

Aajonus's general position on showering with municipal water was one of caution. Chlorine vapors (chloroform) released during showering with chlorinated city water gradually weaken and damage the lungs, blood, thyroid, and brain, predisposing people to pneumonia, other respiratory conditions, and meningitis of the spine and brain. The recommendation was to install non-chemical filters to eliminate chlorine and other chemicals from shower water.

Beyond the chemical concern, showering was discouraged the morning before sunbathing because washing removes the body's natural oils, which function as a natural sunblock. Cold showers specifically are not discussed as a morning routine or tonic practice anywhere in the source material. Aajonus's personal anecdote about shaving with cold water in Asia is a logistical observation, not a therapeutic endorsement of cold water exposure.

For perspiration of toxins from the body, Aajonus recommended showering and rinsing every three to four minutes if using steam, in order to prevent perspired toxins from being reabsorbed through the skin. Steam baths were described as the least desirable form of heat therapy for this reason and because steam burns mucous membranes including those in the lungs, bronchi, and sinuses.