Swimming in iced water and a dose of nicotine could help you lose weight

Combining the effects of winter swimming and nicotine could help people lose weight, suggests new research.

Scientists have discovered that when cold receptors on the skin are activated by swimming in ice water, the body 's "brown fat" is activated and burns energy.

And they discovered that by combining this effect with another receptor such as nicotine, they can also decrease appetite and facilitate weight loss.

By mimicking the effects of winter swimming and smoking in mice, Danish researchers found that rodents burned more energy, had less appetite and lost weight.

The mice suffered a weight loss of about 12% over a 20-day period when they received the combination treatment.

Their metabolism improved and glucose intolerance disappeared.

However, the research team said that it will take several studies to determine whether the combination treatment has the same effect on humans.

Professor Christoffer Clemmensen, from the University of Copenhagen, said: "We have tried to find the molecular mechanisms that explain how cold increases the burning of energy in order to reproduce them in a medical product.

"We found a cold receiver – TRPM8 – and identified the icilin substance that can activate it.

"However, the cold receptor is not found on brown fat.It appears that the cold receptor on the surface of the skin sends a signal to the brain that then activates the brown fat via nerve connectors.

"The mice became thinner when they were given icilin because it increased their energy turnover, which is what confirmed our idea.

"However, the effect we found was not important enough to have a real effect on patients even though we could optimize the medical product.

"If you want to change the body weight of people, it's not enough to just focus on renewing energy.To actually create a negative energy balance, you also need to reduce people's energy consumption."

"On their own, they do not produce any particular weight loss, but when we give them together, we see a big weight loss."