Thirty entries. Every DOI.
The twenty-four studies on the official Science page plus the six the audits documented around them — ancestors, letters, preprints and scheduled work.
Strong and promising.
Radboud UMC case study — Wim Hof and the endotoxin
Could one man voluntarily influence his autonomic nervous system and immune response?
Strong signalPNAS 111(20):7379–7384 · 2014Voluntary activation of the sympathetic nervous system and attenuation of the innate immune response
Can healthy volunteers learn to do what Wim did?
Strong signalClinical Rheumatology 35:1081–1085 · 2015The role of outcome expectancies for a training program consisting of meditation, breathing exercises, and cold exposure
Does what you expect change what your body does?
PromisingNeuroImage 172:632–641 · 2018"Brain over body" — a study on the willful regulation of autonomic function during cold exposure
What does Wim's brain do in the cold?
PromisingPLOS ONE · 2019The method in axial spondyloarthritis — a proof-of-concept trial
Can the method reduce inflammation in a real inflammatory disease?
PromisingPsychosomatic Medicine · 2022Involvement of lactate and pyruvate in the anti-inflammatory effects — and which component is active
Which pillar does the work?
Strong signalComprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology 20:100272 · 2024Low- versus high-arousal resilience interventions for stressed midlife women — a randomized trial
Does the method help stressed, depressed women?
PromisingScientific Reports · 2025A semi-randomized trial of the method versus meditation over twenty-nine days
In a large sample, does the method beat meditation?
PromisingNeurological Sciences · 2026The method in multiple sclerosis — cytokines in sixty patients
Does the method change MS inflammation?
PromisingHarvard, 1980s–2000s · 1982Herbert Benson and the Tummo monks
Can meditation generate measurable heat?
PromisingMixed, null and early.
Frequent extreme cold exposure and brown fat — the twin study
Is brown fat the secret of Wim's cold tolerance?
Early evidenceReport · 2014Acute mountain sickness in Kilimanjaro trekkers using the method
Does the breathing prevent altitude sickness?
Early evidenceScientific Reports · 2023The effect of the Wim Hof Method on cardiovascular and psychological parameters — a randomized trial
Does fifteen days of practice change the heart or the mind?
Mixed or nullPLOS ONE 19(3):e0286933 · 2024Investigating the physiological and psychological effects of the Wim Hof Method — a systematic review
What does the whole literature say?
Mixed or nullmedRxiv preprint · 2023The RMIT survey study — three thousand two hundred practitioners
What do practitioners report?
Early evidencePilot · 2025Randomized controlled pilot of low- versus high-arousal interventions for depressive symptoms
Can arousal itself be therapeutic?
Early evidenceNeurological Sciences · 2025The method in multiple sclerosis — neuropsychological pilot
Can MS patients practice safely and benefit?
Early evidencePublished 2026 · 2026UCSF women's stress study
A follow-on to the 2024 trial.
Early evidenceEEG study · 2025The France gamma EEG study
What happens in the brain during the breathing?
Early evidenceStudy · 2025The Leiden obesity study
The method and metabolic health.
Early evidenceTrial · 2025Breathwork and states of consciousness — a trial
Does structured breathing alter consciousness measurably?
Early evidenceStudy · 2025Breath-hold training and sprint performance
Does retention training help sprinters?
Early evidenceStudy · 2025Breath-hold training and endurance
Endurance athletes and retention.
Early evidenceReview · 2025Cold versus heat water immersion — the science
Cold or hot?
Early evidenceStudy · 2025Cold water immersion for soccer recovery
Does cold help footballers recover?
Early evidenceStudy · 2025The method and spinal cord injury
Can people with SCI benefit?
Early evidenceStudy · 2025The method and endometriosis
Pain and inflammation in endometriosis.
Early evidenceScheduled · 2026UC San Diego glymphatic study — scheduled
Does the method affect the brain's waste-clearance system?
Early evidenceLetter · 2009Core temperature rewarming — the Kamler and Stewart letter
Can Wim rewarm his own core?
Early evidenceStudy · 2025Structured breathing practices — a comparison
Which structured breathing works for what?
Early evidenceInstitutions.
| Institution | Work |
|---|---|
| Radboud UMC, Nijmegen | 2011 case study; 2014 PNAS; 2022 component study |
| Wayne State University | 2018 Brain Over Body imaging |
| Amsterdam UMC | 2019 spondyloarthritis trial |
| University of Bern | 2023 null RCT |
| UCSF | 2024 women's stress RCT; 2026 follow-on |
| University of Queensland | 2025 four-hundred-and-four-participant trial |
| Slovakia | 2025–2026 MS pilots |
| UC San Diego | 2026 glymphatic study, scheduled |
| RMIT | 2023 survey of three thousand two hundred practitioners |
Reconciling the count.
The homepage and Science page cite twenty-four peer-reviewed studies; some legacy pages still say eight. This library is the single dated bibliography the audits recommended.
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