At Vail Christian High School, surrounded by both health experts and novices, author Bill Gifford shared one of the things he hoped panel viewers could take away from that morning: “You can learn something by leaning into the thing you don’t like,” he said. In other words, embrace discomfort.
Gifford is a New York Times bestselling author for his two books: Spring Chicken and Outlive, which both dive into the science behind longevity. His work is also found in publications such as Bloomberg Businessweek, Outside Magazine and Scientific American.
As a science writer, Gifford has learned how to take high-end research and make it digestible for the everyday user and to do so, he has to live out his own credo of discomfort.
His new book Hotwired: How the Hidden Power of Heat Makes Us Stronger, which was released in March 2026, challenges how people think of heat and how they could use it to their advantage.
Launched in 2023, the Vail Health Learning Lab is an educational series presented by the Vail Health Foundation that features events twice a year to discuss ways to improve healthspans. On July 9, Gifford spoke to community members about not only the effects of heat on the body, but also how he used his own body as a subject of research.
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“I didn’t expect the story of heat and health would lead to the idea that heat could help mental health and lead me to the interesting work that’s being done here by Vail Health and Vail (Health) Behavioral Health,” Gifford said in an interview with Vail Daily. “We have to pursue maybe even the crazy sounding ideas if they’re going to progress science.”
Despite his distaste for warm temperatures, he decided to seek them out. He spent hours in saunas, rode his bike in 100-degree heat and with the Vail Health Behavioral Health Innovation Center, participated in whole-body hyperthermia — all to adapt to heat and to discover the potential of using it to improve his health.
With the Vail Health Behavioral Health Innovation Center’s director, Dr. Charles (Chuck) Raison, alongside researcher Dr. Ashley Mason, Gifford took part in their CHILL’D study, which tested how cold plunging and heat therapy can relieve and even improve behavioral health conditions such as depression. The session left Gifford feeling euphoric, he said.
“It’s not as widely known as it should be that the Vail Valley is really emerging as a major, kind of national level center for research into mental health,” Raison said. “We’ve made this commitment to try to build out a program of really unique studies here that have a very specific focus, which is: can we identify and test new ways to help people with depression, anxiety and trauma, and do it in a way that also helps people within Vail Valley get access to these treatments.”
In addition to the role of heat exposure in bolstering mental health, part of Gifford’s research for his book looked into studies that showed how sauna usage lowers risk of cardiovascular disease and dementia. One study he found was that dunking people in hot tubs can increase levels of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, which is shown to improve memory. Heat-shock protein activation is when your body is exposed to extreme temperatures, and then regulates your body and strengthens cells, making your body more resilient to stress and maybe even helping you sleep, said Gifford. He also spoke on a Japanese post sauna trance state called Totonou, which is a state of calm and clarity after being exposed to the sauna’s heat.
“Targeted heat exposure can do different things,” Gifford said. He left the audience with three rules to pursue heat exposure: (1) Keep it simple. (2) Avoid perfectionism. (3) Find your joy.
“Today’s event is a continuation of our work and trying to spread the word of being healthy before you get sick,” said the President of Vail Health Foundation, Dan Pennington. “There are things you can do everyday to be healthier.”
Before and after the panel, attendees had the chance to speak with representatives of different programs within the Vail Health Foundation, including experts from Howard Head Sports Medicine and Vail Healthspan, on ways that they can take care of their body and mental health in a push for longevity.
“We’re to just help people with overall health and longevity,” said physical therapist Brittney Huntimer from Howard Head Sports Medicine. “It’s just a good event to educate the public on all the resources we have.”
Meanwhile, Josiah Middaugh, the director of healthspan programs who has been a professional triathelete for 25 years, reflected on how today’s event changed his way of thinking on how he used heat on himself and his patients. “I was most interested from a performance perspective, but it’s really interesting now to learn about some of the health benefits,” he said.