I know how hard it is to believe that there are 5 cool benefits of taking cold showers. Especially for those like me whose guilty pleasure is a long, steamy showers. Take a look at the following 5 cool benefits of taking a short cold shower.
1. Stronger Immunity
Taking cold showers can possibly keep you from getting sick! According to a 2013 study, taking cold showers could could strengthen your immunity. Reducing your chances of sickness by 29%. The following cool benefit of taking cold showers is another reason to cool down your showers. For more ways to improve your immunity, check out my post here.
2. Help with Depression
Who would’ve thought that a few minutes of brisk suffering could make you happier? According to a 2013 study, taking a two to three minute shower could help with depression by raising endorphins (the happiness brain hormones) in the body. Moreover, researchers also found that taking cold showers could cause a pain-relieving effect-explained in the next point.
3. Reduce Pain
A study done in 2017 found that taking cold showers every day could be a great home treatment for treating arthritis. Additionally, this treatment could be great after exercise (no need to dunk yourself in a tub full of ice). It makes sense, when you have swelling you use an ice pack to reduce the swelling.
Furthermore, cold water can also better blood circulation which is great for people with hypertension or atherosclerosis. Better circulation contributes to the following cool benefit of taking cold showers.
4. Mellow You Out
This next point is surprising, as I would never guess that taking a cold shower would relax you, but apparently it does. Researchers found that taking cold showers could lower your cortisol levels (stress levels).
This lowered-stress level effects are found to improve your sleep. Which, come on, who doesn’t need to sleep better? You’ll sleep even better after viewing the next cool benefit of taking cold showers: bad chemicals.
5. Reduce Exposure to Bad Chemicals in Shower Water
Tap water sucks. Our governments adds all kinds of chemicals in our water sources that are known to be toxic (i.e. chlorine, fluoride). According to the CDC, chlorine is used as a disinfectant to destroy disease-causing germs like salmonella, campylobacter, and norovirus.
But, chlorine gas is a known respiratory irritant. Moreover, it can damage your lungs, and is associated with bladder and rectal cancer. When we take hot showers, chlorine quickly vaporizes and gets into your body through inhalation and absorption.
Conclusion
To conclude, taking cold showers are not comfortable. But, you could still reap the benefits of cold showers by starting the shower with warm water then slowly transitioning to cold water and ending with 30 seconds to one minute of cold water.
All this is coming from a woman who finds her “me time” at the end of the day taking a long, hot shower. But, knowing now these 5 cool benefits of cold showers-I’ve turned down the heat.
Blessings,
M/M
The Mustard Seed Wife 