Who doesn’t love long, cold showers especially on a sweltering day, or after an intense, sweaty workout? Surely everyone will agree how beneficial having a cold shower is. For one, it does more than just cleaning your body. It can also help you feel relaxed, especially if you use your favorite scented soap or shower gel on your bath. Taking a relaxing shower is definitely a good way to end the day before you tuck yourself into bed.
Now, imagine having an ice cold shower first thing in the morning. Is it relaxing? Most probably not. Instead, you may have screamed or made monkey-like sounds when the first few drops of icy cold water touched your skin. After that traumatic morning wash, you may have wished you have turned on the heater instead.
Hold it right there! Your supposedly traumatic experience with your morning shower can actually be beneficial to your health. How?
Here are some of the benefits of an icy cold shower in the morning:
1. It increases your alert levels
According to a The New York Times report, Hollywood actress Katharine Hepburn was actually a fan of cold showers. In fact, Hepburn reportedly took icy cold baths for the rest of her life. Apparently, cold showers help wake up our body, boosting our alert levels and forces us to be wide awake from a deep slumber last night. As a result, we feel pumped up and ready to conquer the day.
2. It helps refine our skin, hair, and scalp
Many experts recommend bathing with cold water to help tighten our skin and scalp’s pores and prevent dirt from coming in. On the contrary, hot water can dry out our skin and strip away our skin and scalp’s natural oil. As a result, people who often take a hot bath are more prone to hair loss and dry skin.
3. It helps reduce depression and feeling of stress
According to a 1994 study, those who bathed in icy cold water regularly helped decrease their uric acid levels as well as increase their glutathione levels. In the process, it also helped people to be more tolerant to stress. On the other hand, cold showers are also found to relieve symptoms of depression due to the intense amount of shock brought about by the cold water in the skin.
4. It promotes weight loss
Now, we’re talking. Taking a cold shower can actually help aid in weight loss. Plus, it promotes the loss of fat instead of muscles, making it a healthier and safer way to do so. According to science, our bodies need to burn more calories to warm up your body. Likewise, shivering also helps burn more body calories as well. Ice cold showers also help relieve muscle pain and promote faster recovery time after a tedious workout.
5. It improves blood circulation and immune system function
According to a natural health expert, Dr. Joseph Mercola, taking ice cold showers can encourage blood circulation that helps fight skin and heart issues. The cold water aids the arteries to pump blood more efficiently throughout our bodies, thus promoting better overall health.
6. It helps clear our lymphatic system
Our lymphatic system is responsible for removing body toxins that cause infection and diseases. However, it becomes blocked due to toxins and chemicals that come into our bodies. Once there is a blockage, it weakens our immune system, thus we tend to be more prone even to simple illnesses such as a common cold. By taking a cold shower, our lymph vessels will initially contract and then relax when warmed up again, and enables to flush out the body toxins and improve our health.
7. It helps improve our mental health
Apparently, taking cold showers can help control your nervous system. Because of the initial shock after cold water touches your skin, it increases your mental alertness (as mentioned earlier), thus enables you to be less stressed and think more effectively. In addition, cold showers are also said to help you have more willpower to do all your tasks on hand.
With all of the above benefits, will you still avoid taking cold showers like the plague? We don’t think so.
