petrol prices

Cold showers cure the cold?

August 31st, 2006 • Related • Filed Under

Benefits of taking a cold shower

I have been taking cold showers for a while now and now have one every morning. I find it energises me and I feel awake instead of drowsy and I need this as I do research in the morning for the articles I write. I have not got used to jumping into a cold shower. I tend to take a normal shower and do my hair and body etc and then for around 5-10 minutes I adjust the temperature setting until it gets to the coldest setting and I stay under for about 5 minutes.

I remember, when I was younger, going on holiday and I was hung-over from the night before (you know the type of holiday the 18-30 type and every night is just drinking) I always dove into the pool in the morning, which was cold, it cured my hangover after 10 minutes swimming and my headaches would disappear. I did this a few times in the course of the morning.

There may be one drawback, if you are not religious like me you might find god very quickly when the cold water first hits me I tend to shout some expletive or ‘Jesus Christ!’, ‘oh my God!’

I have since found out there are many benefits to having a cold shower or a cold bath, I haven’t really done the latter, which I hadn’t realised until I did some research on the subject.

I found an article on CNN about a centenarian who attributes his long, healthy life to having a cold shower every morning read it here

How it helps the body

In an article from earthclinic the following benefits of cold water were noted

• Brings blood to the capillaries, therefore increasing circulation throughout the body.
• Cleans the circulatory system.
• Reduces blood pressure on internal organs.
• Provides flushing for the organs and provides a new supply of blood.
• Strengthens the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems.
• Contracts the muscles to eliminate toxins and poisonous wastes.
• Strengthens the mucous membranes, which help resist hay fever, allergies, colds, coughs.

Some evidence

A lot of people have reported that it helps panic attacks, although I haven’t seen any scientific backing for this it is purely anecdotal. However panic attacks bring blood rushing from areas of your body to those that need it most to get you ready for the flight or fight syndrome. Normally you would start to calm down after a while however if you suffer from panic attacks your adrenaline is still floating about in the body and your para-sympathetic nervous system does not shut down properly. It may be that a cold shower helps to shut down the system and readies it for heating your body up and getting blood to your vital organs.
Again some more anecdotal evidence, taking a cold shower every day helps to ward off colds. This is probably something to do with it strengthening the mucous membranes which, as mentioned above, helps to reduce fever, allergies and colds.

Try it for 21 days and see if you notice a difference.

If you enjoy this site please leave a donation for Steven, and you can enjoy the spirit of giving too.

Popularity: 3% [?]

CYT Guide to Lucid Dreaming CYT Guide to making true friends
small lucid small friends
Add to Cart
Add to Cart

There Are 8 Responses So Far. »

    MyAvatars 0.2

  1. Pingback by Change your thoughts » Blog Archive » Self discipline, willpower and motivation on 30 November 2006:

    [...] Every morning I have a freezing cold shower, why? Because part of my mind says ‘Don’t do it, it’s just stupid’ and that same part of my mind give’s lots of different reasons not to do it. Each morning I fight that inner voice and discipline it to accept that I am taking a freezing cold shower. I believe there are benefits to having a cold shower which is why I started the discipline in the first place. [...]

    2. MyAvatars 0.2

  2. Pingback by For Your Healthy Body » Cold showers cure the cold? on 8 November 2007:

    [...] read more | digg story [...]

    3. MyAvatars 0.2

  3. Comment by Leon Darnell on 8 March 2008:

    I take cold baths every morning because of the benefits and what it does to my breathing–it is good for asthma.

    4. MyAvatars 0.2

  4. Comment by ricky on 4 April 2008:

    there are a few levels of dificulty for taking cold showers
    1. taking a warm shower first and then cold for 5 or so minutes(begginer)
    and then the toughest level, waking up in the morning, right out of your comfy bed, turn the tap to COLD all the way , jump in. (hard) Your body is screaming nooo but you over come this and say yessss and do it, and it feels great ! and then you feel great and you feel like youve accomplished somthing , what a way to start your day, besides your skin likes it too, can you say mental toughness excersise? i think so

    5. MyAvatars 0.2

  5. Comment by Lucas on 14 May 2008:

    Wow! I’ve started taking cold showers, and its neat! I’m freezing, yet happy. But its really hard to breathe when the temperature is dialed all the way to ‘cold.’ Does anyone else have the same symptoms?

    6. MyAvatars 0.2

  6. Comment by Albert Jefferson on 4 June 2008:

    I have been taking cold showers some ten years now and can vouch personally for their beneficent contributions to my optimum health. I do not take any form of medication, neither have I had a cold, not to mention the flu, since this regimen started. More importantly, as others have already suggested, is the disciplining of the mind to do what it is that I, awareness, dictates that it do. The guernon, the reward, is an invigoration that I find it difficult to achieve in any other fashion. I almost feel guilty, as if I am on to something that the general population should know about. But, then, I come to my senses and know that the general pill popping population could not possibly expose themselves to this type of regimen. I use this technique: (1) left thigh gets it first, then, (2) right thigh gets it next, then, (3) naval section, then (4) chest area. The grand fanale is when I then turn around to expose the back area, shouting Praise be to God! I, then, count up to fifty while the cold water cascade over me, and then I turn around and allow my whole body, once, again to revel in this most enjoyable exercise. The water is as cold as it can be. Albert Jefferso, Atlanta, GA.

    7. MyAvatars 0.2

  7. Comment by Cody on 19 July 2008:

    Wow, I didn’t know about all the benefits. I just took cold showers because they’re invigorating….they make you feel alive =-)

    There’s nothing in the world like a cold shower.

    8. MyAvatars 0.2

  8. Comment by jack on 22 July 2008:

    hi everyone, i take cold baths because i believe it makes me tougher. When i come out my body feels like its been working out its great and i reccomend it to everyone/

Post a Response