As most people would agree, one of the best parts of their day is enjoying a hot shower first
thing in the morning or perhaps when they get home after a long day at work. And while
warm or hot showers can be extremely comforting and is a wonderful luxury, some may not
be aware of all of the potential power that can be found in having a cold shower. Once upon
of time, humans were exposed to all sorts of different climates but now, so much time is
spent indoors and many prefer to have their temperature just right.
But all of this comfort may come at a price and some suggest that it may not benefit the
immune system when the body is not regularly exposed to different temperatures. Research
has shown that exposure to the cold has all sorts of different benefits ranging from increased
metabolism, fighting infection in the body, and perhaps even helping with poor blood
circulation. So, for those who are looking to learn more about this topic and how this type of
therapy may aid them, here is a close look at cold shower benefits for your wellness.
Regular cold showers and the immune system
While cold therapy and claims about how it can aid the immune system have been around for
thousands of years, the understanding of how this works was not clear and so much research
has gone into this area. One study found that regular hot-cold showers aided with reducing
sickness absence from work and another study found that cold stress may be helpful when it
comes to anti-tumour immunity. And this may be because small amounts of stress on the
body such as heat stress or cold stress may be potentially beneficial when it comes to cell
mediated immunity.
Furthermore, whole body cold exposure has been known to increase both activity and
numbers of immune cells such as peripheral natural killer (NK) cells. On top of this, cold
swims for a short period of time have shown to increase survival in mice who are infected
with a parasite. And while much more research needs to be conducted in this area, the current
information is extremely promising and points in the direction that small amounts of stress in
the form of cold exposure can be helpful to the body, even if people have to get out of their
comfort zone for a short period of time.
Cold exposure and weight loss
While there is a lot of debate around the world in regards to issues with diet culture and fat
shaming, there are lots of people out there who are wanting to lose weight in a mindful and
healthy way but are not sure how to do this. And for these people, they may be interested to
learn that there might be a correlation between cold exposure and weight loss. One theory
behind this is that when the body loses heat, it’s metabolism will increase in order to regain
this lost heat and will also burn calories in the process of doing this.
Others suggest that the cold detoxifies the body as well as tightens sagging skin which can
aid with the overall weight loss process. And then others say that regular cold showers or
cold exposure can aid with reducing inflammation which can put an extra burden on the
body. In conclusion, this is something super easy that people can do from home for free that
may have a host of benefits, and if people want to take things further, they can also book a
cryotherapy session here at our clinic.
