
The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work (2016) - jozydapozy
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0161749
======
michalu
I've been taking cold showers exclusively for 11 years now.

It doesn't get much easier but you'll get addicted to the great feeling after.

It's similar to running or exercise, it sucks to do but you do it anyway
because the benefits far outweigh the temporary discomfort.

The trick for me was to never use warm shower again and never compromise ...
only coldest water available counts. First thing in the morning.

It makes everything easier as once you experience that comfort of warmer water
you'll have to fight with it again and again.

That's why I don't believe in James Bond showers and similar stuff.

Only last year I started to take warmer showers if I need to take one late at
night and want to get a good sleep fast (I took about 4 so far) ... to build
this habit, for me personally, it was paramount to leave no other option.

For the first 7 years I haven't been sick at all. At the same time, I don't
think it's a miracle practice for your health. You will get sick if you expose
yourself to risks of getting sick often enough - it's simple.

In the early days, I used to procrastinate in the bathroom ... a good trick
was to start timing my showers. I would leave a timer set for 5 min and paper
to log time, I tried to get in and out beating 5 min time-frame. In less than
couple of weeks it became a habit that I enjoy for some 8 years now.

Other than health, energy and willpower, I suspect it has some solid
psychological benefits ... you get out in the morning you feel like a
superhuman, imagine starting your day in such way and how that compounds over
the years.

It's great habit to start.

~~~
OnACoffeeBreak
Obviously you don't feel that using cold water negatively impacts how
effectively you can clean yourself otherwise you wouldn't do this, but I was
interested to know because I assumed hot water is better. So, I did some
searching, and results appear inconclusive [1]:

> The impact of handwashing techniques on infectious diseases among the
> general public in community settings has not been extensively studied.Hot
> water for handwashing has not been proven to have an added anti-microbial
> effect.

1:
[https://www.academia.edu/20383485/Hot_Water_for_Handwashing_...](https://www.academia.edu/20383485/Hot_Water_for_Handwashing_Where_is_the_Proof)

~~~
michalu
Yes, good to know as it's quite a usual counter-point I get. The differences
are trivial in my opinion.

I take about two showers a day, mainly because I do sports, so I think I make
up with the volume ... even training in sometimes dodgy gyms around the world
or doing jiu-jitsu for a long time basically rolling on the ground with sweaty
dudes, I was able to keep myself clean of any infections, fungal or viral ...
I'm just taking regular shower clean myself properly, the the body should fend
off easily.

It's anecdotal but I think doing hygiene properly and regularly makes bigger
impact than temperature of a water.

~~~
yonaguska
Cold showers after jiu jitsu on a hot day are like being in heaven for a
moment.

------
dardie
Alternative hypothesis: The 79% who were able to complete the trial had
already selected for 'grit', or folks who wouldn't skip a day's work for a
minor ailment. To check, instead of just comparing the test group to the
control group you would need to compare the test group to itself, before and
during the cold shower period.

~~~
watwut
I can compare that on myself - I was very often sick (with common colds and
such) and it got slowly better after I started cold showering regularly.

Cold swimming (which should include showering with cold water if you follow
guidelines) is not exceptional here and people do report improvements in
immunity. That is common reason for starting it - you are often sick and this
is last desperate attempt to make it better after more pleasant methods did
not worked.

~~~
carlmr
Maybe you just got mentally hardened. What you used to treat as a sick day now
doesn't feel that bad. Not because you're less sick, but rather because a
light cold doesn't seem so bad anymore.

~~~
watwut
I am 100% sure it is not the case.

It is also completely absurd to think that daily cold shower will mentally
harden you so that you don't perceive sickness.

What I am confused about is the level of investment people have in idea that
it can not possibly do something with body on physical level and absurdity
people go to argue that.

~~~
carlmr
>I am 100% sure it is not the case.

What makes you so sure?

>It is also completely absurd to think that daily cold shower will mentally
harden you so that you don't perceive sickness.

I didn't say not perceive sickness. I said that you wouldn't judge some levels
of sickness to be as debilitating. I know enough people that sneeze once and
don't work for a week. While others will only not go to work if they have a
fever.

Both of those people feel worse with a blocked nose, but one of them doesn't
judge it as debilitating (given they're not just scared of losing their jobs).

>What I am confused about is the level of investment people have in idea that
it can not possibly do something with body on physical level and absurdity
people go to argue that.

Why is it absurd to think of alternative explanations for the same phenomenon?
I also never said it could not possibly be the case. I think you should take a
look at it from different angles. It's unscientific to rule out something
that's so well documented like mental effects (placebo).

~~~
watwut
> What makes you so sure?

Cause the difference between feeling better/being stronger and being able to
overcome that is something I can evaluate. I know when throat hurts. You
really can tell.

Also, the hardening effect is ridiculous, mostly because the actual hardening
effect going on is that you stop perceiving cold water to be unpleasant. That
is also not just psychological. You can stay longer and longer and longer
without starting to tremble. For the record, trembling means you have overdone
it and should go out asap.Hypotermia is real thing that happens to real
people.

For that matter, with cold swimming, your resistance to cold will go up too
and you will be able to stay much much longer then untrained people without
trembling or being tired after.

All in all, if you follow guidelines and make water cold only gradually, you
don't experience unpleasant feelings. With cold swimming (which tend to be
natural progression once showers are boring), you experience high from
endorphins it releases.

As in, it is the day in week you look forward, because it feels good.

> I know enough people that sneeze once and don't work for a week. While
> others will only not go to work if they have a fever.

Fewer is good immune system response.You can have no or low fewer and still
feel pain or be weak. You described one person with good immune system and one
with bad one.

> It's unscientific to rule out something that's so well documented like
> mental effects (placebo).

It is also unscientific to reject idea that something is not placebo.

------
jph
[https://hbr.org/2018/03/cold-showers-lead-to-fewer-sick-
days](https://hbr.org/2018/03/cold-showers-lead-to-fewer-sick-days)

The link is an interview with the study author, and excerpts are below.

This is the first high-level evidence showing that cold showers can benefit
your health. People who took them for at least 30 seconds for one month called
in sick 29% less than our control group — and 54% less if they also engaged in
regular physical exercise.

Participants who took the cold showers actually reported feeling ill just as
many days, on average, as the people who showered normally. But either their
symptoms were less severe or they felt more energetic, so they were better
able to push through the sickness and function anyway. The exact effect on the
immune system is unclear, but we do have some knowledge of the pathway through
which it works. Cold temperatures make you shiver — an autonomous response to
keep your body temperature up. It involves a neuroendocrine effect and
triggers our fight-or-flight response, causing hormones like cortisol to
increase, shortly before we shift to a relaxation response. Moreover, cold
temperatures activate the brown — or good — fat in the body.

Brown fat doesn’t have any proven connection to immunity, but it does affect
the body’s thermoregulation. When activated, it keeps the body warm by burning
calories. It may also increase your energy and metabolism and help control
your blood sugar. That could reduce your risk of obesity and diabetes.

~~~
lbj
That doesn't sound healthy at all. If the only difference is that they went to
work sick, then I see little benefit. Except to the disease of course, it get
spread around more effectively.

~~~
joncrane
The takeaway I get is that it increases perseverance. So basically, "doing
something physically unpleasant every day increases ability to push
through/withstand other physically unpleasant events" is my big takeaway.
Seems pretty straightforward. Not necessarily novel, especially when you add
in the exercise portion.

I think there's some value to pushing yourself harder than the minimum to be
comfortable and survive. But I don't think that's a eureka.

~~~
viceroyalbean
There are some parallels to Stoic philosophy there. Ancient stoics would
exercise regularly but state the health effect as a secondary benefit, the
primary benefit being the virtuous exercise of discipline.

~~~
gambiting
Anyone who had to do military draft will confirm it. Even after 9-12 months of
mandatory service you don't come back buffed like a body builder - but the
daily exercise and regime puts you in a different state of mind.

------
wensheng
It says old showering reduced self-reported sick leaves but not illness days.
So it's not conclusive it has real benefits.

I guess lots of HNers shower cold, they like hearing it having potential
benefit so they can feel good about themselves. Lots of confirmation bias
here. The top voted comment doesn't discuss TFA, but just how great cold
showering is.

In the study, a 90-seconds subject died, most likely not because of cold
shower, but you never know, without the the experiment, he/she probably would
have lived. His/her family members probably blamed cold-shower for it.

Dr. David Sinclair advocates cold-showering, said it increase brown fat. But
the evidence he cited[1] (Lifespan page 110), the short term cold exposure is
4 hours, the temperature is probably lot colder than cold shower, so it's
doubtful a 30/90 second cold shower help growing brown fat.

[1]
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5558157/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5558157/)

~~~
tbihl
Just feels like sampling bias. As someone who likes to take cold showers
(typically with 60-64F water), the thing that usually stops me is feeling
sick.

I think it's likely that a significant portion of attrition (19% after 90
days) was due to people feeling too sick to suffer a cold shower, which should
pretty closely track with people feeling too sick to go to work.

------
skizm
A cold show temporarily jacks your heart rate up just enough to get you out
the door. It doesn’t make people less sick, just less likely to take a sick
day. The article even says subjects that were sick just felt slightly more
energetic and not less sick. I’ve still seen no evidence that cold showers
have any real health benefits.

------
kieckerjan
I have been taking cold showers for a couple of years now. Although I wouldn't
claim any health benefits since none have been proven, I will claim some other
obvious benefits that everyone should consider.

Cold showers are unheated. Cheaper and better for the environment.

Cold showers seldom last longer than a few minutes, whereas hot showers are so
comfortable that many people make them last way too long. Cheaper, better for
the environment and for your time management.

Cold showers wake you up, whereas hot showers are more like extended snooze
time.

Cold showers make you feel like a bad ass.

Secret tip: eat some breakfast before the shower, to crank up your engine.

------
mnsc
This SciShow-clip discusses this study and others.

[https://youtu.be/HsonXuJs8-s](https://youtu.be/HsonXuJs8-s)

I do it most mornings for (anecdotal) "waking up the mind" when I'm tired.
Sometimes it feels like the world goes from SD to HD. I don't do it 90 seconds
though more like 30 tops and I don't believe that I'm less sick because of it.
For me it's also a psychological test of "can I chose to do something that is
tangibly uncomfortable when it's super easy to just stay nice and cosy".

------
tralarpa
The sentence "routinely showering (hot-to-) cold resulted in a 29% reduction
of self-reported sick leave from work but not illness days" raises some
alarms. Also the fact that so many participants discontinued the intervention
"because of its burden or a sickness" (much fewer discontinuers in the control
group).

------
dangus
> A routine (hot-to-) cold shower resulted in a statistical reduction of self-
> reported sickness absence but _not illness days_ in adults without severe
> comorbidity.

In other words, it does nothing. Maybe it gives you some kind of refreshing
feeling afterwards but that’s it.

I’ll pass on this upcoming health fad.

~~~
thebeardisred
Glad that at least one other person read the same thing as me rather than
engaging in _more_ self-reporting about how great it was for _them_.

------
ChrisRR
I'm not sure what the take-home from this is. Fewer people called in sick.

Does that mean more people who were actually sick were tricked into a false
feeling of health and went into work to spread their germs?

Or does it mean that healthy people that were just feeling a bit groggy were
re-invigorated by a cold shower?

------
javiermares
Someone knowledgeable please advise:

Do cryotherapy or cold showers increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's
disease in the long term?

"Tau phosphorylation is exquisitely sensitive to temperature, increasing by
80% for each degree below 37°C, due to exponential decrease in PP2A activity
during direct hypothermia, or anesthesia-induced hypothermia."

This means that one might expect a significant increase in tau phosphorylation
from modest decreases in body temperature, possibly leading to increased risk
of Alzheimer's in the long run.

Source:
[https://www.nature.com/articles/srep00480](https://www.nature.com/articles/srep00480)

~~~
pknight
Not an expert, and I don't think this is a factor at all, but the cold showers
are in part meant to help you tap into a natural ability to stay warm (without
shivering), so you're not get an appreciable dip in core body temperature in
the first place if you do it right.

I believe it is thought that long term Tau accumulation in the brain is what
worsens or accelerates alzheimers in patients, but a healthy person is
clearing Tau build-up all the time, primarily during sleep. Any behaviour that
improves sleep quality is therefore likely to be a boost in preventing and
decelerating the development of alzheimers and cold showers promote good sleep
and help keep our circadian rhythms aligned in a way that encourages good
quality sleep.

One of the reasons why a hot bath before bed is good for sleep is because it
decreases body temperature.

~~~
javiermares
Thanks, all of that is quite interesting. I want to learn more.

------
downtide
Just read the summary. For me personally a hot to cold shower isn't nice. But
a cold shower although initially repulsive becomes very enjoyable. And when it
ends the thaw feeling is magic. When you are freezing, even cold feels warm.

Some days I get so cold in my bones I feel a hot bath or hot shower is the
only way to sort me out. If I'm proper dirty, a cold shower doesn't do.

------
AstralStorm
The study explicitly says no reduced days of illness, just fewer days off.
Means people were going in sick or worked harder?

So there are no actual results on health in the short time they studied.

~~~
discobean
They probably just didn't feel like calling in sick after a cold shower

~~~
saberdancer
Exactly. Assuming they took a cold shower in the morning, sounds like this
would wake them up in an aggressive way, probably raise their adrenaline level
which made them less likely to call in sick. Once at work and levels wore off,
you were already at work so you'll push through. Once you need to write things
up, you have same day of sick days but more days when you were at work.

If there was a long term (day long) effect in reducing "feeling sick" there
should be less sick days as people who are borderline sick start to feel fine
and don't report being sick. But if your feeling is temporary, let's say 2
hours then you can get to work and after the fact report that you were sick.

------
jokoon
During winter I never heat my home above 18C, so I never use any heating. My
computer and I are the only sources of heat and it's enough (not to mention
the fridge, etc). If it goes below 16 I do some pushups and dress accordingly.
If the bed is really cold, I just use a hot-water bag.

I like the cold.

To be honest, I'm also wondering if getting used to the cold might result in
some form of slight weight loss, since your body would naturally burn
additional calories to maintain a normal body temperature, but it's just a
guess.

~~~
bootloop
Depending on where you live this can ruin your apt/house and accelerate growth
of mold because the humidity will be so high. At least you have to vent
regulary (which might be challenging as you can't heat up fast if you don't do
any extra heating).

Just saying, I have seen it happening as a tenant wanted to save on heating
costs...

~~~
chispamed
I can confirm, I live in a very humid city but I really like to sleep in a
cold bedroom. However when indoor temperature dropped to below 17°C I had to
heat it up back to 18-19°C because mold started growing near the windows.
Unfortunately the house is very badly isolated so the temperature near the
windows is always way lower than in the rest of the room.

------
s5ma6n
For me, one of the important elements in the results is the reduction in
influenza with 60 and 90 sec. cold shower group. On the other hand seeing this
adverse effect also made me nervous:

"One participant in the 90 seconds intervention group died unexpectedly of
occult chronic pulmonary embolism at 56 days follow-up."

I know it is not because of the trial but it is unfortunate.

~~~
test1235
>occult chronic pulmonary embolism

like ... magic?

~~~
Izkata
I _think_ the medical meaning of the word is related to the word "occlusion"

------
zackmorris
Tons of strong(wo)man competitors take ice baths after their workouts to
reduce inflammation and speed recovery:

[https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=world%27s+stron...](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=world%27s+strongest+man+ice+bath)

IMHO it's not so much about the numbing or pain reduction, but the increased
blood flow afterwards. I ice almost all injuries for about 3 days after they
happen. I also tend to find heat to be a waste of time or that it actually
exacerbates injuries. But, alternating hot and cold MIGHT be effective (I
haven't done it enough to know). In general though, I'd worry that icing after
every workout would train the body to require it as a crutch, which means that
missing an ice bath could lead to injury, so I won't do it.

Also, I'd hate to miss out on the comfort of warm showers. I'm just not that
stoic!

------
dfcowell
30 days seems too short an observation period.

I have 1-2 incidents of sickness per year and I don’t live a particularly
healthy lifestyle.

------
bsaul
i wonder if there are studies about hot bath. Onsen are extremely popular in
japan, and i'm absolutely certain the relaxation you get from hot water is
beneficial to health as well

~~~
exdsq
I recently read that a Finnish sauna practically counts as exercise for the
cardiovascular system, I assume onsen have a similar benefit.

I'm sure I read somewhere that cold showers can be dangerous for people with
per-existing heart conditions too.

I can't cite either right now but they should be easy to find with a Google
search.

~~~
Pete_D
> cold showers can be dangerous for people with per-existing heart conditions

I think cold showers trigger the diving reflex[0] ("most noticeable effects
are on the cardiovascular system, which displays ... in humans, heart rhythm
irregularities"). I don't have a real source for that, but I tried cold
showers a few times and found it impossible to breathe when I had cold water
spraying on my face, like I could feel my airway closing involuntarily.
Warm/hot water doesn't do that.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diving_reflex](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diving_reflex)

------
overcast
I haven't been to doctors, or taken any type of medication in 25 years. Rarely
do I sick, and it's basically the sniffles that I can sleep off. I take long
hot showers.

~~~
GrayTextIsTruth
You’ve probably never had cancer either!

~~~
riku_iki
New study: hot showers prevent cancer!

------
m23khan
Back in 1994, my Grandfather started off his day as always with taking a
shower. Now, he suffered from high blood pressure and was in his 60s and he
liked cold showers.

Anyways, he ended up getting stroke/brain hemorrhage and died. Whether it was
a co-relationship or not, as kids we were told from that point on not to take
pure cold showers (at least let it be lukewarm).

I personally want to take cold shower but this one event from my history keeps
me from taking it.

~~~
hackerNoose
Most probably the high blood pressure had already caused the changes that lead
to the stroke. If it was going to happen the time of highest physical stress
was the most probable. You can make the same argument against exercise, but
then it sounds even more false. Everything is a trade-off.

------
uniacid
Floridian here! I've been taking cold showers as well for the past few years
and I can certainly say it makes a difference in the way you feel afterwards
compared to a normal hot shower and regardless of the weather of the day as
well, obviously it's more enjoyable when it is a warmer day or after some
physical activity and exercise.

As some mentioned I think it has more to do with the shock put on your body
which releases endorphins and other chemicals beneficial for brain function,
it has shown to also be beneficial for some suffering from depression and such
[1][2].

[1]
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17993252](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17993252)

[2] [https://www.lifehack.org/448180/how-cold-showers-can-
change-...](https://www.lifehack.org/448180/how-cold-showers-can-change-your-
brain-and-boost-your-mental-health)

------
kyuudou
If this is the only bathing you do, I would think all the fatty and oily
residue particularly on the face, neck and chest would be harder to wash off.
That's kind of the point of a hot shower, IMO. Still, I do experience the
aftereffects of a cold shower and I think it's useful to do from time to time.
But every day? Ew!

~~~
michalu
If you shower every day and use a soap, you will be clean no matter the water
temperature. Hygiene is a matter of good habits and ethic.

~~~
kyuudou
True but it's more scrubby. Soap usually has an emulsifying agent that breaks
up fat molecules but there's still a physical component to it. If you want
your cold showers you can keep your cold showers!

------
iLemming
In Russia, there are groups of swimmers who practice swimming in cold water.
They are called "walruses" and they swim even at minus 10-20 centigrade. It's
insane. I once watched a very old looking, skinny gentleman coming out of
water. He still had his t-shirt on. He then took off his wet t-shirt, squeezed
out the water couple of times, and then put (still wet t-shirt) back on, then
grabbed his belongings and walked away. He wasn't even shaking. It was around
late November. There was snow. I understand that the temperature of the river
was maybe slightly even warmer than the air's, but damn, he put his cold, wet
t-shirt on, and walked like it was July in Jamaica.

------
marz0
There are also benefits to hot showers [1], so I wouldn't write those off
completely.

[1]
[https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/327461.php](https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/327461.php)

------
kaliali
Conclusion: "A routine (hot-to-) cold shower resulted in a statistical
reduction of self-reported sickness absence but not illness days in adults
without severe comorbidity."

So less people were sick but everyone still took just as many sick days.
Hmm....

~~~
ericskiff
I think you got that backwards. Just as many people reporting being ill
(illness days), but the cold shower group went to work anyway more often
(sickness absence).

~~~
kaliali
Ok that makes more sense. The word sickness absence is a bit confusing.

------
TheSoftwareGuy
>Outcomes >All outcomes were self-reported using web-based surveys.

>Conclusion >A routine (hot-to-) cold shower resulted in a statistical
reduction of self-reported sickness absence but not illness days in adults
without severe comorbidity.

I'm always a tad skeptical of self-reported data. In this case, seeing as the
more objective measure shows a much smaller effect, I am inclined to think
this is more a placebo effect than anything else.

Still, a placebo effect that makes you feel better seems like a good thing, so
I might just start taking some cold showers now

------
ploxolo
Not sure, seems like the ones that did it already were self-determined enough
to work. You would need to compare intra group before and after.

From a metabolic viewpoint cold showers might have some short term energy
boost from the stress hormones it releases. However highly dubious whether
that is healthy or sustainable long-term. 10-years down the line my bet is you
would look like a marathon runner, all wrinkled and with bad skin. Hot showers
can increase prolactin so I guess, moderation in both would be the way to go.

------
florin0x01
I swam in the jokulsarlon glacier lagoon, Iceland, for 3 minutes. When I re-
emerged, I could not stop shivering for about 10 minutes.

Before this event, I took cold showers for about 1 year (including in winter),
then I stopped. Thinking of resuming, but not sure.

Would I go and swim again in the glacier lagoon or similar? Probably. It has
this refrigerator serene like feeling.

So, cold shower is one thing, swimming in near freezing temperature is another
thing.

------
astannard
I wonder if the benefits are the same as using 'plunge pools' I know Tony
Robbins is a huge fan of cold showers: [https://www.tonyrobbins.com/health-
vitality/the-power-of-col...](https://www.tonyrobbins.com/health-vitality/the-
power-of-cold-water/)

I tend to go for the warm show to get clean and then go cold for the last 20
secs.

------
minikomi
A recent study shows that people who regularly take cold showers are 100 times
more likely to mention it than people who take warm showers.

------
chrshawkes
I live in the United States. I remember this story as a kid and always assumed
cold temps and weather makes you more susceptible to viruses like the Flu.
[https://www.history.com/news/did-william-henry-harrisons-
ina...](https://www.history.com/news/did-william-henry-harrisons-inauguration-
speech-kill-him)

------
javajosh
As a side note, if you ever do a Vipassana 10-day retreat (dhamma.org) try
taking a cold shower during the course. It's a nice challenge, and an
application of the "non-reaction" practice. (Personally I found myself far,
far more tolerant of the cold water, to the extent I was kind of amazed that
my previous self was so averse to it).

------
Hitton
They lumped together morning and evening showering, which I suspect to have
significant differences. But common sense thought is that cold shower will
excite metabolism and result of that will be most likely quite different for
normal waking hours versus sleep.

------
Angostura
The group studied seem to have a extraordinarily high rate of sick-days no?
Around 30% taking a sick day in a 90 day period?

I've probably had 2 sick days in 3 years (data point: mid 50s, a nice hot bath
with my toe stuck out of the bubbles, good book, cup of tea).

~~~
Izkata
If I'm doing my math right, and your two sick days aren't correlated with each
other, I think you would have had a 16% chance of one or both of them
occurring during a random 90-day period. Multiply out a few hundred of you,
and that 30% in the study would be about 16%.

So no, doesn't seem like an overly high rate at all to me.

(4 sick days in 3 years would jump to 29%)

~~~
Angostura
Thank you for doing the maths. Insightful

------
andrewseanryan
Wim Hoff had to have something to do with this. It came out of the
Netherlands.

------
paulcnichols
Related, being really cold is one of the reasons surfing (at least in Northern
California) feels so great. The rest of the day afterwards nothing hurts,
assuming you didn't hurt yourself ;)

------
xbryanx
It would be interesting to investigate this based on the subject’s climate and
time of year.

Up here in Minnesota I could imagine doing this in the summer, but right now,
when it’s grey and 18F outside, um no.

------
yters
I've been taking cold showers for quite a number of years and haven't noticed
any significant benefit, except they are short :)

------
Duke-Nukem-64
I only shower at night before bed. Are there any benefits for cold showers at
night? Seems like many of you shower in the morning.

~~~
hourislate
From what I understand (Matthew Walker - Why we Sleep), you will have a better
nights sleep if you take a cold shower before bed. According to the
information I read, you want to bring your body temperature down for a more
restful sleep.

As a bonus, cold showers likely bring on Hormesis, which in turn can also be
beneficial for ones health.

~~~
clarry
> According to the information I read, you want to bring your body temperature
> down for a more restful sleep.

I've heard the same thing, except the suggestion was for a hot shower, because
supposedly the heat makes your body work less to stay warm and the end result
is actually lower core temperature.

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kaolti
Isn't it obvious that cold showers will make you more resilient to cold? Even
if we assume there aren't any health benefits - which would be foolish IMO,
being resilient to cold is a benefit in itself.

If you're waiting for science to put a number on everything before you
consider it you'll be disappointed in the long run.

~~~
scbrg
> Isn't it obvious that cold showers will make you more resilient to cold?

No? It might, but I wouldn't call it "obvious". There's plenty of things where
exposure doesn't increase resilience.

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Amarok
anedoctally, my dandruff cleared up after I switched from cold showers to
lukewarm

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avocado4
So if you take a cold shower you'll be less likely to want to call in sick.

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surfsvammel
What about the effect on saving water?

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mapleboi
the period seems way to short to get any comparable results. should've tried
at least three months

