Are Cold Showers A Good Thing?
Now let’s be honest. Next to nobody likes a cold shower.
Who wants to hop under some freezing cold water and torture themselves for a few minutes? Not me. And I think it’s fair to say many of you out there would agree with me on that one. But unfortunately for all of us, it looks like being under that ice cold water can actually be good for us.
Health Benefits?
Should men take cold showers for health benefits? Maybe. After all, there are plenty of reasons why cold showers can be good for us.
First, they have been proven to boost energy. A 2016 study found that people who took hot-to-cold showers for a month and then cold showers for two months felt like they had just taken a shot of espresso. Another study, this time from 2010, also found that being in cold water reduces the amount of energy needed to wind down from an exercise. Plus, inflammation, pain, and tenderness were reduced thanks to the water.
Then, your metabolism can also be helped by getting under cold water. In the human body, having more brown adipose tissue, or brown fat, means that you most likely have a good body mass index. Two studies, one in 2017 and another in 2009, found that cold water affects the activation of brown fat.
Finally, cold showers can help your immune system. Your body releases adrenaline when under cold water. This then makes your immune system produce more anti-inflammatory substances and lower your body’s inflammation response to infections.
Related: Why You Should Never Shower Wearing Contacts
Cold Showers and Sperm Count
The study also found that cold showers have an effect on testosterone and male fertility.
Cold showers lower the temperature in your body, and specifically in your scrotum. This then increases sperm and testosterone production in the male body.
A 2013 study found that cold temperatures improve sperm shape and mobility for the better. And conversely, taking less warm showers can improve sperm counts within the body by almost 500 percent, according to a 2007 study.
Going way back, Healthline reports that researchers discovered in 1987 how colder temperatures (between 88 and 99°F) create an optimal situation for DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis creation. Basically, that temperature range is the perfect spot for your baby making factory to produce sperm.
Keep in mind though, that these studies only count towards the production of more quality sperm and not so much for raising hormone levels or fertility rates. Don’t think that a nice, long, cold shower will fix any fertility issues or give you a boost of testosterone to get through the day.
How To Take A Cold Shower
So all of that sounds good, but how do you start taking cold showers? After all, just touching a cold shower before it gets warm shocks most people. Because of that, the very first step with taking a cold shower is to go slow.
Don’t just jump into a cold shower and expect yourself to mind over matter your way to success. Most likely, you’ll fail. Instead, slowly turn the water to colder temperatures as you stand under it. Take a few seconds to adjust before turning the knob lower just a little more. Keep going until your body doesn’t even notice the cold.
Once you’re done, make sure to have your towel ready to warm up as quick as possible. Despite all those health benefits and bonuses to immunity, you can still catch a cold from being cold and wet.
Should Men Take Cold Showers?
We get it, cold showers aren’t for everyone. But they can be a great health boost to your day and life. So, try one out and see how you feel. And if you like it, keep on trying it.
When I first read about the benefits of cold showering during a holistic studies class, it made perfect sense to me as though I’d had a V-8 and I immediately decided that going forward I would no longer engage in my daily over the top home hot springs hottest tub-status baths and showers. The main influence for me being reduction of inflammation of which the importance of was paramount being in (and struggling with) post-op physical rehabilitation. I had an easier time adjusting to the cold temperature as it reminds me of camping and bathing in rivers and creeks each sunny morning in briskly refreshing, icy, crystal clear streams in total beauty. I just let myself go back to those places in my shower at home.
The method I learned of is one where you take a normal 10-15 minute moderately warm shower, wash and scrub, etc., then step out, dry off, and retreat to your bed or other restful place and cover yourself with a light cover and turn yourself off for about 20 minutes, to allow the body to return to closer to room temperature, or of a homeostatic state, taking the opportunity for a meditation or soft music, then calmly return to the shower using cool water for just a few minutes – enough for the skin and deeper layers of body tissue to receive the cryotherapeutic-esque effect and benefits. Lastly sealing in all the moisture and goodness with a moisturizer and sunscreen if necessary. The time between the warm shower and going back in for cold I found really helped me handle the cold shower and again I was really surprised at how well I tolerated it as I was expecting to hyperventilate and freak out and stuff. I think being in such a relaxed and zenned out state really lends itself to one’s tolerance of, well something that is so naturally wonderful for us anyway, yet sadly now misdirected in our evolution like most of the rest of our human behaviour.
I had no idea how much my energy level would change and was shocked at how much better I became overall and not just for a short time after the shower. I had increased energy, focus, and was more alert and just felt more together and “with it” and that would last throughout the work day and unbelievably continue when the work day was over. I pretty much became hooked on this new strategy of showering from the start and the energy part was an added bonus to my not being to drink coffee because of it being too harsh on my system. Another huge benefit not mentioned in the article is that we all should at least finish any shower with a cool or cold rinse because this will close up the billions of superficial skin pores throughout the entire surface of our body thereby helping out our immune system by closing off all of these otherwise potential entry points for viruses and bacteria which are gateways otherwise left wide open to invading infection or disease every time we do not do this. A cold finish also helps tighten up and firm skin helping it to revitalize and look smoother and more supple as opposed to logged and saggy and it helps out hair to remain stronger since it is also composed of keratin and cells are basically the same as skin and nails. The cold dip pool at the spa is there for this purpose; it’s not the self-torture pool many may think it is. Every hot tub and spa session should be finished with this cold plunge as these are the main reasons why. Overall it’s so beneficial to have cold showers over hot that it’s ludicrous our bathing practice evolved as it did. Don’t get me wrong hot tubs and showers are beneficially healthy too, but only periodically. As needed, like any other prescription or treatment.
Thank you for publishing such a positively mindful and very useful article! We should see more of this kind of information about us in the world!