I recently read a blog post about the health benefits of cold showers and my interest was piqued.
Being a scientist by training, I am very skeptical about the claims stated in articles like this one:
http://www.cold-showers.com/a-doctors-vi...d-showers/.
I've tracked down some of the research articles that some of these claims are based on, but they all suffer from the usual issue of (the lack of) proper controls. When I see things like 'detoxify your body', my mind screams 'pseudoscience!!' .Still, it was interesting, and I thought I'd try it out.
The popular suggestion is to try it for 30 days, as it will take time to see some of the benefits. I live in NH, and even now (in summer) the cold water is really cold, so I was a little hesitant to give it a go. Still, I love a challenge.![Biggrin]( "Biggrin")
I started out last Saturday. I've been good about it so far. After the first couple of days, I've not had to talk myself into doing it. I'm beginning to like it a bit, to be honest.
As to the benefits: I have yet to see any major differences in anything. Still, some advantages are incontrovertible.
1) It saves water - I doubt anyone is going to take long, leisurely cold showers (especially in the northern US).
2) It saves money - see above. Shorter showers = less water used. Cold showers = less need to heat water = money savings.
3) The shock does wake me up. However, I'm a morning person, so I'm already very awake at the time I take my shower. Still, it is a nice feeling.
At some point in the next month or so, the water here will become cold enough to give you hypothermia during a shower, so I'll stop at that point, but I think this will be a nice variation to try in the warm months, and I hope to finish the 30-day challenge.
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So, anyone else want to take the challenge?![Biggrin]( "Biggrin")
![Biggrin]( "Biggrin")
Being a scientist by training, I am very skeptical about the claims stated in articles like this one:
http://www.cold-showers.com/a-doctors-vi...d-showers/.
I've tracked down some of the research articles that some of these claims are based on, but they all suffer from the usual issue of (the lack of) proper controls. When I see things like 'detoxify your body', my mind screams 'pseudoscience!!' .Still, it was interesting, and I thought I'd try it out.
The popular suggestion is to try it for 30 days, as it will take time to see some of the benefits. I live in NH, and even now (in summer) the cold water is really cold, so I was a little hesitant to give it a go. Still, I love a challenge.
I started out last Saturday. I've been good about it so far. After the first couple of days, I've not had to talk myself into doing it. I'm beginning to like it a bit, to be honest.
As to the benefits: I have yet to see any major differences in anything. Still, some advantages are incontrovertible.
1) It saves water - I doubt anyone is going to take long, leisurely cold showers (especially in the northern US).
2) It saves money - see above. Shorter showers = less water used. Cold showers = less need to heat water = money savings.
3) The shock does wake me up. However, I'm a morning person, so I'm already very awake at the time I take my shower. Still, it is a nice feeling.
At some point in the next month or so, the water here will become cold enough to give you hypothermia during a shower, so I'll stop at that point, but I think this will be a nice variation to try in the warm months, and I hope to finish the 30-day challenge.
------------
So, anyone else want to take the challenge?