Have you ever heard someone say that a cold shower is good for you? Well, Back and Body NY wants you to know that may actually be true. Cold baths have been recorded back to ancient times, as far as Hippocrates to be exact. Benefits of a cold shower or bath include treating serious illness and maintaining health in general. Back and Body NY is going to explain some research found on this topic.
A study done in 2016 done by Dutch researchers took a group of about 2,800 people and split them into four. Three groups were asked to take a 30, 60, or 90 second shower every day for a month, and the fourth group was asked to avoid cold showers to serve as the control group.
About 80 percent of people successfully completed the study, and two thirds actually continued to take regular cold showers after the 30 day study had ended. People in the experimental groups experienced an increase in the quality of life, and a 29 percent reduction in sick days from work that researchers did not see in the control group. Experimental group participants also found an increase in energy similar to drinking a caffeinated beverage. These results were consistent between all three groups, and proved that a 30 second cold shower provided the same benefits as a 90 second one.
As of now, researchers can only guess why the participants of the study benefited from the cold showers. Some explanations could be: the shivering from the cold temperature elevates hormones in the body that impact the immune system, cold temperature has a type of neurological benefit, or simply the impact on participants was psychological, because they knew they volunteered for a study about how cold showers could improve one’s health.
Finally, the researchers say that normal cold showers could impact the body how regular exercise affects the body. They quote “In the present trial, reduction of sickness absence of a routine cold shower (29%) was comparable to the effect of regular physical activity (35%).” More research is needed to back this claim up and even merely understand why cold showers have a history of healthy benefits. Back and Body NY will give this information as soon as it is published so you can better understand cold showers.
Why don’t you try a 30 second cold shower at the end of your regular showers for a week and see how you feel?
Remember, if you are having any pain and cannot find relief, come see us at Back and Body NY.
Contact us now. We have three simple ways you can make an appointment at our Back and Body NY chiro office:
Call now on (212)371 2000 or text (315)873-3095 or email us at Your.Friends@BackAndBodyNY.com
