Why You’re Showering Wrong
The way you probably do it feels better, but isn’t better for you
I hate being too hot.
The last thing I want is to feel like I’m strapped and strangled by a Canada Goose jacket and scarf snaked around my head like that kid from “A Christmas Story”.
But…there’s something about the shower that always flipped this. I love a good scalding hot shower; steaming up the bathroom and making my nose run.
So it’s too bad when I found out cold showers are better for you — across the board.
It was a shock to the system and a hard pill to swallow. I didn’t want to pretend I was in Antarctica in the morning. I wanted that warm embrace from a nice hot shower. But I did it anyway. I was on a health kick and was curious to see the results for myself. To hedge with a little Pascal’s Wager that this would help me in the long run.
Like anything I do, I inhaled a bunch of research and anecdotes before trying it. I needed some real convincing before I committed myself. After all, who wants to take a crisp, cold shower in the dead of winter?
These are 4 benefits that I found in my search for better health and from personal experience…
1. The Kick
This one was what won me over, right from the jump.
Taking a cold shower for as little as 5 minutes, 2–3 times per week decreases symptoms of depression.
As someone who has battled with and batted off depression for years, this was all I needed to hear. Anti-depressants were hit or miss for me. The ones that did do something usually had such bad side effects, that they left me depressed about just the side effects alone.
This benefit of a cold shower I bet is something a lot of you can get on board with. That’s because according to the CDC, depression affects 10% of adults.
So how does this work? Is it so much agony and so horrendous to take a cold shower that any other problems you have that day pale in comparison? It might be a little of that. It’s no party that’s for sure…unless you have a masochistic bent to you. But there are scientific ways it helps you too.
The phrase “electroshock therapy” usually leaves a bad taste in people’s mouths; and not just from the mouth guard, rubber bite block, or gauze they would stick in patients' mouths to use this on them.
No, this therapy comes off a little antiquated and harsh. It’s like when you mention the words “fax machine” to someone. It just dredges up the worst images.
But that’s exactly how a cold shower works. It “shocks” your system — albeit more gently and kindly. The cold water jolts your body into sending electrical signals to the brain. The brain is caught off guard and thinks something has gone wrong. So it revs you up. It increases your clarity, energy, and alertness.
It even goes as far as releasing endorphins — the “happy” hormones your body produces.
(Just as a little tip, I would wolf down some bonafide dark chocolate to get this as well…maybe even eat dark chocolate in the cold shower instead of grabbing that shower beer).
Overall the effects are clear as a bell: increased happiness, feelings of well-being, and optimism.
It’s a cruel trick to play on your body, but it kicks your day off right.
2. The Booster
Coming off a pandemic has us all grasping at straws trying to get healthier before we start gasping for air. No matter your diet or exercise, your immune system is your last line of defense. It’s your levee against the floodwaters, the beefed-up bouncers at a club…your Alamo.
That’s why cold showers are so important.
Our bodies are always under attack. So we have natural defenses to stop that. There are different mechanisms in place, but the gist of it is things called leukocytes — a type of white blood cell found in your blood (surprise) and bone marrow.
So again, when you are taking a cold shower, you are sending your body into “emergency mode”. The frigid water immediately tells your body to rouse the leukocytes awake, saying: “hey dudes wake up and get dressed, we’ve got a problem over here.”
It can stimulate your immune system so well, that a clinical trial has even shown a 29% decrease in people calling into work sick (maybe not the best selling point, but would you rather slug it out against a really bad cold, or with those stacks of paperwork you have to get to. Up to you. Being out sick isn’t going to make that work magically disappear).
So next time you feel the winds of winter coming on — virus’ in the breeze — or have a surgery black dotted on your calendar; consider the cold shower.
3. The Burn
The paradox of this section title isn’t lost on me. Burn? Cold Shower? What gives?
I’m talking about metabolism…and colors.
Believe it or not, there are different colors of fat. Just like there is white rice and brown; there too is white fat and brown fat. Based on that (poor rice analogy), can you guess which one is better for you?
White fat is synonymous with obesity and heart disease. When you hear doctors talk about someone weighing too much, or fat causing health problems, this type right here is the culprit.
So brown fat is a good kind to have; just like there is both good and bad cholesterol. A healthy portion of brown fat indicates that the white fat will be lower and at a healthier level for you. Think of a scale — the more brown fat you have then the less white fat weighs as a result.
So how is brown fat activated? Is it eating more brown rice? We all wish. It can be increased by exposure to cold temperatures…something cold showers can perhaps help you with.
What the studies show is that when your body is cold, it evens out hormones, boosts the metabolism of white fat, and even heals the gastrointestinal system. Your body is trying to boost your metabolism because it is spending energy trying to keep you warm. This built-in furnace burns off calories.
The jury and research are still out on how all this works, but it is promising stuff for sure. You’re already gaining that myriad of other health benefits I mentioned, so there’s nothing to lose (except weight) by trying it and seeing what happens.
That being said, you shouldn’t use this as a weight-loss method, a crutch. You still need to diet and exercise to shed those pounds. As I said, it hasn’t been figured out how it works just yet. Second, it’s just another added benefit of the cold showers — a very, very cold supplement if you will — to take every day to add a little burn to your system.
4. The Pump
By now you realize that all of this, the cold showers, stress your body to make it work better for you.
But that’s not exactly true. It’s stressful on it for sure, but not in a terrible way (unless you have some underlying condition)…it’s more of a stress test. Putting your body under pressure to make it perform better. You do this when you lift weights — you tear muscle fibers so they can be built back stronger.
I’m not here to say cold showers will help you build muscle. I’m not slinging snake oil. But what I will say is that it can improve blood flow.
It’s all about tricking your body (again) into maintaining its core temperature. It’s about making it work harder for it. So the heart pumps out more blood, and it flows, winds, and circulates through our bodies even more.
This increase in circulation hasn’t been lost on even the people that probably benefit from it the most — athletes. They use it to their benefit all the time to treat sports injuries.
This is a more isolated version with, let's say, a cold pack, but the mechanics and results are just the same. Bringing temperature down to the area, not only brings down inflammation but increases the speed and amount of oxygenated blood to that area as well.
The same principle goes for cold showers — except in this care you’re blanketing the whole body.
Everyone could benefit from this, but those that could the most are people with poor circulation (no brainer), people with diabetes (which decreases blood circulation), and people with high blood pressure. The cold makes it easier for the body to circulate blood and takes some pressure off (in every way) the vessels.
It’s all invigorating stuff. I get pumped just thinking about it.
You should too.
How To/The Gist
According to neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, you want to make the water in your shower just cold enough where you can stand standing in it, but not so terrible that you need to get out right away. You don’t want hypothermia, and you don’t want lukewarm water if you want to stimulate your leukocytes.
If you want to get to the nitty-gritty of getting a nice cold shower, then it helps if the temperature is below 60 degrees Fahrenheit (usually about 40 degrees below your usual hot one).
In the end, though, cold showers are not the whole answer. It’s something to add to your tool kit. It shouldn’t be the only thing you rely on to stay healthy.
But what better, simpler way to start your day?
Thanks for taking the time out of your busy day to read this article. I spend a lot of time crafting each one to make sure people like you get the most out of it. If you want to read more about how to change your life and change your mind, then you can check it out here.
Cheers!
