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The Amazing Benefits Cold Showers

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3 October 2017

By Bronwen

From the second you get up on a morning, every choice you make- no matter how insignificant it seems- will influence the rest of your day in some way. We all know the recommended morning ritual for a successful day: eat a good breakfast, don’t press snooze, prepare the night before, etc. But did you know that the temperature of your shower can affect so many different bodily functions so massively? Having a cool shower on a morning instead of a warm one can improve the look of your skin and hair, keep you alert all day and even help you stay slim. The colder your shower, the more enhanced these benefits are. Most athletes and sports people have regular ice baths and freezing cold showers because the benefits are endless and have been proven to improve your health and well being. Here are just some of the hundreds of reasons why you should introduce cold showers to your morning routine:

1- Reduce stress- This study proves that short term exposure to freezing water chemically reduces stress levels. Winter swimmers were found to have much less stress hormones in their blood than the average person and it’s all because of that nice, cold water.

2- Promote fat loss- The human body has two types of fat; white and brown. White fat stays in our bodies serving no real purpose other than to make us look… well, fat. Brown fat is the useful fat that we need to survive- it’s what keeps us warm in the cold. When our bodies are cold, brown fat burns calories in an effort to warm us up. Therefore, your cold shower will force you to start burning calories to try and warm back up. In the 1950s, the average Briton ate 100 more calories per day than we do now but back then, only a tiny percentage of Brits were overweight or obese. Now, we eat slightly fewer calories but have a dangerous level of obesity in both children and adults. The reason that people in the 1950s could stay slim after eating more is because they had less access to cars, worked more manual jobs and had no central heating. These people were therefore using up a lot of energy through their brown fat to be able to keep warm. Turning your shower down a couple of notches will simulate these conditions and force your brown fat to start working. 

3- Make your hair look nicer- Warm showers cause your natural hair oils to wash away, making your hair dull and flat. Cold showers don’t wash away as many of your naturally produced oils and therefore give your hair a healthy glow.

4- Increase your immunity- Cold water increases your white blood cell count and white blood cells are what fight off infections and illness. Basically, the more white blood cells you can make the better and after a few cold showers, you may find yourself shifting colds and viruses much more easily than before.

5- Help repair muscles- Weightlifters and athletes need to be able to repair their muscles quickly after training and so they use ice baths to speed up the renewal of muscle tissue.

6- Increase alertness on a morning- Nothing is going to wake up your mind and body faster than plunging yourself into a stream of cold water. It may be hard at first but a day of feeling awake and fresh will be worth five minutes of Arctic conditions in the morning.

 

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