So I decided to try taking a cold shower every day for 30 days. I've heard a lot
about the potential benefits of having cold showers and cold shower therapy so
I wanted to try it for myself. So I've been doing some research online and the
benefits of cold showers allegedly include but are not limited to increased
alertness, improved circulation, improved immunity, stimulation of weight loss,
improved recovery, easing of stress, relieving of depression, increased
testosterone, building will power, building emotional resilience, boosting fertility
reducing inflammation and even improving sleep. Cold showers seemed
to date back as far at the ancient Romans but they now are a preferred
biohacking tool for many including the elites of Silicon Valley. So instead of
having a completely cold shower I first have my normal shower and hygiene
routine but then I have at least two minutes of completely cold water. This
means you get the benefits of both types of shower and it creates contrast
between the water temperatures. So you've probably never see me like this before
but this is how I look straight after a run which is not very nice but it's been
a really hot day and I can't wait to actually get into my cold shower
she's something I never thought that I would say
After the initial cold shock it feels pretty good. It feels nice and fresh.
So I just took my cold shower about five minutes ago I now feel
awesome like really awesome and although I didn't enjoy the cold shower itself
that much I feel so good after it's like a real feeling of accomplishment
we sounds stupid but just how I feel. A lot of the benefits of the cold shower
come from the initial cold shock which creates an acute hormetic stress
response and you react by taking deep gulping breaths of air. Acute stress
releases hormones like adrenaline along with endorphins that can make you feel
great I can have a positive impact on the body and in some cases can help to
relieve chronic stress. As such these responses are often called positive
stress. So something that cold showers really help with is willpower now cold
showers are uncomfortable and having a cold shower when you really don't want to
takes effort. Now I've been using a technique called mental override which
is where you basically forcibly ignore all the voices in your head that say
this is going to suck it's gonna be really cold and you just do it anyway
now the way that I do this is at the end of my warm shower I then set my timer on
my stopwatch for two minutes and then before I can even think about it I just
turn handle immediately to cold. Now what I've noticed is that by doing this it
actually helps me make better decisions throughout the rest of the day
so rather than willpower being this kind of finite resource that you need to use
sparingly in fact it seems it's something that you can actually train
and make stronger. Out of all the amazing possible benefits associated with cold
showers the one that seems to create the most interest is fat loss. So how could
having a cold shower make you lose weight? In the body there are different
types of fat the two were most interested in are white fat and brown
white fat is the most common it contains large fat droplets, it's stored beneath the
skin and the abdomen and is used as a source of energy during fasting. Brown
fat contains small fat droplets and more mitochondria which breaks down a fat to
generate heat to protect you from the cold via a process called non shivering
thermogenesis. In a small 2014 study men exposed to a cold environment at an
increase in brown fat volume as well as corresponding fat metabolic activity.
However from what I can see and despite a lot of the claims online there's not
enough research to suggest that taking cold showers would definitely lead to
fat loss. So one of the great things about cold showers is that it really
wakes you up in the morning, to the point where I no longer feel like I need
coffee anymore. Now I still drink coffee because coffee is awesome and it tastes
amazing but it now feels more like a treat
rather than something that I need in order to just function throughout the
day. So I'm really enjoying having my cold showers in the morning but
apparently if you take a cold shower about one hour before you're due to go to
bed it can actually help you have a really good sleep so let's give it a try
So I've just had me cold shower, and if I'm completely honest
I feel wide awake so I guess we'll find out in the morning if I slept any better
So I did actually get to sleep pretty quickly last night
and I think I slept pretty well but did I sleep any better than normal?
I don't know. So after having daily cold showers for 30 days will that
continue to take them? Now I am definitely gonna continue to take cold showers out
of all of the alleged benefits I can probably confirm about four which is the
increased alertness in the morning feeling great having that sense of
accomplishment but having done something difficult and ultimately building more
willpower. Now if half of the other alleged
benefits are true then I could be on to a really good thing. Now if you've never
tried cold showers before then there I'd highly recommend that you try them
essentially they are free and they could have quite a profound impact on your
life. At the very least I would recommend against having super hot showers. Now if
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