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Dutch journalist Wim Hof, who is commonly known as The Iceman, has garnered a lot of attention in Western media in the past few years for the ability to withstand freezing temperatures. What's more, he's advocating for everyone to do the same.
Cold showers are understood to have many benefits for the body. Hydrotherapy has been used for centuries, and now it’s reentered the sphere of popular culture.
Anyone who has swum in freezing or cold water will know the effect that it has. Afterwards, we feel serene, weightless, and revived. But is this the extent of it?
For example, dousing and ice swimming in Russia is a long-standing custom. It’s believed that the state of 'fever' that it puts the body into helps kill harmful bacteria and strengthen good bacteria.
He set the Guinness World Records for swimming under ice and prolonged full-body contact with ice, and previously held the record for a barefoot half marathon on ice and snow.
Dozens of documentaries and books have been published on his “Wim Hof Method,” which he claims can cure disease and mental disorders.
Depression is not a condition to self-medicate for and is something that should be dealt with by professionals. However, it's hypothesized that cold water therapy can help decrease symptoms of depression.
It’s understood that it works in a similar way to electroconvulsive therapy.
A clinical trial published in PLOS One hypothesized that taking cold showers two to three times a week for around five minutes helped to relieve symptoms of depression.
How people lose weight from taking cold showers is unclear, though it’s suspected to be associated with certain hormone levels.
Endorphins, the pleasure and pain-relieving hormones at work in our body, also are released when we expose ourselves to cold water. This increases our feelings of well-being and optimism.
In helping the body balance these hormone levels, it can also help heal the gastrointestinal system, which, when it isn’t functioning well, causes problems like gallstones, cholecystitis, and cholangitis.
White fat is the type of fat that someone who is obese has too much of. Research is now suggesting that taking cold showers two to three times a week may be helping the metabolism, which would help reduce levels of white fat over time.
As we’re not used to cold water on our body, it sends impulses to the brain, jolting the system. This increases alertness, clarity, and energy levels.
Taking cold showers, or exposing our body to any temperature colder than our body, makes the body work harder for temperature regulation. To do this, the circulatory system must work harder.
Because the circulatory system is what we rely on to survive by playing a significant role in heart function, vein structure, and oxygen to the brain, issues with it are more severe.
Like lifting weights to gain arm strength, when the circulatory system has to work harder, it becomes strong and more efficient. However, just like lifting weights, there’s a balance, and too much strain leads to issues.
When our circulation improves, we maintain healthy blood and oxygen flow throughout the body. This allows our heart and muscles to function better, our brain to function better, and much more.
There are many anecdotal reports of people feeling like their skin looks better after taking a cold shower.
Improved circulation also means that white blood cells, which are the body’s primary defense line against disease, are transported more efficiently around the body. This is what gives Wim Hof’s claims some validity.
Athletes have been benefitting from the anti-inflammatory value of cold therapy for a long time. Inflammation occurs when we bruise or tear a muscle, but also happens just because of fatigue.
One study published in BMC Medicine suggested its value in aiding to fight certain types of cancer by saying that “cold hydrotherapy could potentially become a treatment option for some (non-lymphoid) cancers as an adjunctive immunotherapy.”
Another clinical trial in the Netherlands concluded that people who shower with cold water called in sick to work 29% less. However, the results were self-reported (not objective), and those with diseases were excluded.
There are many other benefits to taking cold showers that have to do with the mind, like building willpower and emotional resilience, clearing the mind, and feeling revived.
The shock of cold water to the system stimulates white blood cells, making it helpful in fighting the cold and flu. This gives scientific validity to the Russian practice of dousing.
Cold on the surface of our skin means that the body will pump more warm blood to the area to regulate temperature, so it is believed to help people’s circulation and, therefore, with high blood pressure and diabetes.
In undergoing cold water showers, people usually do it for a month and then reflect on whether it’s right for them. You submerge yourself in the cold stream of water for around two minutes while breathing deeply and in a controlled manner.
You can start with lukewarm water and make it colder as time goes on. Essentially you’re trying to make it so that you can withstand the cold water for whatever amount of time you usually shower for without putting yourself under too much stress.
Sources: (NAJMS) (Infectious Agents and Cancer) (Healthline) (Medical Hypotheses) (PlOS One)
See also: Stars who use alternative medicine
When we say fat in our body, we usually don’t refer to brown fat. Brown fat is also known as brown adipose tissue, which is activated when the body gets cold. It produces heat to maintain our temperature. This is the healthy and necessary fat on our bodies.
Hydrotherapy has been around for centuries, and is revered by many who practice it. Cold water therapy has been used in athletics and sports for a very long time, most commonly to reduce inflammation. However, in popular culture in recent years, there has been a lot of media attention on the benefits of cold showers, with people like journalist Wim Hof, aka The Iceman, claiming it can do pretty much anything from improving wellness to curing diseases.
But is it true? Are the benefits of showering in cold water as dramatic as is being claimed? The answers may surprise you. To find out the truth about the benefits of cold water showers, click through this gallery.
Cold showers: Should we believe the hype?
Are the claims of its benefits true?
HEALTH Hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy has been around for centuries, and is revered by many who practice it. Cold water therapy has been used in athletics and sports for a very long time, most commonly to reduce inflammation. However, in popular culture in recent years, there has been a lot of media attention on the benefits of cold showers, with people like journalist Wim Hof, aka The Iceman, claiming it can do pretty much anything from improving wellness to curing diseases.
But is it true? Are the benefits of showering in cold water as dramatic as is being claimed? The answers may surprise you. To find out the truth about the benefits of cold water showers, click through this gallery.