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Apart from the increased circulation and sperm production (in men) what long term and short term benefits can you get with a cold shower every day?

To clarify, short term effects such as immediate neurological or cardiovascular benefits.

By long term effects, I'm wondering about maybe boosting your body's immune system?

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    Welcome to health SE, before I can answer your question, I want to know what you would classify as a long and short term benefit. Firstly, under what category would you classify these effect of cold shower, 'cold showers burn fat' and 'cold showers boost recovery after exercise'. You can classify them together or individually.
    – Prince
    Nov 10, 2016 at 18:03
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    Thanks. Sorry for lack of information. Short term effects I'd mean immediate neurological or cardiovascular benefits (example). Long term effects I mean would it slowly boost your body's immune system in some way or another? Perhaps decrease likelihood of a stroke (again these are examples, I doubt a cold shower everyday would decrease your chance of having a stroke)
    – user7293
    Nov 10, 2016 at 18:24
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    Benefits: slightly lower heating bills.
    – Carey Gregory ♦
    Nov 10, 2016 at 18:33
  • @janmacbean It would be helpful to know what research you've done yourself, and to give sources of your claims (circulation / sperm production).
    – Dave Liu
    Dec 11, 2019 at 22:43

1 Answer 1

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Short-Term Benefits

  1. Cold showers boost recovery after exercise: Athletes often take ice baths after vigorous training do reduce soreness. You don’t have to take it that far, but you can obtain a similar benefit with a quick cold shower after your training sessions.

  2. Cold showers increase mood and alertness: When cold water pours over your body, your breathing deepens in response to the shock of the cold (this is your body trying to keep you warm by increasing overall oxygen intake). Your heart rate will also increase, resulting in a rush of blood through your body that will help you get energized for the day.

Long-Term Benefits

  1. Cold showers burn fat: There are two kinds of fat in your body: white fat and brown fat. White fat is the body fat we all know and struggle to get rid of. When we consume more calories than our body needs to function and we don’t burn those calories for energy, they are stored as white fat. Brown fat,"the good fat", is activated when we're exposed to extreme cold in order to generate energy and keep our body warm.Cold showers also speeds up your metabolic rate which helps to lose fat.

  2. Relieve depressive symptoms: "A lifestyle that lacks certain physiological stressors that have been experienced by primates through millions of years of evolution, such as brief changes in body temperature(e.g cold swim) and this lack of "thermal exercise" may cause inadequate functioning of the brain.

  3. Cold showers strengthen immunity and circulation: Remember how I mentioned that cold showers speed up your metabolic rate, which helps you lose fat? The increase of this rate activates your immune system, which releases virus-fighting white blood cells that will help you get sick less frequently. Cold showers also increase your overall blood circulation, which can help you avoid hypertension and the hardening of arteries.

But still there are various temperature degrees of cold water that may harm the body while some relieves it. For more information about these temperature degrees, visit:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4049052/

For more on the long and short term benefits, visit:

http://www.medicaldaily.com/benefits-cold-showers-7-reasons-why-taking-cool-showers-good-your-health-289524

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/surprising-benefits-cold-showers.html

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    Shower water temperature varies from place to place. So does one's criterion of what is a "cold shower". In addition, there is no evidence in the medical literature that so-called "cold showers" prevent the development of hypertension, either in those people who got that genetic inheritance or in those who are going to develop secondary hypertension. The same goes for depressive disorder, brain function, etc. I've read the site your answer mentions and it is all bullshit, probably written by a quack or someone who just wants to get public attention.
    – Centaurus
    Nov 10, 2016 at 22:55
  • I've edited the answer, hopefully it'll be okay
    – Prince
    Nov 11, 2016 at 9:43
  • If not, pls tell me
    – Prince
    Nov 11, 2016 at 9:44

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