Are you fond of taking hot shower on a daily basis? Well, if so, you might just change your mind after reading this piece of wonderful benefits of taking cold shower instead. While hot water is considered as an amazing therapy to reduce cramping, but it isn’t the best of habits when it comes to bathing. Hot water, not even lukewarm, makes the skin super dry and can actually lead to inflammation and make the skin dehydrated, shrivelled and itchy. And it does the same to your hair as well. It makes them frizzy and brittle. Instead, try taking cold shower, no matter how tough it feels for the first time, to enjoy the 13 below listed benefits of cold shower for hair, health and skin.
However, people still liking hot shower must take a 4 to 5 minutes cold shower once they are done with hot shower. It increases the potency of how shower and reduces the side-effects they can cause to skin and hair. Having said that, let’s move on to the 13 benefits of taking cold shower.
1. It hydrates The Skin:
Cold water doesn’t disturb the skin’s pH level by not removing essential oils. Since it does not expose the body cells to heat, it actually hydrates them and keeps them plump. Such skin is soft, glowing and supple at all times.[1]
2. It Reduces Split Ends Formation:
Cold shower doesn’t damage the keratin quality at all. Keatin is the natural hair protein that keeps hair healthy. Healthy keratin means damage free hair. Cold shower actually makes hair smoother by ensuring that the moisture stays within the strands and not seep outside. This reduces the formation of hair knots by controlling frizz. Thus, hair breakage reduces, and so does the formation of split ends.[2]
3. It Eases Sunburnt Skin:
Cold water is an amazing option to reduce the pain and inflammation caused due to sunburn. It slowly reduces the pain by hydrating the shrivelled skin cells. It calms down the burning sensation, and tingles the brain to secrete pain reducing hormones. It also re-hydrates the burnt cells and triggers the process of formation of new skin.[3]
4. It Cleanses Skin Pores:
Sounds weird, right? But cold water is an amazing cleansing and detoxifying agent that gets rid of extra oil, dirt and sebum. It also removes harmful bacteria from the skin surface by creating unfavourable conditions for their survival. It does so by maintaining the skin’s pH level to normal. In fact, if a hot shower is followed by cold shower, cold shower can actually work as an astringent. It can reduce the size of enlarged pores by constricting blood vessels for some time.[4]
5. It Increases Immunity:
Against the myth that cold water can intensify allergies, it actually reduces them. It reactivates the dormant white blood cells in the body. White blood cells are the body’s infection fighting agents that protect the body against antigens attack. Thus, cold water shower on a daily basis, makes you stronger.[5]
6. It Improves Blood Circulation:
Reduced blood circulation actually leads to various internal as well as external disorders. Cold water shower increases the blood circulation throughout the body by triggering the body’s metabolic rate. It is actually a natural remedy that increases the supply of blood throughout the body. And this is the primary reason that cold shower actually make hair and skin healthy.[6]
7. It Burns Calories:
This is an unusual benefit offered by cold shower. Cold shower may cause a chilling sensation on the outside, but it increases blood circulation within the body. This burns down the extra body calories by making the body warmer from within. Thus, taking cold shower every morning secretly turns you slimmer.[7]
8. It Makes Skin Younger:
This is an obvious benefit of taking cold shower. Cold shower removes oil, dirt and blackheads from the skin. It detoxifies the skin and keeps it soft and moisturized. It also increases blood circulation. All this improves the cell health that prolongs youth by reducing wrinkles and fine lines caused due to dryness and damaged skin cells.[8]
9. It Improves Digestion:
Cold shower refreshes the body not just from outside, but also from inside. Increased flow of blood throughout the body means removal of toxins and body’s detoxification. This reduces acidic conditions and makes the body energetic. As a result, the metabolism increases, and so does digestion. Thus, cold shower reduces gas and bloating too.[9]
10. It Relaxes The Muscles:
Cold shower soon after gyming and running ease the stiff and tense muscles. It cools down the body and relaxes the strained muscle connective tissues. It does so by making the cells hydrated and calming down the extra boosted hormones in the body. It also removes sweat that further cools down the body. Thus, it can actually reduce pain in sore muscles too.[10]
11. It Reduces Stress:
Cold shower controls gushing hormones that reduce nervous tension. It relaxes the tired mind by keeping emotions under control. Years of research has proven that cold shower stimulates peripheral nerves that instructs the mind to lower down the secretion of stress causing hormones. It is thus a soothing natural way that also helps people suffering from depression.[11]
12. It Reduces Fatigue:
Cold shower can actually make the body energetic by cooling down inflammation. It relaxes the tired and heated muscles by calming them down. In fact, in a study conducted by the California research institute, it has been proven that spending few minutes under cold shower can actually help in lowering down muscular and mental fatigue caused due to workload.[12]
13. It Improves Sleep:
Cold shower is an intensive relaxing remedy that reduces body’s heat, and cools down tired muscles. It also calms down the over worked mind. The overall effect improves the body’s well being. Taking a cold shower at night calms down the body and helps relax the mind. This results in better sleep. Thus, it is also an amazing option for inducing sleep in people suffering from insomnia.[13]
The above listed 13 benefits might actually reform your thinking about the correct shower that you should ideally be taking. In fact, cold shower also helps people suffering from upper respiratory disorders, kidney problems and liver problems too. However, a word of caution is for people suffering from heart diseases. Extra cold water shower can be risky. Increased blood circulation might be causing extra pressure on the heart to pump more blood. Always consult your doctor before taking cold shower if you are a heart patient, and also, if your age is more than 50.
Caution: Please use Remedies after Proper Research and Guidance. You accept that you are following any advice at your own risk and will properly research or consult healthcare professional.
