Cold showers.

AthalaRanger

AthalaRanger

New member
So according to popular belief (and by popular belief i mean what you can find by doing a simple web search), taking cold showers have multiple benefits like: "boosting metabolism, Toning skin, improving circulation, etc, etc"

Because of that, i have started taking cold showers some time ago, but its already getting on my nerves, and since i have to "endure" the cold water, i will make it worth my while and take looooooong showers.

But anyways, enough rambling, i would like to know if any of this is actually true?, because i would be very frustrating if it isn't. :icon_bs:

I will endure them as long as it is providing some kind of benefit, but if they aren't i think I'm just wasting my time.
 
Well, when you take a cold shower the body has to fight to up his own degrees so it burns calories, but it doesn't mean you have to get this desesperate, really.
 
Did i sound desperate? Well, i definitively didn't want to sound like that. :smash:

Just looking for ways to help me on my journey. :D
 
Calories are heat, nothing more, nothing less. If you subject your skin to cold water it's got to make that heat up from somewhere...simple thermodynamics my friend. I could do the math for you...but 30 years after I struggled with that class, I probably shouldn't embarrass myself by trying.

That being said...I love HOT showers. Steamy stall. Soapy goodness.

A good compromise solution might be to go back to hot showers and start drinking more ice water. Again...what melts the ice? And there you've got the enthalpy of solidification to overcome. Look it up. I wouldn't josh you.

And...if you decide to do the math...remember that "calories" we talk about are actually "kilocalories"...or the numbers won't work out.

Phil
 
I've been taking cold showers for a few months now and what stands out the most is better sleep, more energy (if I shower in the morning), tolerance for discomfort, better controlled breathing and most importantly, water bill is lower. Everything else on the web mentions, I personally haven't noticed yet.
 
I had never ever heard of this and just did a quick google,
There are many sites that rave on the benefits of cold showers.

I personally need super hot showers and in summer I still have hot showers.
It's only in temperatures over 30 degrees that's enjoy a cold shower. I can't even stand those cold showers at beaches to wash the sand of lol

Maybe it can benefit you in lots of ways but I wouldn't view it as a means to lose kgs quicker. It might aid weight loss? But I don't think it's a mirical weight loss process.
 
If cold showers and ice water would burn enough calories would make a difference, don't you think that everybody would be standing in the cold shower right now? Or sitting in a bathtub full of ice cubes?

Cold showers, if you can take them, are healthy, yes. Good for your skin, for your circulation, for your oxygen levels and a load of other stuff. The amount of energy used to warm your body up again, or warm up that ice cold water (thermodynamics) is entirely negligible, and will not make you lose weight any faster on its own.
 
^^ the circulation one got my attention as mine is not so great. Also the helps with skin etc because in winter in France i suffer from really dry skin, my hands end up cracking and hurting, my legs get so dry I sometime scratch them till the bleed (I just assumed it was water quality + cold outside since I never had this issue in nz). Still not sure I can manage cold showers though?
 
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If you have trouble with your circulation, you need to be careful - if you switch from warm to cold too quickly, it can have the opposite effect and make you dizzy. Skin wise, it could be the water, I don't know how good or bad it is - not entirely sure if the cold showers would help with that, but generally, the temperature of the water causes the pores to open (in warm water) and close (in cold), and increase blood flow, which can help the skin. I would possibly get yourself checked out for any kind of skin condition though - scratching till you bleed is not a good sign. Get yourself some moisturiser, or try a dry oil - I have dry skin myself, and lotions and creams did nothing. now I'm using a dry oil spray and it's much better.

Anyway, if you want to try cold (or even cooler) showers, start gradually. Get under the warm one, and turn the warm water down slowly (or the cold water up). Let yourself get used to the temperature, then go down a little further, as cool as you can stand it. Then over a few days or weeks, try to get a bit lower each time, see how that works.
 
Thanks for the tip, I don't want to get dizzy.
My gynecologist gave me airplane stockings to wear while pregnant due to my circulation, but it's way to hot for those now.

The water here has a lot of limestone in it, I'm not sure if that's what causes it?
The doctors have given me all sorts of creams and shower gels so I'm thinking next winter when you can see the effect I might ask to be referred to a dermatologist, someone who's a bit more knowledgable with skin.
I've tried baby oil but once it wears off it doesn't solve my problem. I don't know what a dry oil is though?
Yes, I don't realize I'm scratching so much as its when I'm half asleep in the night, during the day I know I need to stop scratching.

Might be willing to just give cold showers a try.
 
The ice from my tounge-in-cheek response works out to about 36,000 calories per pound.

Before anyone gets too excited though...dietary calories are actually regular calories X 1000. So...it's only 36 dietary calories and a pound of ice would make a LOT of ice water.

I must agree with the previous poster, while interesting from certain perspective...not an effective weight loss strategy.

Drats.

Phil
 
I am under the impression that hot showers, not warm, but hot, do exactly what you are mentioning. I am having a difficult time believing that cold showers have can benefits anywhere near as hot showers.
 
And here i thought this thread would never get any attention... :smash:

A few days after making this thread i decided they were just not worth it and came back to hot water.

I think, for anyone interested, that doing it gradually would be a better idea than doing it the "hardcore" way (like me :blush5:). :biggrinjester:

San said it pretty well;

San said:
Cold showers, if you can take them, are healthy, yes. Good for your skin, for your circulation, for your oxygen levels and a load of other stuff. The amount of energy used to warm your body up again, or warm up that ice cold water (thermodynamics) is entirely negligible, and will not make you lose weight any faster on its own.
Click to expand...
 
Monster said:
I am under the impression that hot showers, not warm, but hot, do exactly what you are mentioning. I am having a difficult time believing that cold showers have can benefits anywhere near as hot showers.
Click to expand...

Hot showers have their benefits as well, but there is some stuff that cold/cool ones do better. Cool water is better for your skin than hot, for example. Hot water dries your skin out. When it comes to circulation, cool/cold is definitely preferable, and I know plenty of people with low blood pressure who can't take take steaming hot showers without feeling extremely dizzy. Cold showers also increases lymphatic movement, which hot ones don't.

To be honest, the ideal scenario would be a mix of both. Start hot, then gradually cool it down, and get the best of both worlds without the negatives.
 
@ San *jumps up and down*
My question was rather hidden in my post though, I tend to do that :-/

Is there any easy way to know what a dry oil is? Like olive, linseed, vegetable etc? I really want to try this out this winter.
 
Sorry, I managed to miss the entire post actually - sorry. :(

I'm not sure to be honest, but I am guessing limestone could have something to do with it. I'd get checked out for allergies as well - they can cause skin reactions sometimes.

Dry oil spray is....well....I just buy it ready made from Avon, actually, but I am sure there are plenty of other makes out there. I have to admit I don't know what the actual difference is in how it works, it just gets absorbed into the skin better than regular baby oil. And I feel less like a basted turkey with it. *lol*
 
Lol @ basted turkey.

Thanks. I might try looking on amazon.uk or amazon.com to avoid trying to figure it out in French as well as a referral to a dermatologist this winter when I have evidence of what my skin gets like. They should be able to test for allergies.
 
I tried taking cold showers because it's good for hair and such. Every now and then I take a cold shower or two but I end up missing that "clean" feeling You get with a hot steamy shower :) Sometimes I take a cold bubble bath before bed though, I sleep like a baby! It would be interesting to see the results if someone could do this long term.
 
That's simply not going to make a difference unless maybe you stay under cold water for like hours a day. But it would "help" (a tiny unmeasurable bit). Sure enough your body burns plenty of calories in its effort to maintain 98.6 degrees body temperature. This is one of the reasons a person burns 1000 - 2000 calories a day even if they do nothing but snooze on the couch all day long. Being in a cold environment, and especially in cold water, which soaks up more heat than air, increases the energy expenditure But you're not going to see it on the scales, not significant enough.
 
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