The power of cold showers

Hippocrates prescribed it to allay lassitude, James Bond favoured it as a token of his manliness, and in less indulgent times Gordonstoun school insisted on it: the cold shower. And now it’s having a moment with the wellness brigade. (The very word ‘wellness’ used to send me screaming from the room: a Californian import, I was sure. Then someone pointed out that the word has been in the English lexicon since the 17th century, so that told me.)

The proven physical benefits of exposure to cold water are impressive. A boost to the immune system, improved circulation, and a wake-up call to the body’s brown fat, which is apparently A Very Good Thing. But what piqued my interest were reports of psychological benefits: reduced procrastination and avoidance of unpleasant tasks. Basically, a way to stop being a wuss.

A study in the Netherlands found that participants who adopted a cold shower habit for just three weeks took fewer days off sick from work. It wasn’t that they didn’t catch colds or go down with other ailments, but rather that they didn’t take time off. They powered through. Admittedly this study relied on anecdotal evidence, and no one was checking whether cold showers were really being taken. Still, something interesting appeared to be going on.

If you research the topic on the internet, you’ll notice a whiff of the locker room. Cold showering is promoted as a path to the warrior mindset; indeed, it does something measurable to testosterone levels. But this is an equal opportunities world and I’m told by an endocrinologist that even we gals need a bit of testosterone.

Cold water therapy has a venerable history.