November brings colder weather and cold and flu season . . . which means you probably feel a little extra appreciation for warm showers and hot coffee in the morning. So, here’s a hypothetical:
Would you give up hot showers . . . and actually switch to showers on the COLDEST setting . . . if it meant you were less likely to get sick?
According to a new study out of Switzerland, “adults who took mostly cold showers for 12 weeks reported fewer sick days and fewer days off work.”
The people in the cold shower groups were told to turn the water to its coldest setting every day, for anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes. Others took a mix of cold and warm . . . and a control group took all warm showers. (It’s unclear if they had anyone take the SCALDING HOT showers I enjoy.)
The BRAVE people in the exclusively cold showers group reported 26% fewer days feeling sick . . . and took 31% fewer sick days from work.
A few caveats:
The groups were sorted by voluntary shower habits, not random assignment . . . so there’s a “link, not proof.”
Maybe those TOUGH SOULS who were willing to do ice cold showers are just healthier or stronger in the first place. Overall, the participants were young adults, with an average age of 26. And two-thirds of them were women.
Also: The “26% drop” in days feeling sick only amounted to roughly a day per month or less. And all of this was self-reported. There were no medical follow-ups, and they excluded people with severe heart disease or severe asthma . . . because cold water could make those worse.