5 Health Benefits of Cold Water
What are the historical uses of cold water hydrotherapy?
Vincenz Priessnitz, now considered the father of hydrotherapy, was a young physician in Austria in the early 1800s when he saw a stag bathe its injured leg in a cold stream, and reasoned that there had to be some innate healing property of cold water which could also benefit his patients. He began to employ this technique in his medical practice, and soon found it to be a powerful yet gentle healing modality, one that alleviated a variety of ailments. He later went on to teach other physicians about water’s effects on the human body, leading to the popularization of “nature-cure”; this philosophy of medicine centered around low-force interventions intended to stimulate the body’s innate healing response with the least invasive means. These interventions included hydrotherapy, proper diet, exercise, and sufficient time spent in sunlight and fresh air. Physicians in the US began to adopt a similar practice shortly thereafter, and nature cure principles became the basis of what we now know as modern naturopathic medicine.
Hydrotherapy in general, and cold water therapy more specifically, has made a recent comeback in the “biohacking” community—followers attempt to manipulate human physiology by engaging in daily practices to strengthen the body and mind, including nutrient supplementation, breath-work, meditation, and cold water immersion. Wim Hof, the Dutch extreme athlete who has risen to popularity in this community, swears by the health benefits of daily cold water immersion, even holding a record for time spent submerged in ice water.
How does it work?
The claims about cold water therapy are not just the hyperbole of athletes looking to optimize performance; there are physiologic mechanisms to support and explain cold water’s health effects.
So what’s actually happening and how does it work? We can think of the body’s response to cold water as two related concepts:
The primary effect of cold: is the direct and intrinsic first response of the body’s nervous system and vasculature to the cold stimulus. It includes effects such as blood vessel constriction, slowed circulation, decreased swelling and bleeding, decreased nerve conduction, and pain relief. We may, at times, desire one or more of these effects (usually pain relief), but the real therapeutic action lies in the response to the primary stimulus, or the secondary effect of cold.
The secondary effect of cold: is the body’s reaction to the primary cold effect in its attempt to normalize function—these effects are the typically desired therapeutic outcomes, including increased circulation and blood vessel dilation, increased metabolism, and increased white and red blood cell migration. These effects have a broad range of therapeutic applications across all body systems.
What does it do?
1. Nervous system and mood improvements
Hydrotherapy’s effects are mediated primarily through the nervous system, which closely affects the endocrine system, the master control center for regulating hormonal output in the body. A wide array of functions are influenced by endocrine activity, including sleep-wake cycles, thyroid activity, and stress hormone output. One popular health recommendation advises ending each shower with 30 seconds of cold water to help provide a mood boost. Research does back this claim, showing that cold water immersion can improve mood and alertness by increasing relaxation, resulting in reduced anxiety and depression.
2. Increased circulation
Another primary effect of cold water involves the circulatory system, by way of the nervous system, which acts on the smooth muscle lining of each blood vessel to create a “pumping” action. This increases vascular smooth muscle tone, leading to such downstream effects as improved nutrient diffusion and elimination of waste products. There are numerous health benefits for increasing vascular tone, including lowered blood pressure, improved wound healing, increased post-workout recovery, and improved overall cardiovascular fitness.
3. Improved detoxification
A closely related benefit to increasing blood circulation is increasing lymphatic fluid circulation. Lymphatic fluid is our primary vehicle for eliminating waste products that are carried out by the blood from normal human metabolic processes. Proper detoxification is critical to immune response and overall health maintenance, and can be especially useful in treating infections and excessive inflammation. Some of the most profound healing effects of cold water therapy stem from its effect on lymph drainage.
4. Increased metabolism
Cold water therapy can provide deep support to endocrine organs, normalizing all functions of the body. Its effect on the thyroid gland, regulator of the body’s metabolism, is particularly beneficial. Optimal thyroid function is essential for proper nutrient utilization, allowing the body to break down fats, proteins, and sugars for conversion to fuel. All body systems are affected by this, with particular emphasis on the heart, brain, musculature, and digestive organs.
5. Increased whole body resilience
Whether improving athletic performance, healing from illness, or simply enhancing activities of daily living, cold water can encourage the body’s normal regulatory functions to perform as intended. Slowly easing into a practice of cold water therapy can help build physical and mental tolerance, much the same way exercise does. With such broad-ranging effects on body and mind, hydrotherapy can serve as a powerful catalyst toward optimal wellness.
Not only is hydrotherapy effective, it’s also extremely safe and accessible—it can be done almost anywhere and—with proper technique—by anyone with access to a faucet. It takes a bit of time for most people to adjust to incorporating cold water into their treatment regimen or daily routine, but resilience builds quickly, and health benefits soon become apparent.
This modality which affects such an array of physiologic functions has rightly made its comeback, and will surely remain a core naturopathic medical treatment for its simplicity, elegance, and healing power.
Citations:
Welliver, N., 2015. Hydrotherapy And Detoxification.
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Rymaszewska J, Ramsey D, Chładzińska-Kiejna S. Whole-body cryotherapy as adjunct treatment of depressive and anxiety disorders. Arch Immunol Ther Exp (Warsz). 2008;56(1):63‐68. doi:10.1007/s00005-008-0006-5
Buijze GA, Sierevelt IN, van der Heijden BC, Dijkgraaf MG, Frings-Dresen MH. The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work: A Randomized Controlled Trial [published correction appears in PLoS One. 2018 Aug 2;13(8):e0201978]. PLoS One. 2016;11(9):e0161749. Published 2016 Sep 15. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0161749
Bleakley CM, Davison GW. What is the biochemical and physiological rationale for using cold-water immersion in sports recovery? A systematic review. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2010;44:179-187.
