Cold shower is as useless as early

In recent years, some of the welfare and productivity gurus seem to have proposed torture their followers with the most inhuman torments. First was the fashion of getting up at five in the morning to complete An endless ritual. Now, the new fashion is to make immersions in ice water every morning with the excuse of relieving stress, reducing inflammation and strengthening defenses.

Science has already dismantled the supposed benefits of get up at five, And now it is the turn of the icy water baths. Researchers from the University of Southern Australia They have not found evidence Of the miracles that the gurus attribute to this practice.

The Influencers of the cold. In recent years, polar baths, also known as dives in cold water have won Huge popularity. Elite athletes and professional players like LeBron James, immerse themselves in ice water baths behind competitions. Even Gwyneth Paltrow dedicated one of the episodes of Your series The Goop Lab to show the alleged therapeutic benefits of immersing yourself in frost waters.

That trend has become popular reaching all kinds of people who only seek general welfare or simply reduce stress levels. Social networks and influencersThey have attributed multiple benefits to physical and mental health to these bathrooms. However, science has wanted to verify whether the dives in ice water are as beneficial as social networks have made us believe.

Bathing is fine, the temperature is optional. The researchers from the University of Australia del Sur decided to scientifically evaluate the alleged benefits of soaking in ice water. For this they carried out a meta -analysis of 11 global studies, whose results were Published in Plos One.

For the analysis, the dives and cold showers were used with temperatures between 7 and 15 ºC for a time range between 30 seconds and two hours. Although some benefits attributed to this practice were identified in the results, the researchers discovered that existing evidence focuses mainly on athletes and not on the general population.

Forget the cure for stress. The researchers assured in their report that the effects of the dives in ice water against stress were not the announced “we discovered that immersion in cold water could reduce stress levels, but only for about 12 hours after exposure.” That is, no evidence of the immersions in ice water was observed have an immediate effect on stress levels, or an appreciable long -term effect.

“We noticed that the participants who took cold showers of 20, 60 or 90 seconds granted slightly higher quality of life. But again, after three months these effects had disappeared,” the researchers explained in their report.

What does not take away your dream, makes you stronger. Nor were the results in the improvement of sleep quality. The study found links between the improvements in sleep quality and dives in cold water, although this conclusion was based on limited data exclusively to men, which, which Claim more research in various population groups.

The researchers did not venture to ensure that the dives in cold water could have a positive effect on the immune system because, although it is true that a 29 % reduction in labor absences Related to diseases among those who took cold showers, no significant improvements were recorded in the immediate immune response to exposure to cold.

These data indicate that, although there are possible advantages in exposure to ice water, the effects of this exposure are not consistent or durable, which doubts the generalized efficacy that the gurus attribute.

The “Agujeta” of the cold. Among the most amazing findings made by Australian researchers is the inflammatory response to dives in cold water. Contrary to popular belief, instead of reducing inflammation, baths in ice water caused “significant increases in inflammation,” both immediately and an hour later.

According to the researchers, this reflects an “acute inflammatory response” of the body to the stress caused by the cold. In the words of the study co -author, Ben Singh, “this immediate peak in inflammation is part of a process of adaptation similar to muscle damage caused by exercise, which subsequently strengthens the muscles.” That is, like bosples, this adaptive effect can be positive for athletes from High physical performancebut Singh stressed that it could be harmful to people with some pre -existing pathology.

In other words, unless you have just participated in an Olympic test, shower with cold water alone Your productivity will improve in which the sense that it will take less to shower and you can Dedicate that time To other tasks.

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