The energy crisis of the last year made me reflect on how I consume energy, mainly ‘harmful’ energy like gas. My appartment is heated using gas and due to the insane prices of the past year, I too lowered my heating. I spent a big part of december with the heating turned off but once it got to 8 degrees Celsius in my appartment I figured that I should turn on the heating. It was set to 13-15 degrees Celsius throughout the winter. It made me realize that I don’t mind living in these temperatures. With a sweater on and underneath a blanket, it was actually quite comfortable. I also slept better in these temperatures than winters with the heating on.

So now that it’s getting warmer again, I felt like I might as well have cold showers. To save on gas (note: it’s not like I’m living in extreme poverty or anything, I just like finding ways to consume less), but also to see if the claimed health benefits are true. People like Wim Hof made a fortune selling books and courses on how to make your body adapt to cold temperatures and ice baths, making sometimes outrageous claims about its health benefits.

While I do know there are studies on the topic, I am also curious to see if you guys have any experiences taking cold showers and what effects it had for you.

  • 201dberg
    81·
    2 years ago

    Do you nasal rinse? I live in an area with some of the worst natural air quality in the US. It’s very hot and humid and thus our air is full of mold and all kinds of other shit. It turns your mucus into half dry paste and it’s awful the crap that just gets in there and never leaves. Like it someone is both super humid and gross yet causes you sinuses to be cruddy and dry at the same time. Like it’s impressive how it can be SO awful in every way… So I started nasal rinsing every couple days and it’s like, 1000 times better. I can’t even explain how nice it feels to run a quart of hot saline water through your nose and watch all the crud and shit come out. Then my sinuses just feel clean and hydrated for the next few days.

    So yeah, I would suggest trying that out if you don’t already. Total game changer for me and I don’t even have seasonal allergies. I have a friend that does this every single day because he’s allergic to basically everything and just couldn’t breath otherwise.