understanding cold exposure

hypothesis: 

current discourse suggests that there are both physical and mental benefits associated with cold showers / ice baths / cold exposure

evidence:

1. The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work: A Randomized Controlled Trial (2018)

• 3k people, asked to end their showers with coldest available water (10c), cold showerers had less self-reported sickness, but no mental improvements

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5025014/

2. Sea swimming as a novel intervention for depression and anxiety - A feasibility study exploring engagement and acceptability

• 60 people, engaged in cold, outdoor swimming for 8 sessions, reported significant decrease in depression

• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1755296622000345

3. Effects of heat and cold on health, with special reference to Finnish sauna bathing

• cold/hot stress maintains or improve human health

• https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/ajpregu.00115.2017?url_ver=Z39.88-2003

4. Evaluation of passive recovery, cold water immersion, and contrast baths for recovery, as measured by game performances markers, between two simulated games of rugby union.

• 24 athletes, cold baths were beneficial to recovery

thoughts:

• initial results show improvements on mental and physical health; looks like duration isn't particularly relevant - 30s of cold exposure in the morning could help