This is an experiment I have been doing roughly around three months and I plan on continuing until 2017 through the winter months. I notice the water becomes colder as the seasons shift from summer to fall so I wish to test how my body reacts to the winter months cold showers.
The reason why I even started this experiment was because I always see/hear about athletes doing ice baths to remedy their body after a strenuous workout. Also seeing there is a sudden popularity of cryotherapy (ice sauna) I really want to test out the benefits of being cold.
Benefits
There are a number reason why people advise you to take cold showers over the internet and I want to give my personal feedback to those "reasons" why people should take cold showers.
1. Keeps skin and hair healthy.
I can say that is this actually true for myself, I noticed my skin and hair has improved over the course of three months. My skin is less dry and irritated compared to before when I was taking hot showers. Cold showers help by closing up your cuticles and pores. Also since hot tap water leaches more contaminants that might irritate the skin.
2. Improves circulation
I haven't notice any changes to my circulation so support this claim. Many articles claim that cold water causes your blood to move to your organs to keep them warm. I don't know if a cold shower is enough to do that since you are not submerged into cold water.
3. Relieves depression
I also cannot comment on this since I am not going through any depression currently, but many claim that the cold water shocks your skin sending electrical impulses from the peripheral nerve endings to the brain. So it is an overall mood booster.
4. Fat burning
I am currently working out to lose the last couple pounds of body fat that I have. I cannot say that cold showers helped me slim down at least not noticeably. A study in 2009 claimed on a couple different article says the cold temperatures activated brown fat can produce up to nine pound of body fat loss. Brown fat generate warmth (good) white fat is the accumulation of excess calories (bad).
5. Muscle Soreness
I haven't actually notice anything that improved my muscle soreness. This was the main reason I decided to try cold showers. It does help me cool down after a hard workout, so that is the reason why I want to try this out until winter where the water gets even colder.
6. Alertness
If you were to take a cold shower right after you wake up it works.
Conclusion
I do overall like cold showers due to the fact I don't have to wait for the water to heat up so that saves time and helps conserve water. I see that my skin and hair is a better overall and I am less sensitive to climate changes since I do sauna and cold showers regularly. All the other claims about cold shower benefits I cannot support because I have not notice any chances to those particular claims. I will update this experiment later in the year when the water gets colder. Let me know if you try it out.