The Benefits of Cold Showers and Intermittent Fasting
Did you know there are actual benefits of cold showers and intermittent fasting?
Go Take a Cold Shower
Have you ever wondered why people sometimes say, “Go take a cold shower, it’ll make you feel better!”? It’s because a cold shower benefits the human body in amazing ways. It may not be the most fun experience you will ever have, but it’s definitely worth it.
The human heart serves as a turbine that pumps blood throughout the body. When your experiences the extreme difference in temperature, it reacts—contracting in the cold water and opening up (or releasing) in the hot water. This boosts testosterone and aids in the production of other hormones as well. Additionally, it can accelerate healing of various injuries and can also activate your brain, like no caffeinated drink ever will.
Are cold showers a part of my regular routine? Well, kind of. I surf four to five times a week—trust me, it’s a cold plunge with very similar effects. I’ve also been doing hydrotherapy for about ten years now—and I absolutely love it. The main idea behind hydrotherapy is the effect that hot and cold water has on the body. Now, I know not everyone has a cold ocean in their back yard, or a river or lake that they can plunge into every morning, but your shower can do the trick.
Take a look at this video from Darin Olien where he discusses the benefits of cold showers (AKA hydrotherapy):
So, be brave and give it a shot! Try spending 30 seconds of your morning soaking up the cold water and see what an amazing energy booster this bathroom routine can be.
Try Intermittent Fasting
Another part of my regular routine is intermittent fasting for 14 to 15 hour blocks of time. I eat my last meal at 6 or 7 p.m. and don’t eat again until 10 or 11 a.m. the next day.
I want to talk a moment about insulin…
Insulin is a hormone. It’s most common function is to convert sugar in your blood into glycogen that you can use for exercise. That also keeps you from dying, because really high blood sugar is toxic. Insulin also helps to shuttle nutrients into the body.
So, when I’m in a fasted state, my blood sugar is low and my body is going to be very sensitive to any carbs (e.g. sugars) that come into the system. There’s a lot of research that shows that doing this makes your body more insulin efficient, meaning that whole system works better leading to better health.
Check out a detailed article on this topic at Mark’s Daily Apple.
Got questions? Shoot me an email and I’ll get them answered.
