Is Cold Water Immersion Good For Your Health?
A very chilly question with important implications
Cold water exposure or immersion is an increasingly-popular health fad whereby people shuck the bonds of comfort and descend into the murky, freezing cold depths to improve their wellbeing. It usually involves finding the closest body of extremely cold water and spending at least 10–15 minutes bathing in it while your extremities slowly shrink inwards.
The idea of taking a dip in an icy bath has recently hit headlines, with media across the world claiming that you can lose weight, defend against diabetes, and generally be much healthier if you take a dip in some very cold water. According to the news, the science is in and we should all be getting chilly as regularly as possible to improve our lives!
But before you go jumping into the closest glacial lake, it’s worth noting that the science behind this idea is, in a word, slim. In reality, there’s very little reason to believe that cold water is beneficial for your health.
