I took an interest in Kate Hepburn when I was in eighth grade. Not because of her movie or theater roles, but because I heard she took cold showers. Something about that fascinated me, so I decided to give it a try. For some reason I continued the practice from eighth grade right through sophomore year. I don’t know what I was thinking. I guess I just wanted to be different.
Then there’s the fact that one of my grandmas used to give me terribly cold baths when I was little, so that might be part of it.
These days, I can’t seem to do the whole “cold” thing. The hotter the shower, the better.
I later discovered that not only was I not a fan of any of Kate’s movies, but I found out she was more known for taking ice baths than cold showers. Apparently she was also known to swim in an icy channel in the Northwest US, and did so for health reasons, she claimed.
She did live to be 97 years of age. But she got cancer and died of a heart attack.
I used to run cross-country in high school. Our team had a huge, submersion ice bath to help with circulation and muscle soreness. Now that I think of it, my brother later built an ice bath of his own.
This all came back to me the other day when my wife mentioned that she heard cold showers can increase dopamine.
It also got me thinking about the sub-zero snow and ice wasteland just outside our house. We see this kind of weather for almost half the year. Six months is a long time to not be able to go bike riding or take a walk. I’ve lived here all my life and am ready for a change of scenery.
So what does “increase dopamine” actually mean?
Well, it can mean more dopamine is being produced in your body, or it could mean the existing dopamine is circulating better, or it could indicate new dopamine receptors (D2 receptors) are being created, or it could mean existing receptors have improved function, or that the dopamine is breaking down more slowly within your body.
Cold showers are supposed to increase dopamine by up to 250%. That’s quite a bold claim. The study that columnists pluck that number from placed participants in a very cold bath and had them soak for one full hour, almost completely immersed (except for the head). Not very realistic or practical.
There’s also a study out there that had participants end their daily showers by changing the water to cold for two minutes. Not only is that study far more practical for everyday life, but it also saw decently favorable results in improved circulation and increased dopamine.
Sometimes, spiking the amount of dopamine in your body can actually decrease the number of dopamine receptors. However, according to these studies, cold showers actually increase both dopamine levels and D2 receptors.
There’s a whole host of other benefits, too, and a lot of highly successful people claim to do it. Maybe Kate was onto something. I just wish hot showers had this kind of medical backing.
Oh yeah, and exercise helps with the whole dopamine thing, too.
May as well introduce at least some cold showering back into my life. The cold weather can go, though.
Nick Enlowe 