Unfortunately, it’s not a tik tok hack that makes you immune to all diseases immediately, but it sure will make a significant difference in how often you get sick. What I am talking about isn’t something you can eat or drink, but it’s something you do.

 

Of course, it’s essential to understand our immune system and how it fights the sicknesses we get in order to comprehend how this activity helps us stay healthy. Let’s recap what we learned in AP Bio class that’s related to this phenomenon. Before we feel the full effects of a sickness, the pathogen triggers the innate immune response. This primarily leads to the inflammatory response, which includes mast cells releasing histamine and macrophages releasing cytokines. The histamines dilate blood vessels, which causes the area to swell with fluid. Meanwhile, the cytokines attract phagocytes that digest pathogens, aka the sickness. Natural killer cells also kill infected cells. Proteins called interferons “interfere” with any viruses and cause more histamine to be released. All of this makes it easy to say that when the innate immune response is triggered, it’s no good for any unwelcome pathogens in our body.

 

Inevitably, this immune response is always present, but even when low levels of the pathogen exist, it may not be triggered. Some pathogens replicate so fast the immune response cant get rid of them fast enough, and our adaptive immune system kicks in, or maybe they go unnoticed until there are enough for us to feel sick. But that doesn’t have to happen, and you don’t have to get sick in the first place.

 

I’d like to introduce you to… the cold. Not just any cold, but cold water immersion. This is when you purposefully go into cold water in a controlled environment. It could be in a cold shower, cold bath, or in a freezing lake. These are all considered cold immersion. A new meta-analysis and systematic review analyzed the best and most recent 11 studies with over 3000 total participants to determine cold waters effects on the human body. The most relevant part of their analysis is in just one study they looked at. It claimed a 29% sickness reduction while participants took cold showers. 29% may not seem like a lot, but I think it is quite significant. My personal experience with cold showers agrees with the trend of this data. I didn’t get sick a single time while I was taking them. But how does getting in cold water relate to sickness and the innate immune response?

When you step in a cold shower, or ice bath, or however you expose yourself to cold water, your body instantly causes inflammation as an innate response to the cold stressor. Your immune response, as explained above, goes through numerous measures to fight any pathogens that may be in your body. In reality, it’s over reacting. You don’t need your immune response, but your body thinks it does. So across your entire body histamines and cytokines are released that help fight any pathogens that may exist, however little of them there are. This ensures that none of them are able to replicate to a point of sickness, because they can’t hide from your innate response or get through such a defense as this one.

 

This isn’t the only reason it lowers your rate of getting sick. Deliberate cold exposure also causes “better sleep” in males and could “reduce stress levels” according to the systemic review. These both would help your body be in better shape to fight off any infections.

 

Cold showers other benefits include decreased recovery time, better mood, as well as increased focus, energy, resilience, and grit.

 

Cold showers are great for you. But they suck to do. No one likes stepping into a freezing cold shower first thing in the morning. Do you think they’re worth it?

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