Remember my summer reading list? Slowly I am making my way through, devouring one Commissaire Maigret after the other. This is what I found:
“He had a bath, followed by a cold shower, and ate a substantial breakfast while watching the rain fall as continuously as on a November morning. At nine o’clock he had the ballistic expert on the line.” (Excerpt from “Maigret and the Surly Inspector”)
Not only James Bond – Commissaire Maigret also is fond of cold showers! Georges Simenon wrote this story in 1946. Something that was once common wisdom, namely that a cold shower does one good, has mostly been forgotten.
Just as a reminder – here are the benefits of ending each hot shower/bath with a cold shower (don’t do it if you have uncontrolled high blood pressure and/or arterial disease).
A daily cold shower
• boosts immune function
• lifts your mood
• fights fatigue and hangover
• normalizes your blood pressure
• decreases chronic pain
• trains and improves blood circulation – arterial and venous
• detoxifies the body
• deepens breathing, relieving obstructions in the lung
• tones subcutaneous connective tissues
• improves lymphatic circulation
• rejuvenate and heals skin
• regulates the activity of all glands (pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, ovaries/testes
• enhances motivation for physical exercise
• is helpful in diabetes, obesity, gout, rheumatic diseases, chronic fatigue, varicose veins and hemorrhoids
• regulates sympathetic/parasympathetic nerve system (the non-voluntary part of the nerve system) to an optimum
Now that the water is summer-warm it is the perfect time to begin cold showers. In February, it will be murder – I am screaming every time I have to get into the cold shower. But I do get in! Read More
Blog: On Health. On Writing. On Life. On Everything.
Do As James Bond Does …
April 25, 2010
… and take a cold shower!
In thorny situations, James Bond might not get a good night’s sleep (not to mention a decent meal – most often a Scotch has to do), but he always takes a shower. He starts with a nice hot one, ending with a cold one.
Every time, he steps out of the shower refreshed and ready to take on the world’s enemies again.
Of course, you wouldn’t know this juicy tidbit about James Bond from the movies. But if you read Ian Fleming’s books, you'd find that a cold shower is James Bond’s heal-all.
What is it about a cold shower?
Among other things, it brightens your mood and strengthens your immune system – making you less likely to catch a cold. James Bond seems to use it to clear the brain fog of a hangover. Or smell good for the next beautiful woman. I do it for health benefits and beautiful skin.
Contraindications: Uncontrolled high blood pressure (if you are on medications and your blood pressure is reasonably controlled, you will be fine). Any kind of narrowing of the arteries like atherosclerosis and Raynaud’s. - There are no negative side-effects of a cold shower if not overdone.
You start with a warm/hot shower. Stepping out of the stream, you turn the handle on cold. Begin with your feet, then your hands, then splash your face. For your first time, this might be all you can tolerate. Later you go on to legs, arms, chest and back. Leave out the scalp if you tend to have sinus problems.
The cold shower never takes more than a few seconds (thirty at most. If you don't feel on top of the world when you step out of the shower, but cold and shivering, you overdid it and have to scale back. Read More