30-day Cold Shower Challenge / Cold Shower Therapy

[Rolina]

Well, I guess you have an excuse to move closer to the equator, huh? (Rolina is located in Texas, I believe, so maybe that would be a good place to look for asylum.)

Ofcourse, I only say this jokingly, because lukewarm is just a knob or two away.

No, it was cold outside that day.  I have one of those showers with a single knob - the further you turn it, the hotter it gets.  I also live in an apartment complex made from a refurbished hotel, so... the coldest the shower gets is lukewarm sometimes... and other times, that's the hottest it'll get.

[charon the ferryman]

Meanwhile my shower has two settings - freezing cold or skin-meltingly hot. And it seems to pick which one completely randomly.

[Daddy Poi's Oily Gorillas]

Ah. Best thing I can thing of is turn off the hot water heater, but I doubt that'll do much.... oh well.

And yeah, I know some showers have one knob, and some have two. The place I live at has three! (Hot, cold, and whether you're taking a shower or bath.)

The last house I was living in before we moved, might have had one, but I forget... (The knob where you turn left/right for hot or cold, and up for on... well, at least that's how the sink worked, anyway... I forget if the sink/bath were the same or not... but more than likely they were. ; And the shower/bath setting was on the bath spicket itself.)

In the end, one knob is probably best, since it's less cleaning you'd have to do. (Not that it's actually necessary.)

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And yeah, still convinced cold showers are healthier than hot showers.... (Hot dries skin out, right?) ; But I'm not convinced that maximum cold is the way to go.

[Atrius (He/Him)]

*Forgets to check if hot/cold can affect aging... I know the sun can make you look older, though. (Like when people get age spots, for example) But at the same time, the sun provides Vitamin D. ;  And we usually stick stuff in the refrigerator so that they last longer... so that must mean cold slows down aging? :P Actually, I'd be dumb to assume that without more evidence.

Cold slows down the growth of bacteria that decomposes food, it has nothing to do with aging.



I've been taking cold baths for three days now.  It reminds me of Alaska, and trying to sleep at -30 °F in a snow teepee during Arctic survival training.  Lots of fond memories, I think I'll enjoy doing it for the full 30 days.

[Daddy Poi's Oily Gorillas]

I was thinking of it in a different way.
0 Kelvin cannot be reached. I think it might be where time stops as well? ( Or it could be that nothing is moving as time passes, so no aging could occur because nothing's happening. )
But I guess you assume it's just for bacteria growth.
(And by aging, I mean more of an appearance thing... rather than actually living longer. If it made any difference at all, I doubt it'd be much? One of the Impossible vids that I saw recently did mention something about skin/hair, anyway.)

Either way, when you're in the cold, the body tries to heat itself up (Ex: The shivers)... The extra energy your body uses may also support one reason why I may need to look it up.

And let's not forget that bacteria (good and bad) is everywhere. Could slowing down the bacteria growth on us help something, for example? Where we couldn't possibly get to high enough temperatures without being burned... We are like food, since if you leave a dead body out of the freezers and away from preservatives for a long time, it will begin to rot and smell really bad. - Actually, I feel that this whole paragraph is too silly for me to bring up.

Most of this is me randomly hypothesizing... not even sure what to think.  Hence why this post is a bit messy.

[spoiler]
Edit: References are always good to have: (And you shouldn't just stop with one. I'd recommend at least 5+ reliable sources, and more if the topic is controversial. Even then, you could still have the wrong answer, but at least you have something to go by.)

Looking for sources relating to the question: Does the cold affect aging?

From http://joshmitteldorf.scienceblog.com/2013/02/25/cold-temperature-and-life-span-its-not-about-the-rate-of-living/

When cold-blooded animals are exposed to a cold environment, their metabolisms slow and they live longer. When warm-blooded animals are exposed to a cold environment, their metabolisms speed up (to maintain body temperature) and they live longer. In a new study from University of Michigan, both responses are traced to a common genetic mechanism that senses the temperature and signals a slower rate of aging. This adds to a mountain of evidence that animals life spans are fixed by genetic choice, and not by any kind of passive physical deterioration.

^So you're telling me animals live longer in the cold... Hm...


From https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100320215349AAvidh3 (Not a reliable source, I know.)

Over exposure to cold can actually increase the aging process and result in death.

@OVER-exposure: Well, okay, but what if it's not over-exposure...

From http://normanwinkfield.hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Slow-The-Aging-Process-Down
It seems to recommend not drinking ice cold liquids, because your body needs to use energy to get back up to temp. I'm not sure what to think of that, because the energy being used there could also be like a muscle you are strengthening?  Over-doing it could cause a "wound", if it worked the same way as say running. (There was a time I over-ran once, and ended up soar and found it very hard to walk the next day. Probably from not running in months/years?) ; #10 on this list seems a bit funny. Not in the comical type of way, though.


If only these sources would tackle all angles. :/
[/spoiler]

So, can you find any sources that suggest the cold does not affect aging at all?

I thought of it as one small variable to a huge formula. Perhaps even combined with other variables, like tolerance... and the formula likely wouldn't be linear.