Are cold showers better for health?/Walla system!
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Every winter is the same.
It starts somewhere in December and lasts until Pesach, there will always be people around with colds, sick with every possible virus and bacteria.
Have you noticed that this year it feels like literally everyone is sick?
Even those who usually don't get infected, and those who get sick sometimes take longer than usual to recover?
The war brought with it, among other things, increased morbidity due to an immune system that weakens due to continuous stress - who among us is not under stress these days.
If you or your family members are also sick at the moment, or you want to prevent infection, here are 5 actions you can take right now.
1. Open a window
Do you remember that during Corona exposure to a patient in an open area did not require isolation and in a closed room it did?
It is clear to all of us that the air circulation allows viruses and bacteria to fly out and fresh and clean air to enter and reduces the load and the amount of viruses and bacteria in the space.
2. Continue with the water
In the cold, most of us feel less thirsty, and even those who usually drink a lot of water reduce amounts.
Although it's less hot now, the heating in the houses dries out the air a lot, and even in winter it's definitely important to drink enough.
Drinking lukewarm or hot water also provides what the body needs.
If it's hard for you to drink water at room temperature, keep a large jug with boiling water and plants or water on your desk, or a thermos in your car if you're outside most of the day.
Herbal infusions that do not contain caffeine and without the sweetener are counted as water.
You can of course add value to drinks by adding herbs such as thyme, sage and mint that dry up coughs, warming ginger and cinnamon, chamomile and lavender that help with relaxation or a golden milk drink that strengthens the immune system.
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3. Peas and carrots, sitting in the fridge?
In the cold, it is more difficult for most of us to eat fresh vegetables, but they are a major source of vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber.
what should we do?
It's time to go to the fridge and take out 50% of the vegetables.
Put a beautiful and inviting bowl on the counter or on the table that will host the vegetables.
When they are both available and accessible to us, and also at room temperature, the chance that we will eat them increases significantly.
You still don't feel like it?
Make sure you always have cooked vegetables - a pot of rich soup, antipasti, stews.
Cooking a large amount of vegetables once every three days will allow you to consume cooked vegetables every day of the week.
Most of the fiber and minerals in vegetables are preserved even after cooking.
Vitamin C, does not survive cooking but is very easy to supplement with fruit consumption.
You probably thought of oranges, but our recommendation is strawberries, which contain a larger amount of it.
4. Sun!
The Israeli winter allows us to be exposed to the sun even in the cold season.
Take advantage of days when the sun appears and go out to it, without sunglasses and roll up your sleeves to reveal skin.
Exposure for a limited time of up to 15-20 minutes, assuming there are no skin lesions or very light and sensitive skin, allows optimal production of vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency may cause depression and immune weakness.
Can't go out in the sun?
Contact a qualified nurse and take a vitamin D nutritional supplement, you can also get it in a vegan format.
Yes yes, it's good for you/ShutterStock
5. Ice bath/cold shower
Everyone is in ice baths all the time.
It seems that in the last two years there is no one who has not heard of Wim Hof, ice baths and intermittent fasting.
But the truth is that even if we go further in history, we will remember the expatriates of Eastern European countries and especially Russia, who enter into ice baptisms in the cold of minus 20 degrees to strengthen the immune system.
What was once considered an act of the insane, has become a method for many people to reduce depression, anxiety and strengthen the immune system.
According to this theory, the experience of hormesis, pushing the body to the extremes of stress in a controlled manner, strengthens the abilities to deal with extreme situations.
But, as with everything, you shouldn't jump in the bath if your body can't stand it.
Consult your doctor or therapist.
A solution that you can start immediately and get the benefits of Hormesis is a cold shower.
Start by ending each shower with a minute of sharp transition between lukewarm or cool water and cold water and ending the shower with cold water.
As mentioned, if you suffer from any medical problem, you should consult your attending physician before such an experience.
Ortel Rubin-Chen is an ND naturopath, and coordinator of the field of general naturopathy and complementary medicine
More on the same topic:
Corona
the flu
winter
immune system
cough
water