Recent research suggests taking a dip in very cold water for several hours a week is good for our health. Researchers from the University of Central Lancashire in the U.K. looked into the benefits of cold-water immersion therapy. They found it could have positive effects on our cognition, sleep quality, and overall well-being. The researchers studied the effects on the health of 13 people. The participants were dunked in 10ºC water for 10 minutes, three times a week, for four weeks. Study author Dr Robert Allan said the cold-water therapy could "help with a number of positive physiological and psychological changes linked to improvements in overall general health and well-being".
Cold-water immersion has been used in various fields for its curative and healing benefits. For many decades, ice baths have helped to speed the recovery of athletes following intense, energy-sapping performances. Dr Allan said his findings also showed a positive impact on sleep. He said: "Two weeks of regular therapeutic cold-water immersion improved subjective sleep, with fewer sleep disturbances." Subjecting the body to cold water for health purposes is already a common practice. At the New Year, people take a plunge in icy seas and lakes. In Japan, bathers refresh their bodies by alternating dips in hot and cold baths in a tradition known as toto-no-u.
1. | dip (noun) | a. | Related to the mind and how people think and feel. |
2. | immersion | b. | A short time of getting into a bath, pool, the sea… |
3. | cognition | c. | Put something quickly into a liquid and then take it out. |
4. | participants | d. | The act of putting something fully into a liquid. |
5. | dunked | e. | People who take part in something. |
6. | physiological | f. | The process of thinking and understanding. |
7. | psychological | g. | Related to how the body works. |
8. | fields | h. | Different areas of work or study. |
9. | curative | i. | Changing back and forth between two things. |
10. | intense | j. | Something that helps to make you better when you are sick. |
11. | sapping | k. | Jump or dive quickly and energetically into something. |
12. | subjective | l. | Very strong or great. |
13. | plunge (noun) | m. | Slowly taking away energy or strength. |
14. | alternating | n. | Based on personal feelings, not facts. |
The article says dipping a toe in freezing cold water is good for us. T / F
Cold-water baths could help us to think better. T / F
Test participants took a daily 10-minute bath at 10ºC for a month. T / F
Researchers said cold-water therapy could help our mind and body. T / F
Athletes have taken cold-water baths for over a century. T / F
A researcher said two weeks of the cold-water therapy improved sleep. T / F
It is very uncommon for people to subject their body to cold water. T / F
In Japan, people get in and out of hot and cold baths. T / F