TAKE A COLD SHOWER

A cold shower is close to a textbook definition of a rude awakening, but forcing yourself under a jet of icy water will do more than blow away the cobwebs. There’s growing evidence that cold water immersion is not only good for your immune system, but could improve mental health and even protect your brain from neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.

“It’s reasonably robust science,” Mosley says. “There was a decent-sized trial looking at the impact of cold showers in a Dutch population and that did seem to affect the amount of time they took off work with illness. You certainly see changes in cold water immersion in animal studies and some human studies, with an impact on the immune system.”

Scientists believe the shock of cold water immersion triggers an inflammatory response that jump-starts your immune system. At Plymouth University, researchers have published a number of studies looking at whether the cold shock also resets your sympathetic nervous system, making your body better able to deal with everyday stresses.

Last year, researchers from Cambridge University also reported interesting findings from a study on cold water swimmers at London’s Hampstead Ponds. Regulars at the ponds were found to have higher levels of a protein in their blood that’s been shown to slow the onset of dementia and even reverse some of its effects.

Before you go too cavalier with the cold tap, however, it’s worth noting that cold water immersion is not for everybody. Talk to your GP first if you have a history of heart disease or asthma, and if you want to try swimming rather than a shower, research ways to do it safely, especially if you’re a beginner.

For Mosley, 45 seconds under the cold tap each morning is enough. “With cold water, it seems to be a skin effect,” he says. “If you hang around too long, it gets into your tissues and that’s not a good thing. But it certainly invigorates.”