What type of shower brings us the most benefits? Those with hot water or those that we drink with cold water? The answer to this question depends on what you want to achieve. Hot water, preferred by most users, has a relaxing effect and serves to relieve muscle aches and fight insomnia or even tension headaches . It does not cure a cold or the flu, but the steam produced by water at the temperature used by many, between 34ºC and 38ºC, clears the respiratory tract. Also, so hot it has great cleaning power, but it does not open pores, as it is wrongly attributed.
For its part, cold water clears the mind and body and, in that sense, helps concentration in any intellectual activity or that requires a lot of energy. This has a double physiological basis: on the one hand, the cold activates the circulation and provides more blood flow to the organs and tissues; and on the other, it stimulates the production of norepinephrine, a hormone related to stress.
Then? What is better? Shower with hot or cold water? Aristotle already said that virtue is found in the "just middle ground" between two extreme attitudes; and dermatologists seem to agree with it, as it is what they recommend: warm water. Because with a very hot or cold temperature, the skin dries out more. So it is best to set the thermostat at about 30ºC .
