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Cold plunge benefits extend beyond the mental and chemical aspects of your body. Sports medicine has utilized cold water therapy for years to help with the active recovery of your muscles.

If you're looking to kickstart your morning or need an afternoon pick-me-up, cold plunging is an incredible way to boost your daily energy. Not only is the icy water rejuvenating, but it also triggers the release of healthy stress hormones that promote alertness. A 2 minute ice bath feels like drinking 5 cups of coffee (just without the jitters).

• When you dip into an ice bath, your body triggers the autonomic nervous system - the system that controls your response to stress.
• When you begin to control your response to stress, you'll likely find that you begin to control your relaxation and sleep.
• In short it improves sleep by lowering body temperature, reducing stress hormones, boosting mood-enhancing neurotransmitters, and activating the relaxation-focused parasympathetic nervous system.

• Researchers have known for a while that plunging connects to our daily energy. In particular, there is lots of evidence that hormone imbalance can contribute to depression, meaning that a cold plunge might help to reduce depression and improve overall mood.
• The release of dopamine in the brain during ice baths also further gives you that "happy" feeling which lasts for hours. Additionally, ice baths raises your baseline dopamine levels, so you're likely to experience elevated mood in your day to day.

Cold water therapy has been shown to be an effective supplemental treatment for stress relief by decreasing the stress hormone cortisol. This study found that regular cold showers and ice baths helped reduce anxiety and improve the mood of participants.

Consistent ice baths have been shown to generate up to 5x the baseline amount of hormones and neurotransmitters found in the body and brain that alleviate stress. This neurotransmitter can dramatically reduce inflammation and help with chronic pain.

Cold water immersion also activates brown fat — tissue that helps keep the body warm and helps it control blood sugar and insulin levels. It also helps the body burn calories, which has lead to studies showing significant evidence that cold water immersion is an effective way to lose weight and burn calories.