Is it true that … a cold shower is the best way to cool down on a hot night?

Want to lower your temperature and drift off to sleep quicker? An ice-cold shower might seem the best solution, but the truth is more complicated It’s another sticky summer evening. You’re too hot to sleep. Surely an ice-cold shower is the best way to cool off and drift away quicker? Not really, says Mike Tipton, a professor of human and applied physiology at the University of Portsmouth. “If you’re trying to go to sleep, the last thing you want to do is go into a freezing cold shower,” he says. The shock of cold water immersion causes the body to produce adrenaline and cortisol, stress hormones designed to keep us alert. “That’s just about the last thing you want before you go to bed.” Cold water immersion also affects blood circulation, one of the body’s main ways of regulating temperature. When we get too hot, blood vessels near the skin dilate, warm blood moves towards the surface and heat is released into the air. The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. Very cold water triggers the opp

Aug 3, 2026 → Aug 3, 2026