Hardening: benefit or harm?

Hardening is a procedure that improves health, positively affects the immune system and increases life expectancy. Scientists have found that the benefits of cold are precisely in those unpleasant sensations that it causes in humans. Ice water is a short-term stress for both the body and the psyche. Receiving information about this stress from the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland secretes certain hormones that activate the immune system, heal the heart and blood vessels. It is important to take into account the individual characteristics of the body, health status and age. You can not start hardening with extreme dousing with ice water or swimming in an ice hole, you need to prepare the body for this gradually, gradually lowering the temperature of the water or air and increasing the duration of the procedures.