STUDY: SCREW EXERCISE, TAKE A BATH

According to research from Johannes Naumann at the University of Freiburg in Germany, people feel more relief from depression symptoms by taking an afternoon bath as opposed to exercising. The study appeared in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine (* of course it did). In the small study of just 45 people, some of who were suffering from depression, half of the participants were assigned to exercise twice a week, and the second group was instructed to go to a local spa to soak for up to 30 minutes in water that was about 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Post-soak, they were told to wrap up in blankets for another 20 minutes. The idea was to raise the body temperature by 2 degrees. Why? Normally, body temperature rises during the day and falls at night. The cooling off at night encourages the body to release melatonin, which helps us sleep. Depressed people often have “flatter” circadian rhythms, and don’t have this natural increase in temperature. People in the bathing group in the experiment reported that their symptoms were reduced by six points on a scale used to determine depression severity. The exercisers only lowered theirs by three points. Bathing seemed to work more quickly than the exercise as well.
* And the depression was even less if you took a bath with a rubber ducky.
* This soaking ritual – did it by any chance include a bottle of wine?
* Something about this study stinks. I think it’s the people who exercised but didn’t get to take a bath.
* I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that some time after you give up exercise in favor of taking baths, your depression is going to return. ‘Round about the time you’ve gained 40 pounds.
* 45 whole test subjects. Shouldn’t there be a minimum number of participants before you’re allowed to call it a ‘study’?