What’s confusing about wellness is that the “rules” seem like they are always changing, and not in a way that makes sense.

In the 2010s, books like Wheat Belly and documentaries like Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead sparked frenzies, with people canceling gluten and living off juice, all in the name of health and well-being. I was a college student at the time and working as a part-time receptionist at a spa. Wheat Belly spread like an infectious disease in the break room, and it all started with one nail tech. Then, overnight, nearly the entire staff swore off gluten, and the cookies and cupcakes that decorated the communal snack table were replaced with carrot sticks, hummus and rice cakes.

Next came the S’well water bottles. With increased water consumption and healthier food choices, naturally, many started to feel better, and the numbers on the scale reflected that. Was gluten ever the culprit? It’s hard to say, but unless someone was gluten-intolerant or had celiac disease, likely not.

In the 2020s, wellness trends are no longer driven by books alone. Social media is now a major force, shaping what people buy and how they work out. There have been weeks when it has been nearly impossible to find cottage cheese in stores. Booking a reformer Pilates class the same day is next to impossible. Through TikTok recipes and influencer-led health hacks, everyday staples like cucumbers have quickly turned into high-demand items. While some of these trends may be beneficial, others may require a more individualized approach, especially when it comes to more extreme practices like cold plunging for women.

The Rapid Growth Of Cold Plunging

Cue contrast therapy—the newish “5 a.m. club” for biohackers everywhere. The growth has been astronomical, with brands like Othership expanding operations in Toronto and New York, and predictions of a half-billion-dollar industry for cold plunge pools by 2030, according to Persistence Market Research.

But is submerging your body into a pool of sub-zero water good for you? And more specifically, is it good for women? According to experts in the field, the answer isn’t all that straightforward.

“I think part of why cold plunging is being marketed as healthy is because we live in a very science-backed, data-driven society and we also love extremes,” says Amrit Singh, a registered acupuncturist in Toronto, in an email.

“We like doing hard things and feeling like we’ve accomplished something difficult, and cold plunging is difficult. Data is supporting certain benefits of contrast therapy, and there’s also a historical context for cold exposure in various cultures, particularly Nordic and Eastern European traditions.”

Hormonal changes across the menstrual cycle can affect how women regulate body temperature. After ovulation, progesterone rises and slightly increases core body temperature, shifting the body’s baseline. This also changes how heat is managed, including things like sweating and blood flow. So instead of operating from a constant baseline, the body is working from a slightly different “set point” depending on the phase of the cycle.

These hormonal shifts can also influence how the body responds to cold. Some research suggests that cold sensitivity, blood flow, and shivering responses may vary across the cycle. In certain phases—particularly the luteal phase—cold exposure may feel more intense or physically demanding. That doesn’t necessarily make it harmful, but it does mean the experience of cold isn’t the same throughout the cycle, and the research in this area is still limited.

Why Women May Experience Cold Differently

The first 30 seconds in a cold plunge are a shock to your system. Your immediate instinct is to hyperventilate, your body fights for warmth as your shoulders hike up towards your ears and you may notice a spike in your heart rate. If you’re able to find stillness, it gets better after around the 30- to 45-second mark. But what happens initially is a strong sympathetic response that Singh says may cause harm.

“A sudden sympathetic nervous system response often leads to a sharp spike in cortisol, which can potentially impact thyroid activity and disrupt the balance of estrogen and progesterone,” says Singh. “While this response is part of the body’s normal adaptation to stress, over time, the neuroendocrine system may interpret this as stress rather than recovery, affecting menstrual regularity, hormonal balance, thyroid function and overall recovery capacity.”

I’ll be honest—I was once an avid cold plunger. I loved (and still love) how my body felt after submerging myself in sub-zero water. It was the only practice that really helped me calm my overthinking mind, and the fact that it made me feel so alert had to mean something, right? It turns out that sometimes things feel good in your body because they are familiar and not because they are beneficial. My perspective on cold plunging started to change after an interview with Dr. Mariana Riveros, an integrative medicine doctor at SHA Mexico.

Wellness Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All

“Cold plunging can be beneficial for women when used intentionally and in the right context. Short, controlled cold exposure may support circulation, reduce inflammation and positively stimulate the nervous system,” she says via email. “However, women’s physiology, particularly hormonal rhythms and stress responsiveness, differs from men’s. For this reason, cold plunging should not be approached as a daily performance tool, but rather as a therapeutic stimulus used selectively and mindfully.”

In my case, it was harmful. An oxidative stress test showed that my cortisol levels were low, but only because of burnout. Cold plunging felt “good” because my body had adapted to being in high-stress environments and was addicted to the feeling. It’s like exercise; the movement your body needs is rarely the one you want to do.

“Women should avoid cold plunging during periods of high stress, poor recovery, sleep deprivation, active illness or during certain phases of the menstrual cycle, particularly the late luteal phase when progesterone drops and stress tolerance is lower,” says Dr. Riveros.

Rethinking The Biohacking Approach

Alissa Vitti, author of In the Flo and a recognized pioneer in women’s biohacking, says her concern is the binary approach to wellness.

“It’s not that cold plunging is bad. It’s this binary thinking that’s the problem. I don’t actively recommend cold plunging to my clients, but I do think it can be helpful in certain contexts,” says Vitti, in a phone interview. “But dose, timing and gender differences must be factored in if you’re going to do it. The world of biohacking is extremely male-dominated. A man’s ecosystem, nervous system, hormonal system and stress response are so different from a woman’s.”

By ignoring these differences, we miss the nuance that better allows for a wellness trend, like cold-plunging, to be beneficial.

“We know that for men, extremely cold temperatures create a certain type of hormetic stress that activates all sorts of support for brown fat, recruitment for immune response and mitochondrial health—it’s a really good thing,” Vitti says. But for women who want to cold plunge, the answer is moderation.

“I would say, you can cold plunge, but it doesn’t have to be that cold. For men, the typical recommendation is 4 degrees Celsius. For women, that can be counterproductive because of the impact on stress. The sweet spot for women is actually about 10 degrees warmer, not ice cold. This moderate temperature will give women overall health and metabolic resilience, it will enhance the brown fat activity, it will give you a dopamine hit to impact your mood and trigger a mild form of stress without overwhelming your system. And that’s what we want.”