question: Why does very cold water feel so refreshing, even if you’re not necessarily warm and when warmer water is easier to absorb?
comment: The cold water is refreshing because of the temperature difference and because the water is cooling our body. Warm water requires less heat energy to be transfered to the water when digesting the water. When water goes through our bodies some heat from our body naturally is transfered to the water because heat energy goes from hot to cold areas. So when the water is warm then less energy is transfered. The thing I don't know is the cost benefit ratio between cold water cooling affects of cold water and the energy saving affects of warmer water. I'm not an expert but this is what I remember from taking thermodynamics. I don't know if this helped but it's all heat energy transfer related.
passages: Two English works on the medical uses of water were published in the 18th century that inaugurated the new fashion for hydrotherapy. One of these was by Sir John Floyer, a physician of Lichfield, who, struck by the remedial use of certain springs by the neighbouring peasantry, investigated the history of cold bathing and published a book on the subject in 1702. The book ran through six editions within a few years and the translation of this book into German was largely drawn upon by Dr J. S. Hahn of Silesia as the basis for his book called "On the Healing Virtues of Cold Water, Inwardly and Outwardly Applied, as Proved by Experience", published in 1738.
   Taking advantage of the cooling properties of water may help attenuate the consequences of heat sensitivity. In a study done by White et al. (2000), exercise pre-cooling via lower body immersion in water of 16–17 °C for 30 minutes allowed heat sensitive individuals with MS to exercise in greater comfort and with fewer side effects by minimizing body temperature increases during exercise. Hydrotherapy exercise in moderately cool water of 27–29 °C water can also be advantageous to individuals with MS. Temperatures lower than 27 °C are not recommended because of the increased risk of invoking spasticity.
  
  Section::::History.
   Blood flow to the muscles is lower in cold water, but exercise keeps the muscle warm and flow elevated even when the skin is chilled. Blood flow to fat normally increases during exercise, but this is inhibited by immersion in cold water. Adaptation to cold reduces the extreme vasoconstriction which usually occurs with cold water immersion.
   The hunting reaction is one out of four possible responses to immersion of the finger in cold water. The other responses observed in the fingers after immersion in cold water are a continuous state of vasoconstriction, slow steady and continuous rewarming and a proportional control form in which the blood vessel diameter remains constant after an initial phase of vasoconstriction. However, the vast majority of the vascular responses to immersion of the finger in cold water can be classified as the hunting reaction.
   The opah utilizes retia mirabilia to conserve heat, making it the newest addition to the list of regionally endothermic fish. Blood traveling through capillaries in the gills must carry cold blood due to their exposure to cold water, but retia mirabilia in the opah's gills are able to transfer heat from warm blood in arterioles coming from the heart that heats this colder blood in arterioles leaving the gills. The huge pectoral muscles of the opah, which generate most of the body heat, are thus able to control the temperature of the rest of the body.
  
  Section::::Mammals.
   BULLET::::- Ice baths or chilling of farmed fish on ice or submerged in near-freezing water is used to dampen muscle movements by the fish and to delay the onset of post-death decay. However, it does not necessarily reduce sensibility to pain; indeed, the chilling process has been shown to elevate cortisol. In addition, reduced body temperature extends the time before fish lose consciousness.
  
  BULLET::::- CO₂ narcosis
   In these ways, winter swimmers can survive both the initial shock and prolonged exposure. Nevertheless, the human organism is not suited to freezing water: the struggle to maintain blood temperature (by swimming or conditioned metabolic response) produces great fatigue after thirty minutes or less.
  
  Section::::Cold shock response in bacteria.
   Hydrotherapy, especially as promoted during the height of its Victorian revival, has often been associated with the use of cold water, as evidenced by many titles from that era. However, not all therapists limited their practice of hydrotherapy to cold water, even during the height of this popular revival.
   "Billboard" ranked "Cold Water" at number 56 on their "Billboard's 100 Best Pop Songs of 2016" list.
  
  Section::::Commercial performance.
   Although there are risks associated with the practice, scientific studies also provide some evidence for the following health benefits.
  
  When compared to a control group on the profile of mood states rating scale, winter swimmers experience less stress and fatigue and more vigor. They report to have a better memory function, better mood and feel more energetic, active and brisk. Swimmers who suffer from rheumatism, fibromyalgia or asthma report that winter swimming relieves pain.
  
  Exercise in extreme cold promotes weight loss, since more fat is used to insulate the body from the low temperatures
   The Russian immigrant professor Louis Sugarman of Little Falls, NY was the first American to become a famous ice swimmer in the 1890s. He attracted worldwide attention for his daily plunge in the Mohawk River, even when the thermometer hit 23 degrees F below zero, earning him the nickname "the human polar bear". 
   In November 1881, the "British Medical Journal" noted that hydropathy was a specific instance, or "particular case", of general principles of thermodynamics. That is, "the application of heat and cold in general", as it applies to physiology, mediated by hydropathy. In 1883, another writer stated "Not, be it observed, that hydropathy is a water treatment after all, but that water is the medium for the application of heat and cold to the body".
   Hydro massage is a natural remedy has been known and used for years. The history of hydro therapy goes centuries back, as far as ancient Greece, but it was truly made popular by Romans, who introduced the benefits of bathing and massage to the countries they conquered. Roman public baths were always recognized as a great source of relaxation where members of high society and all free people alike could enjoy the benefits of hot and cold water as well as massage.
   Winter Haven has played a major role in the development and growth of water skiing as a sport. Dick Pope, Sr. used water skiing as a way to promote his Cypress Gardens theme park starting in the 1930s, and water ski shows soon became a staple of entertainment at the park. He was also the first person to complete a jump on water skis, jumping over a wooden ramp in 1928, for a distance of 25 feet. He pioneered a number of other water skiing tricks, including the water ski human pyramid, as part of an effort to develop his shows at Cypress Gardens. His son, Dick Pope, Jr. popularized barefoot water skiing.
   During the 18th century, a revival in the medical uses of spring water was promoted by Enlightened physicians across Europe. This revival changed the way of taking a spa treatment. For example, in Karlsbad the accepted method of drinking the mineral water required sending large barrels to individual boardinghouses where the patients drank physician-prescribed dosages in the solitude of their rooms. Dr. David Beecher in 1777 recommended that the patients come to the fountainhead for the water and that each patient should first do some prescribed exercises. This innovation increased the medicinal benefits obtained and gradually physical activity became part of the European bathing regimen. In 1797, in England, Dr. James Currie published "The Effects of Water, Cold and Warm, as a Remedy in Fever and other Diseases". As shown by M D Eddy, this book, along with numerous local pamphlets on composition of spa water, stimulated additional interest in water cures and advocated the external and internal use of water as part of the curing process.
   Sitting in a bathtub of tepid or cool water (immersion method) can remove a significant amount of heat in a relatively short period of time. It was once thought that immersion in very cold water is counterproductive, as it causes vasoconstriction in the skin and thereby prevents heat from escaping the body core. However, a British analysis of various studies stated: "this has never been proven experimentally. Indeed, a recent study using normal volunteers has shown that cooling rates were fastest when the coldest water was used." The analysis concluded that iced water immersion is the most-effective cooling technique for exertional heat stroke. No superior cooling method has been found for "non-exertional heat stroke". Thus, aggressive "ice-water" immersion remains the gold standard for "life-threatening heat stroke".
   Immersion in very cold water was once thought to be counterproductive by reducing blood flow to the skin and thereby preventing heat from escaping the body core. However, this hypothesis has been challenged in experimental studies, as well as by systematic reviews of the clinical data, indicating that cutaneous vasoconstriction and shivering thermogenesis do not play a dominant role in the decrease in core body temperature brought on by cold water immersion. This can be seen in the effect of submersion hypothermia, where the body temperature decrease is directly related to environmental temperature, and though bodily defenses slow the decrease in temperature for a time, they ultimately fail to maintain endothermic homeostasis. Dantrolene, a direct-acting paralytic which abolishes shuddering and is effective in many other forms of hyperthermia, including centrally-, peripherally- and cellularly-mediated thermogenesis, has no individual or additive effects to cooling in the context of heat stroke, showing a lack of endogenous thermogenic response to cold water immersion. Thus, aggressive ice-water immersion remains the gold standard for life-threatening heat stroke.
   In the 1840s, there was a strong revival of interest in cold water cures, or hydropathy, following the promotion of Vincent Priessnitz's methods by Captain R. T. Claridge and others. Yet while acknowledging the contributions of Currie's predecessors, such as John Floyer, Claridge noted that "After all, the merit of settling the use of cold water on just a principle, belongs incontestably to our own countryman, Currie, whose work, published in 1797, upon the efficacy of water, may be considered the scientific base of Hydropathy".
  
  Section::::Anthology of Robert Burns.
   Temperature can be an essential element of the taste experience. Food and drink that—in a given culture—is traditionally served hot is often considered distasteful if cold, and vice versa. For example, alcoholic beverages, with a few exceptions, are usually thought best when served at room temperature or chilled to varying degrees, but soups—again, with exceptions—are usually only eaten hot. A cultural example are soft drinks. In North America it is almost always preferred cold, regardless of season.
  
  Section::::Further sensations and transmission.:Starchiness.
   Sea bathing was already becoming popular in Portugal in the mid-1850s. Cascais, with its protected beaches, was attracting tourists from the capital, Lisbon, and the numbers increased considerably following the opening of a road to the capital in 1863 and the commencement of a stagecoach service. Further stimulus for people to visit Cascais came as a result of the first visit to the town by Queen Maria Pia in September 1867 and the completion of a road from Sintra to Cascais in 1868. Sintra, situated in hills and therefore cooler in the summer, was a popular summer retreat for the Royal Family and the nobility of Lisbon.
   Section::::Research.
   Cold Water Music
  
  Cold Water Music is the debut studio album by British musician Aim, released on 11 October 1999 by Grand Central Records. The album was re-issued in 2007 by ATIC Records.
  
  Section::::Song information.
   BULLET::::- Destination spa
  
  BULLET::::- Enema
  
  BULLET::::- Finnish sauna
  
  BULLET::::- Halliwick
  
  BULLET::::- Hot tub
  
  BULLET::::- Mineral spring
  
  BULLET::::- Sebastian Kneipp
  
  BULLET::::- Spa
  
  BULLET::::- Spa bath
  
  BULLET::::- Spa town
  
  BULLET::::- Spotted Lake ("Kliluk")
  
  BULLET::::- Steam shower
  
  BULLET::::- Thalassotherapy
  
  Section::::Notes.
   Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath in 1668. He became interested in the curative properties of the waters. In 1676, he wrote "A discourse of Bathe, and the hot waters there. Also, Some Enquiries into the Nature of the water". This brought the health-giving properties of the hot mineral waters to the attention of the aristocracy. Doctors and quacks set up spa towns such as Harrogate, Bath, Matlock and Buxton soon after taking advantage of mineral water from chalybeate springs.
  
  Section::::History.:18th century.
  
  Section::::History.:18th century.:England.
   Marathon runner Paula Radcliffe won the 10,000m event at the 2002 European championships and attributed her victory to the use of ice baths. She reportedly said "It's absolute agony, and I dread it, but it allows my body to recover so much more quickly." She reported taking ice baths before racing and preferred her pre-race bath temperature to be "very cold." After the Radcliffe comment, the technique has grown in popularity. It is gaining in popularity among athletes, such that some athletes "swear by it" but other accounts suggest it may be a fad. 
  