Whenever I feel a cold coming on, before bed I’ll wet a pair of cotton socks with cold water and cover with wool socks. After putting on both layers of socks, I’ll climb into bed and drift off to sleep. Again, while there’s no research to back up this method, here’s how proponents of it suspect it works: The vessels in your feet will constrict1 as the feet cool down, which redirects good nutrients into other areas of the body. These nutrients are needed to fight off infections and stimulate healing. Then your feet will start to warm up again, and your vessels will dilate to release the heat. This is when the junk in your tissues is dumped into your bloodstream so that your body can dispose of it. The alternating of hot and cold is thought to create a pumping mechanism that stimulates circulation and lymphatics. The results are an active immune system and decreased congestion.
