Take baths whenever you can — don’t limit yourself to showers

People who bathe almost daily have roughly 28% lower risk of cardiovascular events and about 46% lower risk of brain hemorrhage compared to those who bathe fewer than twice a week.

It costs a bit more in water and electricity; each bath takes about half an hour.

A Japanese study involving 30,000 participants followed over 19 years identified 2,097 cardiovascular events. Those who bathed almost daily showed roughly 28% lower risk of cardiovascular events than those bathing no more than twice a week (hazard ratio 0.72, 95% CI 0.62–0.84). The risk of coronary heart disease was about 35% lower (0.65, 0.45–0.94), stroke risk dropped by roughly 26% (0.74, 0.62–0.87), and brain hemorrhage risk fell by about 46% (0.54, 0.40–0.73).

There are some caveats: these results come from a Japanese population with a strong bathtub culture; most Chinese households lack the facilities for daily baths. Also, water should not be too hot and baths should not be excessively long. For older adults and those with existing cardiovascular or cerebrovascular conditions, very hot water and prolonged immersion can actually be dangerous — Japan sees many elderly deaths in bathtubs each year.

Ukai T, Iso H, Yamagishi K, et al. (2020). Habitual tub bathing and risks of incident coronary heart disease and stroke. Heart, 106(10), 732-737. https://doi.org/10.1136/heartjnl-2019-315752；消費者庁. 年末年始、高齢者の事故に注意しましょう（页面没写发布日期，数字引自日本厚生劳动省 2024 年人口动态统计）：「「浴槽内での及び浴槽への転落による溺死及び溺水」による死亡者数は、令和6年に7,776人となっています」「暖かい室内と寒い脱衣所や浴室との温度差などによる急激な血圧の変動や、熱いお湯をはった浴槽内に長くつかることによる体温上昇での意識障害などが挙げられています」. https://www.caa.go.jp/policies/policy/consumer_safety/caution/caution_084/